Gideon Defeats Zebah and Zalmunna

1And the men of Ephraim said to him: What is this that thou meanest to do, that thou wouldst not call us when thou wentest to fight against Madian? and they chid him sharply and almost offered violence. 2And he answered them: What could I have done like to that which you have done? Is not one bunch of grapes of Ephraim better than the vintages of Abiezer? 3The Lord hath delivered into your bands the princes of Madian, Oreb and Zeb: what could I have done like to what you have done? And when he had said this, their spirit was appeased, with which they swelled against him.

4And when Gedeon was come to the Jordan, he passed over it with the three hundred men, that were with him: who were so weary that they could not pursue after them that fled. 5And he said to the men of Soccoth: Give, I beseech you, bread to the people that is with me, for they are faint: that we may pursue Zebee, and Salmana the kings of Madian. 6The princes of Soccoth answered: Peradventure the palms of the hands of Zebee and Salmana are in thy hand, and therefore thou demandest that we should give bread to thy army. 7And he said to them: When the Lord therefore shall have delivered Zebee and Salmana into my hands, I will thresh your flesh with the thorns and briers of the desert. 8And going up from thence, he came to Phanuel: and he spoke the like things to the men of that place. And they also answered him, as the men of Soccoth had answered. 9He said therefore to them also: When I shall return a conqueror in peace, I will destroy this tower.

10But Zebee and Salmana were resting with all their army. For fifteen thousand men were left of all the troops of the eastern people, and one hundred and twenty thousand warriors that drew the sword, were slain. 11And Gedeon went up by the way of them that dwelt in tents, on the east of Nobe and Jegbaa, and smote the camp of the enemies, who were secure, and suspected no hurt. 12And Zebee and Salmana fled, and Gedeon pursued and took them, all their host being put in confusion.

13And returning from the battle before the sun rising, 14He took a boy of the men of Soccoth: and he asked him the names of the princes and ancients of Soccoth, and he described unto him seventy-seven men. 15And he came to Soccoth and said to them: Behold Zebee and Salmana, concerning whom you upbraided me, saying: Peradventure the hands of Zebee and Salmana, are in thy hands, and therefore thou demandest that we should give bread to the men that are weary and faint. 16So he took the ancients of the city and thorns and briers of the desert, and tore them with the same, and cut in pieces the men of Soccoth. 17And he demolished the tower of Phanuel, and slew the men of the city.

18And he said to Zebee and Salmana: What manner of men were they whom you slew in Thabor? They answered: They were like thee, and one of them as the son of a king. 19He answered them: They were my brethren, the sons of my mother. As the Lord liveth, if you had saved them, I would not kill you. 20And he said to Jether his eldest son: Arise, and slay them. But he drew not his sword: for he was afraid, being but yet a boy. 21And Zebee and Salmana said: Do thou rise, and run upon us: because the strength of a man is according to his age: Gedeon rose up and slew Zebee and Salmana: and he took the ornaments and bosses, with which the necks of the camels of kings are wont to be adorned.

Gideon's Ephod

22And all the men of Israel said to Gedeon: Rule thou over us and thy son, and thy son's son: because thou hast delivered us from the hand of Madian. 23And he said to them: I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you, but the Lord shall rule over you. 24And he said to them: I desire one request of you: Give me the earlets of your spoils. For the Ismaelites were accustomed to wear golden earlets. 25They answered: We will give them most willingly. And spreading a mantle on the ground, they cast upon it the earlets of the spoils. 26And the weight of the earlets that he requested, was a thousand seven hundred sicles of gold, besides the ornaments, and jewels, and purple raiment which the kings of Madian were went to use, and besides the golden chains that were about the camels' necks. 27And Gedeon made an ephod thereof, and put it in his city Ephra. And all Israel committed fornication with it, and it became a ruin to Gedeon and to all his house.

Forty Years of Peace

28But Madian was humbled before the children of Israel, neither could they any more lift up their beads: but the land rested for forty years, while Gedeon presided.

29So Jerobaal the son of Joas went, and dwelt in his own house. 30And he had seventy sons, who came out of his thigh, for he had many wives. 31And his concubine, that he had in Sichem, bore him a son, whose name was Abimelech.

Gideon's Death

32And Gedeon the son of Joas died in a good old age, and was buried in the sepulchre of his father in Ephra of the family of Ezri.

33But after Gedeon was dead, the children of Israel turned again, and committed fornication with Baalim. And they made a covenant with Baal, that he should be their god: 34And they remembered not the Lord their God, who delivered them out of the hands of all their enemies round about: 35Neither did they shew mercy to the house of Jerobaal Gedeon, according to all the good things he had done to Israel.