Judges 8–10

Zebah and Zalmunna

8Now the Ephraimites asked Gideon,ⁱ “Why have you treated us like this? Why didn’t you call us when you went to fight Midian?^j”^k And they challenged him vigorously.^l

²But he answered them, “What have I accomplished compared to you? Aren’t the gleanings of Ephraim’s grapes better than the full grape harvest of Abiezer?^{m 3}God gave Oreb and Zeeb,ⁿ the Midianite leaders, into your hands. What was I able to do compared to you?” At this, their resentment against him subsided.

⁴Gideon and his three hundred men, exhausted yet keeping up the pursuit, came to the Jordan^o and crossed it. ⁵He said to the men of Sukkoth,^p “Give my troops some bread; they are worn out,^q and I am still pursuing Zebah and Zalmunna,^r the kings of Midian.”

⁶But the officials of Sukkoth^s said, “Do you already have the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna in your possession? Why should we give bread^t to your troops?”^u

⁷Then Gideon replied, “Just for that, when the Lord has given Zebah and Zalmunna^v into my hand, I will tear your flesh with desert thorns and briers.”

⁸From there he went up to Peniel^aw and made the same request of them, but they answered as the men of Sukkoth had. ⁹So he said to the men of Peniel, “When I return in triumph, I will tear down this tower.”^x

¹⁰Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor with a force of about fifteen thousand men, all that were left of the armies of the eastern peoples; a hundred and twenty thousand swordsmen had fallen.^{y 11}Gideon went up by the route of the nomads east of Nobah^z and Jogbehah^a and attacked the unsuspecting army. ¹²Zebah and Zalmunna, the two kings of Midian, fled, but he pursued them and captured them, routing their entire army.

¹³Gideon son of Joash^b then returned from the battle by the Pass of Heres.^{c 14}He caught a young man of Sukkoth and questioned him, and the young man wrote down for him the names of the seventy-seven officials of Sukkoth,^d the elders^e of the town. ¹⁵Then Gideon came and said to the men of Sukkoth, “Here are Zebah and Zalmunna, about whom you taunted me by saying, ‘Do you already have the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna in your possession? Why should we give bread to your exhausted men?^f’ ” ¹⁶He took the elders of the town and taught the men of Sukkoth a lesson^g by punishing them with desert thorns and briers. ¹⁷He also pulled down the tower of Peniel^h and killed the men of the town.ⁱ

¹⁸Then he asked Zebah and Zalmunna, “What kind of men did you kill at Tabor?^j”

“Men like you,” they answered, “each one with the bearing of a prince.”

¹⁹Gideon replied, “Those were my brothers, the sons of my own mother. As surely as the Lord lives,^k if you had spared their lives, I would not kill you.” ²⁰Turning to Jether, his oldest son, he said, “Kill them!” But Jether did not draw his sword, because he was only a boy and was afraid.

²¹Zebah and Zalmunna said, “Come, do it yourself. ‘As is the man, so is his strength.’ ” So Gideon stepped forward and killed them, and took the ornaments^l off their camels’ necks.

Gideon’s Ephod

²²The Israelites said to Gideon, “Rule over us—you, your son and your grandson—because you have saved us from the hand of Midian.”

²³But Gideon told them, “I will not rule over you, nor will my son rule over you. The Lord will rule^m over you.” ²⁴And he said, “I do have one request, that each of you give me an earringⁿ from your share of the plunder.^o” (It was the custom of the Ishmaelites^p to wear gold earrings.)

²⁵They answered, “We’ll be glad to give them.” So they spread out a garment, and each of them threw a ring from his plunder onto it. ²⁶The weight of the gold rings he asked for came to seventeen hundred shekels,^b not counting the ornaments, the pendants and the purple garments worn by the kings of Midian or the chains^q that were on their camels’ necks. ²⁷Gideon made the gold into an ephod,^r which he placed in Ophrah,^s his town. All Israel prostituted themselves by worshiping it there, and it became a snare^t to Gideon and his family.^u

Gideon’s Death

²⁸Thus Midian was subdued before the Israelites and did not raise its head^v again. During Gideon’s lifetime, the land had peace^w forty years.

²⁹Jerub-Baal^x son of Joash^y went back home to live. ³⁰He had seventy sons^z of his own, for he had many wives. ³¹His concubine,^a who lived in Shechem, also bore him a son, whom he named Abimelek.^{b 32}Gideon son of Joash died at a good old age^c and was buried in the tomb of his father Joash in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

³³No sooner had Gideon died than the Israelites again prostituted themselves to the Baals.^d They set up Baal-Berith^e as their god^{f 34}and did not remember^g the Lord their God, who had rescued them from the hands of all their enemies on every side. ³⁵They also failed to show any loyalty to the family of Jerub-Baal^h (that is, Gideon) in spite of all the good things he had done for them.ⁱ

Abimelek

9Abimelek^j son of Jerub-Baal^k went to his mother’s brothers in Shechem and said to them and to all his mother’s clan, ²“Ask all the citizens of Shechem, ‘Which is better for you: to have all seventy of Jerub-Baal’s sons rule over you, or just one man?’ Remember, I am your flesh and blood.^l”

³When the brothers repeated all this to the citizens of Shechem, they were inclined to follow Abimelek, for they said, “He is related to us.” ⁴They gave him seventy shekels^a of silver from the temple of Baal-Berith,^m and Abimelek used it to hire reckless scoundrels,ⁿ who became his followers. ⁵He went to his father’s home in Ophrah and on one stone murdered his seventy brothers,^o the sons of Jerub-Baal. But Jotham,^p the youngest son of Jerub-Baal, escaped by hiding.^{q 6}Then all the citizens of Shechem and Beth Millo^r gathered beside the great tree^s at the pillar in Shechem to crown Abimelek king.

⁷When Jotham^t was told about this, he climbed up on the top of Mount Gerizim^u and shouted to them, “Listen to me, citizens of Shechem, so that God may listen to you. ⁸One day the trees went out to anoint a king for themselves. They said to the olive tree, ‘Be our king.’

⁹“But the olive tree answered, ‘Should I give up my oil, by which both gods and humans are honored, to hold sway over the trees?’

¹⁰“Next, the trees said to the fig tree, ‘Come and be our king.’

¹¹“But the fig tree replied, ‘Should I give up my fruit, so good and sweet, to hold sway over the trees?’

¹²“Then the trees said to the vine, ‘Come and be our king.’

¹³“But the vine answered, ‘Should I give up my wine,^v which cheers both gods and humans, to hold sway over the trees?’

¹⁴“Finally all the trees said to the thornbush, ‘Come and be our king.’

¹⁵“The thornbush said to the trees, ‘If you really want to anoint me king over you, come and take refuge in my shade;^w but if not, then let fire come out^x of the thornbush and consume the cedars of Lebanon!’^y

¹⁶“Have you acted honorably and in good faith by making Abimelek king? Have you been fair to Jerub-Baal and his family? Have you treated him as he deserves? ¹⁷Remember that my father fought for you and risked^z his life to rescue you from the hand of Midian. ¹⁸But today you have revolted against my father’s family. You have murdered his seventy sons^a on a single stone and have made Abimelek, the son of his female slave, king over the citizens of Shechem because he is related to you. ¹⁹So have you acted honorably and in good faith toward Jerub-Baal and his family today?^b If you have, may Abimelek be your joy, and may you be his, too! ²⁰But if you have not, let fire come out^c from Abimelek and consume you, the citizens of Shechem^d and Beth Millo,^e and let fire come out from you, the citizens of Shechem and Beth Millo, and consume Abimelek!”

²¹Then Jotham^f fled, escaping to Beer,^g and he lived there because he was afraid of his brother Abimelek.

²²After Abimelek had governed Israel three years, ²³God stirred up animosity^h between Abimelek and the citizens of Shechem so that they acted treacherously against Abimelek. ²⁴God did this in order that the crime against Jerub-Baal’s seventy sons,ⁱ the shedding^j of their blood, might be avenged^k on their brother Abimelek and on the citizens of Shechem, who had helped him^l murder his brothers. ²⁵In opposition to him these citizens of Shechem set men on the hilltops to ambush and rob everyone who passed by, and this was reported to Abimelek.

²⁶Now Gaal son of Ebed^m moved with his clan into Shechem, and its citizens put their confidence in him. ²⁷After they had gone out into the fields and gathered the grapes and troddenⁿ them, they held a festival in the temple of their god.^o While they were eating and drinking, they cursed Abimelek. ²⁸Then Gaal son of Ebed^p said, “Who^q is Abimelek, and why should we Shechemites be subject to him? Isn’t he Jerub-Baal’s son, and isn’t Zebul his deputy? Serve the family of Hamor,^r Shechem’s father! Why should we serve Abimelek? ²⁹If only this people were under my command!^s Then I would get rid of him. I would say to Abimelek, ‘Call out your whole army!’ ”^bt

³⁰When Zebul the governor of the city heard what Gaal son of Ebed said, he was very angry. ³¹Under cover he sent messengers to Abimelek, saying, “Gaal son of Ebed and his clan have come to Shechem and are stirring up the city against you. ³²Now then, during the night you and your men should come and lie in wait^u in the fields. ³³In the morning at sunrise, advance against the city. When Gaal and his men come out against you, seize the opportunity to attack them.^v”

³⁴So Abimelek and all his troops set out by night and took up concealed positions near Shechem in four companies. ³⁵Now Gaal son of Ebed had gone out and was standing at the entrance of the city gate^w just as Abimelek and his troops came out from their hiding place.^x

³⁶When Gaal saw them, he said to Zebul, “Look, people are coming down from the tops of the mountains!”

Zebul replied, “You mistake the shadows of the mountains for men.”

³⁷But Gaal spoke up again: “Look, people are coming down from the central hill,^c and a company is…