Judges 8–10

Chapter 8

¹And the men of Ephraim said to him, “What is this that you have done to us, not to call us when you went to fight with Midian?” And they upbraided him violently. ²And he said to them, “What have I done now in comparison with you? Is not the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the vintage of Abi-ezer? ³God has given into your hands the princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb; what have I been able to do in comparison with you?” Then their anger against him was abated, when he had said this.

⁴And Gideon came to the Jordan and passed over, he and the three hundred men who were with him, faint yet pursuing. ⁵So he said to the men of Succoth, “Pray, give loaves of bread to the people who follow me; for they are faint, and I am pursuing after Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian.” ⁶And the officials of Succoth said, “Are Zebah and Zalmunna already in your hand, that we should give bread to your army?” ⁷And Gideon said, “Well then, when the Lord has given Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, I will flail your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness and with briers.” ⁸And from there he went up to Penuel, and spoke to them in the same way; and the men of Penuel answered him as the men of Succoth had answered. ⁹And he said to the men of Penuel, “When I come again in peace, I will break down this tower.”

¹⁰Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor with their army, about fifteen thousand men, all who were left of all the army of the people of the East; for there had fallen a hundred and twenty thousand men who drew the sword. ¹¹And Gideon went up by the caravan route east of Nobah and Jogbehah, and attacked the army; for the army was off its guard. ¹²And Zebah and Zalmunna fled; and he pursued them and took the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and he threw all the army into a panic.

¹³Then Gideon the son of Joash returned from the battle by the ascent of Heres. ¹⁴And he caught a young man of Succoth, and questioned him; and he wrote down for him the officials and elders of Succoth, seventy-seven men. ¹⁵And he came to the men of Succoth, and said, “Behold Zebah and Zalmunna, about whom you taunted me, saying, ‘Are Zebah and Zalmunna already in your hand, that we should give bread to your men who are faint?’ ” ¹⁶And he took the elders of the city and he took thorns of the wilderness and briers and with them taught the men of Succoth. ¹⁷And he broke down the tower of Penuel, and slew the men of the city.

¹⁸Then he said to Zebah and Zalmunna, “Where are the men whom you slew at Tabor?” They answered, “As you are, so were they, every one of them; they resembled the sons of a king.” ¹⁹And he said, “They were my brothers, the sons of my mother; as the Lord lives, if you had saved them alive, I would not slay you.” ²⁰And he said to Jether his first-born, “Rise, and slay them.” But the youth did not draw his sword; for he was afraid, because he was still a youth. ²¹Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, “Rise yourself, and fall upon us; for as the man is, so is his strength.” And Gideon arose and slew Zebah and Zalmunna; and he took the crescents that were on the necks of their camels.

²²Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, “Rule over us, you and your son and your grandson also; for you have delivered us out of the hand of Midian.” ²³Gideon said to them, “I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you; the Lord will rule over you.” ²⁴And Gideon said to them, “Let me make a request of you; give me every man of you the earrings of his spoil.” (For they had golden earrings, because they were Ishmaelites.) ²⁵And they answered, “We will willingly give them.” And they spread a garment, and every man cast in it the earrings of his spoil. ²⁶And the weight of the golden earrings that he requested was one thousand seven hundred shekels of gold; besides the crescents and the pendants and the purple garments worn by the kings of Midian, and besides the collars that were about the necks of their camels. ²⁷And Gideon made an ephod of it and put it in his city, in Ophrah; and all Israel played the harlot after it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and to his family. ²⁸So Midian was subdued before the people of Israel, and they lifted up their heads no more. And the land had rest forty years in the days of Gideon.

²⁹Jerubbaal the son of Joash went and dwelt in his own house. ³⁰Now Gideon had seventy sons, his own offspring, for he had many wives. ³¹And his concubine who was in Shechem also bore him a son, and he called his name Abimelech. ³²And Gideon the son of Joash died in a good old age, and was buried in the tomb of Joash his father, at Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

³³As soon as Gideon died, the people of Israel turned again and played the harlot after the Baals, and made Baal-berith their god. ³⁴And the people of Israel did not remember the Lord their God, who had rescued them from the hand of all their enemies on every side; ³⁵and they did not show kindness to the family of Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) in return for all the good that he had done to Israel.

Chapter 9

¹Now Abimelech the son of Jerubbaal went to Shechem to his mother’s kinsmen and said to them and to the whole clan of his mother’s family, ²“Say in the ears of all the citizens of Shechem, ‘Which is better for you, that all seventy of the sons of Jerubbaal rule over you, or that one rule over you?’ Remember also that I am your bone and your flesh.” ³And his mother’s kinsmen spoke all these words on his behalf in the ears of all the men of Shechem; and their hearts inclined to follow Abimelech, for they said, “He is our brother.” ⁴And they gave him seventy pieces of silver out of the house of Baal-berith with which Abimelech hired worthless and reckless fellows, who followed him. ⁵And he went to his father’s house at Ophrah, and slew his brothers the sons of Jerubbaal, seventy men, upon one stone; but Jotham the youngest son of Jerubbaal was left, for he hid himself. ⁶And all the citizens of Shechem came together, and all Beth-millo, and they went and made Abimelech king, by the oak of the pillar at Shechem.

⁷When it was told to Jotham, he went and stood on the top of Mount Gerizim, and cried aloud and said to them, “Listen to me, you men of Shechem, that God may listen to you. ⁸The trees once went forth to anoint a king over them; and they said to the olive tree, ‘Reign over us.’ ⁹But the olive tree said to them, ‘Shall I leave my fatness, by which gods and men are honored, and go to sway over the trees?’ ¹⁰And the trees said to the fig tree, ‘Come you, and reign over us.’ ¹¹But the fig tree said to them, ‘Shall I leave my sweetness and my good fruit, and go to sway over the trees?’ ¹²And the trees said to the vine, ‘Come you, and reign over us.’ ¹³But the vine said to them, ‘Shall I leave my wine which cheers gods and men, and go to sway over the trees?’ ¹⁴Then all the trees said to the bramble, ‘Come you, and reign over us.’ ¹⁵And the bramble said to the trees, ‘If in good faith you are anointing me king over you, then come and take refuge in my shade; but if not, let fire come out of the bramble and devour the cedars of Lebanon.’

¹⁶“Now therefore, if you acted in good faith and honor when you made Abimelech king, and if you have dealt well with Jerubbaal and his house, and have done to him as his deeds deserved— ¹⁷for my father fought for you, and risked his life, and rescued you from the hand of Midian; ¹⁸and you have risen up against my father’s house this day, and have slain his sons, seventy men on one stone, and have made Abimelech, the son of his maidservant, king over the citizens of Shechem, because he is your kinsman— ¹⁹if you then have acted in good faith and honor with Jerubbaal and with his house this day, then rejoice in Abimelech, and let him also rejoice in you; ²⁰but if not, let fire come out from Abimelech, and devour the citizens of Shechem, and Beth-millo; and let fire come out from the citizens of Shechem, and from Beth-millo, and devour Abimelech.” ²¹And Jotham ran away and fled, and went to Beer and dwelt there, for fear of Abimelech his brother.

²²Abimelech ruled over Israel three years. ²³And God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men of Shechem; and the men of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech; ²⁴that the violence done to the seventy sons of Jerubbaal might come and their blood be laid upon Abimelech their brother, who slew them, and upon the men of Shechem, who strengthened his hands to slay his brothers. ²⁵And the men of Shechem put men in ambush against him on the mountain tops, and they robbed all who passed by them along that way; and it was told Abimelech.

²⁶And Gaal the son of Ebed moved into Shechem with his kinsmen; and the men of Shechem put confidence in him. ²⁷And they went out into the field, and gathered the grapes from their vineyards and trod them, and held festival, and went into the house of their god, and ate and drank and reviled Abimelech. ²⁸And Gaal the son of Ebed said, “Who is Abimelech, and who are we of Shechem, that we should serve him? Did not the son of Jerubbaal and Zebul his officer serve the men of Hamor the father of Shechem? Why then should we serve him? ²⁹Would that this people were under my hand! then I would remove Abimelech. I would say^l to Abimelech, ‘Increase your army, and come out.’ ”

³⁰When Zebul the ruler of the city heard the words of Gaal the son of Ebed, his anger was kindled. ³¹And he sent messengers to Abimelech at Arumah,^m saying, “Behold, Gaal the son of Ebed and his kinsmen have come to Shechem, and they are stirring upⁿ the city against you. ³²Now therefore, go by night, you and the men that are with you, and lie in wait in the fields. ³³Then in the morning, as soon as the sun is up, rise early and rush upon the city; and when he and the men that are with him come out against you, you may do to them as occasion offers.”

³⁴And Abimelech and all the men that were with him rose up by night, …