1   The men of Ephraim said to Gideon, ‘Why have you treated us like this? Why did you not summon us when you went to fight Midian?’; and they reproached him violently. 2   But he said to them, ‘What have I done compared with you? Are not Ephraim's gleanings better than the whole vintage of Abiezer? 3   God has delivered Oreb and Zeeb, the princes of Midian, into your hands. What have I done compared with you?’ At these words of his, their anger died down.

4   Gideon came to the Jordan, and he and his three hundred men crossed over to continue the pursuit, weary though they were. 5   He said to the men of Succoth, ‘Will you give these men of mine some bread, for they are weary, and I am pursuing Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian?’ 6   But the chief men of Succoth replied, ‘Are Zebah and Zalmunna already in your hands, that we should give your army bread?’ 7   Gideon said, ‘For that, when the Lord delivers Zebah and Zalmunna into my hands, I will thresh your bodies with desert thorns and briars.’ 8   He went on from there to Penuel and made the same request; the men of Penuel answered like the men of Succoth. 9   He said to the men of Penuel, ‘When I return safely, I will pull down your castle.’

10   Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor with their army of fifteen thousand men. These were all that remained of the whole host of the eastern tribes; a hundred and twenty thousand armed men had fallen in battle. 11   Gideon advanced along the track used by the tent-dwellers east of Nobah and Jogbehah, and his attack caught the army when they were off their guard. 12   Zebah and Zalmunna fled; but he went in

Israel under the judges pursuit of these Midianite kings and captured them both; and their whole army melted away.

13   As Gideon son of Joash was returning from the battle by the Ascent of Heres, he caught a young man from Succoth. 14   He questioned him, and one by one he numbered off the names of the rulers of Succoth and its elders, seventy-seven in all. 15   Gideon then came to the men of Succoth and said, ‘Here are Zebah and Zalmunna, about whom you taunted me. “Are Zebah and Zalmunna”, you said, “already in your hands, that we should give your weary men bread?”’ 16   Then he took the elders of the city and he disciplined those men of Succoth with desert thorns and briars. 17   He also pulled down the castle of Penuel and put the men of the city to death. 18   Then he said to Zebah and Zalmunna, ‘What of the men you killed in Tabor?’ They answered, ‘They were like you, every one had the look of a king's son.’ 19   ‘They were my brothers,’ he said, ‘my mother's sons. I swear by the Lord, if you had let them live I would not have killed you’; 20   and he said to his eldest son Jether, ‘Up with you, and kill them.’ But he was still only a lad, and did not draw his sword, because he was afraid. 21   So Zebah and Zalmunna said, ‘Rise up yourself and dispatch us, for you have ^note a man's strength.’ So Gideon rose and killed them both, and he took the crescents from the necks of their camels.

22   After this the Israelites said to Gideon, ‘You have saved us from the Midianites; now you be our ruler, you and your son and your grandson.’ 23   Gideon replied, ‘I will not rule over you, nor shall my son; the Lord will rule over you.’ 24   Then he said, ‘I have a request to make: will every one of you give me the earrings from his booty?’—for the enemy wore golden earrings, being Ishmaelites. 25   They said, ‘Of course, we will give them.’ So a cloak was spread out and every man threw on to it the golden earrings from his booty. 26   The earrings for which he asked weighed seventeen hundred shekels of gold; this was in addition to the crescents and pendants and the purple cloaks worn by the Midianite kings, not counting the chains on the necks of their camels. 27   Gideon made it into an ephod and he set it up in his own city of Ophrah. All the Israelites turned wantonly to its worship, and it became a trap to catch Gideon and his household.

28   Thus the Midianites were subdued by the Israelites; they could no longer hold up their heads. For forty years the land was at peace, all the lifetime of Gideon, that is Jerubbaal son of Joash; 29   and he retired to his own home. 30   Gideon had seventy sons, his own offspring, for he had many wives. 31   He had a concubine who lived in Shechem, and she also bore him a son, whom he named Abimelech. 32   Gideon son of Joash died at a ripe old age and was buried in his father's grave at Ophrah-of-the-Abiezrites.

Israel under the judges 33   After his death, the Israelites again went wantonly to the worship of the Baalim and made Baal-berith their god. 34   They forgot the Lord their God who had delivered them from their enemies on every side, 35   and did not show to the family of Jerubbaal, that is Gideon, the loyalty that was due to them for all the good he had done for Israel.

Previous section

Next section