Gideon Defeats Zebah and Zalmunna

1And the men of Ephraim sayde vnto him: Wherfore hast thou done this vnto vs, that thou hast not called vs, wha thou wentest forth to fight agaynst ye Madianites? and they chode sore with him. 2But he sayde vnto them: What haue I done now that is like youre acte? Is not the aftergadderynge of Ephraim better then the whole haruest of Abieser? 3God hath delyuered ye prynces of the Madianites Oreb and Zeb in to youre hande, how coulde I do that ye haue done? Whaa he had sayde this, their blast was swaged from him.

4Now whan Gedeon came vnto Iordane, he wente ouer with the thre hundreth me that were with him, and they were weery, and folowed vpon their chace. 5And he sayde vnto the men of Sucoth: I praye you geue the people that are with me, some loaues of bred (for they are weery) that I maye folowe vpon Zebea and Salmana the kinges of the Madianites. 6But the rulers of Sucoth sayde: Are the handes of Zebea and Salmana in thy handes allready, that we must geue bred vnto thy men of warre? 7Gedeon sayde: Well, whan the LORDE delyuereth Zebea and Salmana in to my hade, I wyll thresshe youre flesh with thornes of the wyldernesse and with breares. 8And from thence he wente vp vnto Penuel, and spake euen so vnto them. And the me of Penuel gaue him like answere as they of Sucoth. 9And he sayde also vnto the men of Penuel: Yf I come peaceably agayne, I wil breake downe this tower.

10As for Zebea and Salmana, they were at Karkar, and their hoost with them vpon a fyftene thousande, which were all that were lefte of the whole hoost of the children of the Easte: for there were fallen an hundreth and twentye thousande, that coulde drawe the swerde. 11And Gedeon wente vp by the waye, where they dwell in the tentes on the east side of Nobah and Iakbeha, & smote the hoost, for the hoost was carelesse, and mystrusted nothinge. 12And Zebea and Salmana fled, but he folowed after them, and toke ye two kynges of the Madianites Zebea and Salmana, and put all the hoost in feare.

13Now whan Gedeon ye sonne of Ioas came agayne fro the battayll out of ye east, 14he toke a lad of the men of Sucoth, & examyned him, which wrote him vp the names of the rulers of Sucoth, and their Elders, eue threscore and seuentene men. 15And he came to the men of Sucoth, & sayde: Beholde, here is Zebea & Salmana, cocernynge who ye laughed me to scorne, & sayde: Are the handes of Zebea and Salmana in thy hades all ready, that we must geue bred vnto thy men which are weery? 16And he toke the Elders of the cite, and thornes out of the wildernes, and breres, and caused ye men of Sucoth to be torne therwith. 17And the tower of Penuel brake he downe, and slewe the men of the cite.

18And he saide vnto Zebea and Salmana: What maner of me were they who ye slewe at Thabor? They sayde: They were euen like the, & goodly men, as yf they had bene a kynges childre. 19He sayde: They were my brethren, euen my mother sonnes: As truly as the LORDE lyueth, yf ye had lette them lyue, I wolde not slaye you. 20And he saide vnto his first borne sonne Iether: Stonde vp, & slaye them. Howbeit the lad drue not out his swerde, for he was afrayed, for so moch as he was yet but a lad. 21Zebea & Salmana sayde: Stonde thou vp, & slaye vs, for as the man is, soch is also his stregth. So Gedeon arose, and slewe Zebea and Salmana, and toke the ornamentes that were aboute their Camels neckes.

Gideon’s Ephod

22Then sayde certayne in Israel vnto Gedeon: Be thou lorde ouer vs, thou and thy sonne, and thy sonnes sonne, for so moch as thou hast delyuered vs from ye hande of ye Madianites. 23Neuertheles Gedeon saide vnto them: I wil not be lorde ouer you, nether shal my sonne be lorde ouer you, but the LORDE shalbe lorde ouer you. 24Gedeon sayde vnto them: One thinge I desyre of you, Euery man geue me the earinge that he hath spoyled. (For in so moch as ye men were Ismaelites, they had earinges.) 25They sayde: Them wyll we geue the. And they spred out a cloth, and euery man cast the earinge theron that he had spoyled. 26And the golden earynges which he requyred, had in weight, a thousande and seuen hundreth Sycles of golde, besyde the spanges and cheynes, and scarlet rayment which the kynges of the Madianites dyd weere, and besyde the neckbandes of their Camels. 27And Gideon made a cote armoure therof, and set it in his cite at Aphra. And all Israel wente there a whoringe after it, and it turned to an occasion of fallinge vnto Gedeon and his house.

Forty Years of Peace

28Thus were ye Madianites brought downe before the children of Israel, and lifte vp their heade nomore: and the londe was in rest fortye yeares, as loge as Gedeon lyued.

29And Ierubaal the sonne of Ioas wete & dwelt in his house. 30And Gedeon Had thre score & ten sonnes, which were come out of his thye: for he had many wyues. 31And his concubyne which he had at Siche, bare him a sonne also, whom he called Abimelech.

Gideon’s Death

32And Gideon the sonne of Ioas dyed in a good age, & was buried at Aphra in ye sepulcre of his father Ioas the father of the Esrites.

33But whan Gedeon was deed, the childre of Israel turned backe, and wente awhoringe after Baalim, and made a couenaunt wt Baal Berith, yt he shulde be their God. 34And ye childre of Israel thoughte not on ye LORDE their God, which had delyuered them fro the hande of their enemies rounde aboute: 35and they shewed not mercy vnto the house of Ierubaal Gedeon, acordinge to all the good that he had done vnto Israel.