Judges 8

Gideon Subdues the Midianites

8Now ^athe men of Ephraim said to him, “Why have you done this to us by not calling us when you went to fight with the Midianites?” And they reprimanded him sharply.

²So he said to them, “What have I done now in comparison with you? Is not the ¹gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than ²the vintage of ^bAbiezer? ^3cGod has delivered into your hands the princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb. And what was I able to do in comparison with you?” Then their ^danger toward him subsided when he said that.

⁴When Gideon came ^eto the Jordan, he and ^fthe three hundred men who were with him crossed over, exhausted but still in pursuit. ⁵Then he said to the men of ^gSuccoth, “Please give loaves of bread to the people who follow me, for they are exhausted, and I am pursuing Zebah and Zalmunna, kings of Midian.”

⁶And the leaders of Succoth said, ^h“Are ³the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in your hand, that ⁱwe should give bread to your army?”

⁷So Gideon said, “For this cause, when the Lord has delivered Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, ^jthen I will tear your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness and with briers!” ⁸Then he went up from there ^kto Penuel and spoke to them in the same way. And the men of Penuel answered him as the men of Succoth had answered. ⁹So he also spoke to the men of Penuel, saying, “When I ^lcome back in peace, ^mI will tear down this tower!”

¹⁰Now Zebah and Zalmunna were at Karkor, and their armies with them, about fifteen thousand, all who were left of ⁿall the army of the people of the East; for ^oone hundred and twenty thousand men who drew the sword had fallen. ¹¹Then Gideon went up by the road of those who dwell in tents on the east of ^pNobah and Jogbehah; and he ⁴attacked the army while the camp felt ^qsecure. ¹²When Zebah and Zalmunna fled, he pursued them; and he ^rtook the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and routed the whole army.

¹³Then Gideon the son of Joash returned from battle, from the Ascent of Heres. ¹⁴And he caught a young man of the men of Succoth and interrogated him; and he wrote down for him the leaders of Succoth and its elders, seventy-seven men. ¹⁵Then he came to the men of Succoth and said, “Here are Zebah and Zalmunna, about whom you ^sridiculed me, saying, ‘Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in your hand, that we should give bread to your weary men?’ ” ^16tAnd he took the elders of the city, and thorns of the wilderness and briers, and with them he ⁵taught the men of Succoth. ^17uThen he tore down the tower of ^vPenuel and killed the men of the city.

¹⁸And he said to Zebah and Zalmunna, “What kind of men were they whom you killed at ^wTabor?”

So they answered, “As you are, so were they; each one resembled the son of a king.”

¹⁹Then he said, “They were my brothers, the sons of my mother. As the Lord lives, if you had let them live, I would not kill you.” ²⁰And he said to Jether his firstborn, “Rise, kill them!” But the youth would not draw his sword; for he was afraid, because he was still a youth.

²¹So Zebah and Zalmunna said, “Rise yourself, and kill us; for as a man is, so is his strength.” So Gideon arose and ^xkilled Zebah and Zalmunna, and took the crescent ornaments that were on their camels’ necks.

Gideon’s Ephod

²²Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, ^y“Rule over us, both you and your son, and your grandson also; for you have ^zdelivered us from the hand of Midian.”

²³But Gideon said to them, “I will not rule over you, nor shall my son rule over you; ^athe Lord shall rule over you.” ²⁴Then Gideon said to them, “I would like to ⁶make a request of you, that each of you would give me the earrings from his plunder.” For they had golden earrings, ^bbecause they were Ishmaelites.

²⁵So they answered, “We will gladly give them.” And they spread out a garment, and each man threw into it the earrings from his plunder. ²⁶Now the weight of the gold earrings that he requested was one thousand seven hundred shekels of gold, besides the crescent ornaments, pendants, and purple robes which were on the kings of Midian, and besides the chains that were around their camels’ necks. ²⁷Then Gideon ^cmade it into an ephod and set it up in his city, ^dOphrah. And all Israel ^eplayed the harlot with it there. It became ^fa snare to Gideon and to his house.

²⁸Thus Midian was subdued before the children of Israel, so that they lifted their heads no more. ^gAnd the country was quiet for forty years in the days of Gideon.

Death of Gideon

²⁹Then ^hJerubbaal the son of Joash went and dwelt in his own house. ³⁰Gideon had ⁱseventy sons who were his own offspring, for he had many wives. ^31jAnd his concubine who was in Shechem also bore him a son, whose name he called Abimelech. ³²Now Gideon the son of Joash died ^kat a good old age, and was buried in the tomb of Joash his father, ^lin Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

³³So it was, ^mas soon as Gideon was dead, that the children of Israel again ⁿplayed the harlot with the Baals, ^oand made Baal-Berith their god. ³⁴Thus the children of Israel ^pdid not remember the Lord their God, who had delivered them from the hands of all their enemies on every side; ^35qnor did they show kindness to the house of Jerubbaal (Gideon) in accordance with the good he had done for Israel.