Gideon Subdues the Midianites
1 Nowthe 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.
2 So he said to them, “What have I done now in comparison with you?Isnot the gleaningofthegrapesof Ephraim better than the vintage ofAbiezer?
3 God has delivered into your hands the princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb. And what was I able to do in comparison with you?” Then theiranger toward him subsided when he said that.
4 When Gideon cameto the Jordan, he andthe three hundred men whowerewith him crossed over, exhausted but still in pursuit.
5 Then he said to the men ofSuccoth, “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.”
6 And the leaders of Succoth said,“Arethe hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in your hand, thatwe should give bread to your army?”
7 So Gideon said, “For this cause, when theLordhas delivered Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand,then I will tear your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness and with briers!”
8 Then he went up from thereto Penuel and spoke to them in the same way. And the men of Penuel answered him as the men of Succoth had answered.
9 So he also spoke to the men of Penuel, saying, “When Icome back in peace,I will tear down this tower!”
10 Now Zebah and Zalmunnawereat Karkor, and their armies with them, about fifteen thousand, all who were left ofall the army of the people of the East; forone hundred and twenty thousand men who drew the sword had fallen.
11 Then Gideon went up by the road of those who dwell in tents on the east ofNobah and Jogbehah; and he attacked the army while the camp feltsecure.
12 When Zebah and Zalmunna fled, he pursued them; and hetook the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and routed the whole army.
13 Then Gideon the son of Joash returned from battle, from the Ascent of Heres.
14 And 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.
15 Then he came to the men of Succoth and said, “Here are Zebah and Zalmunna, about whom youridiculed me, saying, ‘Arethe hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in your hand, that we should give bread to your weary men?’ ”
16 And he took the elders of the city, and thorns of the wilderness and briers, and with them he taught the men of Succoth.
17 Then he tore down the tower ofPenuel and killed the men of the city.
18 And he said to Zebah and Zalmunna, “What kind of menweretheywhom you killed atTabor?”
So they answered, “As youare,sowerethey; each one resembled the son of a king.”
19 Then he said, “Theyweremy brothers, the sons of my mother.AstheLordlives, if you had let them live, I would not kill you.”
20 And he said to Jether his firstborn, “Rise, kill them!” But the youth would not draw his sword; for he was afraid, because hewasstill a youth.
21 So Zebah and Zalmunna said, “Rise yourself, and kill us; for as a manis, so ishis strength.” So Gideon arose andkilled Zebah and Zalmunna, and took the crescent ornaments thatwereon their camels’ necks.
Gideon’s Ephod
22 Then the men of Israel said to Gideon,“Rule over us, both you and your son, and your grandson also; for you havedelivered us from the hand of Midian.”
23 But Gideon said to them, “I will not rule over you, nor shall my son rule over you;theLordshall rule over you.”
24 Then Gideon said to them, “I would like to make a request of you, that each of you would give me the earrings from his plunder.” For they had golden earrings,because theywereIshmaelites.
25 So they answered, “We will gladly givethem.” And they spread out a garment, and each man threw into it the earrings from his plunder.
26 Now the weight of the gold earrings that he requested was one thousand seven hundredshekelsof gold, besides the crescent ornaments, pendants, and purple robes whichwereon the kings of Midian, and besides the chains thatwerearound their camels’ necks.
27 Then Gideonmade it into an ephod and set it up in his city,Ophrah. And all Israelplayed the harlot with it there. It becamea snare to Gideon and to his house.
28 Thus Midian was subdued before the children of Israel, so that they lifted their heads no more.And the country was quiet for forty years in the days of Gideon.
Death of Gideon
29 ThenJerubbaal the son of Joash went and dwelt in his own house.
30 Gideon hadseventy sons who were his own offspring, for he had many wives.
31 And his concubine whowasin Shechem also bore him a son, whose name he called Abimelech.
32 Now Gideon the son of Joash diedat a good old age, and was buried in the tomb of Joash his father,in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
33 So it was,as soon as Gideon was dead, that the children of Israel againplayed the harlot with the Baals,and made Baal-Berith their god.
34 Thus the children of Israeldid not remember theLordtheir God, who had delivered them from the hands of all their enemies on every side;
35 nor did they show kindness to the house of Jerubbaal (Gideon) in accordance with the good he had done for Israel.