Gideon Defeats Zebah and Zalmunna

1And the men of Ephraim said to him, “What is this thing you have done to us by not calling us when you went to fight against Midian?” And they contended with him in strength.

2And he said to them, “What have I done now compared to you⁺? Are not the gleanings of Ephraim better than the vintage of Abiezer? 3Into your⁺ hands God has delivered the princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb. And what was I able to do compared to you⁺?” Then their spirit† subsided toward him when he said this word.

4And Gideon came to the Jordan, passing over, he and the three hundred men who were with him, exhausted and pursuing. 5And he said to the men of Succoth, “Give, please, loaves of bread to the people who are at my feet, for they are exhausted, and I am pursuing after Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian.”

6And the leaders of Succoth said, “Is the palm of Zebah and Zalmunna now in your hand, that we should give bread to your army?”

7And Gideon said, “Therefore, when YHWH has delivered Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, I will tear your⁺ flesh with the thorns of the wilderness, and with briers.”

8And he went up from there to Penuel,† and spoke to them thus; and the men of Penuel answered him as had answered the men of Succoth. 9And he spoke also to the men of Penuel, saying, “When I come back in peace, I will tear down this tower.”

10And Zebah and Zalmunna were at Karkor, and their camps with them, about fifteen thousand, all who were left of all the camp of the sons of the East; for had fallen a hundred and twenty thousand men who drew the sword. 11And Gideon went up by the road of those who dwell in tents on the east of Nobah and Jogbehah, and he attacked the camp, and the camp was in security. 12And Zebah and Zalmunna fled, and he pursued them, and he took the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and all the camp he made tremble.

13And Gideon son of Joash returned from battle along the Ascent of Heres. 14And he caught a young man of the men of Succoth and questioned him, and he wrote down for him the leaders of Succoth and its elders—seventy-seven men.

15And he came to the men of Succoth and said, “Here are Zebah and Zalmunna, about whom you⁺ taunted me, saying, ‘Is the palm of Zebah and Zalmunna now in your hand, that we should give bread to your men who are weary?’” 16And he took the elders of the city, and thorns of the wilderness and briers, and he taught with them the men of Succoth. 17And he tore down the tower of Penuel and killed the men of the city.

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

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

19And he said, “They were my brothers, the sons of my mother. As YHWH lives, if you⁺ had let them live, I would not kill you⁺.”

20And he said to Jether his firstborn, “Rise and kill them.” And the youth would not draw his sword, for he was afraid, for he was still a youth.

21And Zebah and Zalmunna said, “Rise yourself and kill us, for as the man, is his strength.” And Gideon arose and killed Zebah and Zalmunna, and he took the crescent ornaments that were on the necks of their camels.

Gideon’s Ephod

22And the men of Israel said to Gideon, “Rule over us, both you and also your son, and your son’s son, for you have delivered us from the hand of Midian.”

23And Gideon said to them, “I will not rule over you⁺, nor shall my son rule over you⁺. YHWH shall rule over you⁺.”

24And Gideon said to them, “I would like to make a request of you⁺, that would give to me, each of you, the rings from his plunder.” (For gold rings were unto them, because they were Ishmaelites.)

25And they answered, “We will give them gladly.”

And they spread out a garment, and each man threw into it the rings from his plunder. 26And the weight of the gold rings that he requested was a thousand and seven hundred shekels of gold,† apart from the crescent ornaments and pendants and purple robes that were on the kings of Midian, and apart from the chains that were around the necks of their camels.

27And Gideon made it into an ephod and set it up in his city, in Ophrah. And all Israel played the prostitute with it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and to his house.

Forty Years of Peace

28And Midian was subdued before the faces of the sons of Israel, so that no more they lifted up their head. And the country was quiet forty years in the days of Gideon. 29And Jerubbaal† son of Joash went and dwelt in his own house.

30And Gideon had seventy sons coming from his loin,† for unto him were many wives, 31and his concubine who was in Shechem, and she also bore him a son, and he called his name Abimelech.

Gideon’s Death

32And Gideon son of Joash died at a good old age, and he was buried in the tomb of Joash his father in Ophrah of the Abi-ezrites.

33And it came to pass, as soon as Gideon was dead, that the sons of Israel turned back and played the prostitute with the Baals, and they set up to them Baal-berith for a god.

34And the sons of Israel did not remember YHWH their God, who had delivered them from the hands of all their enemies on every side, 35nor did they show kindness to the house of Jerubbaal (Gideon) in accordance with the good that he had done for Israel.