Judges 8

1 And the men of Ephraim said to Gideon, “What is this thing you have done to us — not calling us when you went out to fight against Midian?” And they argued with him fiercely. 2 And he said to them, “What have I done now, compared with you? Is not the gleaning of Ephraim better than the vintage of Abiezer? 3 The Lord handed the rulers of Midian over into your hand — Oreb and Zeeb. And what was I able to do, compared with you?” Then their spirit toward him died down, when he had spoken this word.

4 And Gideon came to the Jordan and crossed over, he and the three hundred men with him, hungry, and still pursuing. 5 And he said to the men of Succoth, “Give bread, please, to feed this people who follow at my feet, because they are giving out; and here I am, pursuing after Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian.” 6 And the rulers of Succoth said, “Is the hand of Zebah and Zalmunna in your hand now? We will not give bread to your army.”

7 And Gideon said, “So then, when the Lord gives Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, I will thresh your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness and with the *abarkenin*.” [a] 8 And he went up from there to Penuel and spoke to them in the same way; and the men of Penuel answered him just as the men of Succoth had answered him. 9 And Gideon said to the men of Penuel, “When I come back in peace, I will tear down this tower.”

10 Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor, and their camp was with them, about fifteen thousand — all who were left of the whole camp of the Philistines; and those who had fallen were a hundred and twenty thousand men who drew the sword. [b] 11 And Gideon went up by the road of those who live in tents, east of Nobah and Jogbehah, and struck the camp; and the camp had thought itself safe. 12 And Zebah and Zalmunna fled, and he pursued after them and seized the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and threw the whole camp into panic.

13 And Gideon son of Joash came back from the battle, down from the battle line of Heres. 14 And he caught a young boy from the men of Succoth and questioned him; and the boy wrote down for him the names of the rulers of Succoth and of their elders, seventy-seven men. 15 And Gideon came to the rulers of Succoth and said, “Here are Zebah and Zalmunna, about whom you taunted me, saying, ‘Is the hand of Zebah and Zalmunna in your hand now, that we should give bread to the men who are giving out?’” 16 And he took the elders of the city with the thorns of the wilderness and the *barakenim*, and with them he threshed the men of the city. 17 And he tore down the tower of Penuel and killed the men of the city.

18 And he said to Zebah and Zalmunna, “Where are the men you killed at Tabor?” And they said, “As you are, so were they — each one like the son of a king.” 19 And Gideon said, “They were my brothers, the sons of my mother. As the Lord lives, if you had kept them alive, I would not have killed you.” 20 And he said to Jether his firstborn, “Get up and kill them.” But the boy did not draw his sword, because he was afraid — he was still very young. 21 And Zebah and Zalmunna said, “Get up yourself and come at us, because the strength you have is a man's.” And Gideon got up and killed Zebah and Zalmunna, and he took the crescents that were on the necks of their camels.

22 And the men of Israel said to Gideon, “Rule over us, my lord — you and your son — because you have saved us out of the hand of Midian.” [c] 23 And Gideon said to them, “I will not rule, and my son will not rule among you. The Lord will rule over you.” 24 And Gideon said to them, “I will make a request of you: let each man give me an earring out of his spoils.” For they had gold earrings, because they were Ishmaelites. 25 And they said, “We will certainly give them.” And he spread out his cloak, and each man threw into it an earring from his spoils.

26 And the weight of the gold earrings that he asked for was fifteen hundred pieces of gold — about thirty-seven pounds of it — besides the crescents and the chains and the garments and the purple robes that were on the kings of Midian, and apart from the collars that were on the necks of their camels. [d] 27 And Gideon made it into an ephod and set it up in his city, in Ophrah; and all Israel went whoring after it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and to his house. [e] 28 And Midian was hemmed in before the children of Israel, and they did not lift up their head again. And the land had rest forty years in the days of Gideon.

29 And Jerubbaal son of Joash went and settled in his own house. 30 And Gideon had seventy sons who came from his own body, because he had many wives. 31 And his concubine was in Shechem, and she also bore him a son, and gave him the name Abimelech. 32 And Gideon son of Joash died in his own city, and he was buried in the tomb of Joash his father, in Ophrah of Abiezer.

33 And when Gideon was dead, the children of Israel turned back and went whoring after the Baals, and made themselves a covenant with Baal, that he should be their god. 34 And the children of Israel did not remember the Lord God, who had rescued them out of the hand of all who oppressed them on every side. 35 And they did not show mercy to the house of Jerubbaal — that is, Gideon — for all the good he had done for Israel.