Judges 8

1 And the men of Ephraim said to him, Why have thou done thus to us, that thou did not call us when thou went to fight with Midian? And they chided with him sharply.

2 And he said to them, What have I now done in comparison with you? Is not the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the vintage of Abiezer?

3 God has delivered into your hand the rulers of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb, and what was I able to do in comparison with you? Then their anger was abated toward him when he had said that.

4 And Gideon came to the Jordan, and passed over, he, and the three hundred men who were with him, faint, yet pursuing.

5 And he said to the men of Succoth, Give, I pray you, loaves of bread to the people who follow me, for they are faint, and I am pursuing after Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian.

6 And the rulers of Succoth said, Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in thy hand that we should give bread to thine army?

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

8 And he went up from there to Penuel, and spoke to them in like manner, and the men of Penuel answered him as the men of Succoth had answered.

9 And he spoke also to the men of Penuel, saying, When I come again in peace, I will break down this tower.

10 Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor, and their armies with them, about fifteen thousand men, all who were left of all the army of the sons of the east, for there fell a hundred and twenty thousand men who drew a sword.

11 And Gideon went up by the way of those who dwelt in tents on the east of Nobah and Jogbehah, and smote the army, for the army was confident.

12 And Zebah and Zalmunna fled, and he pursued after them. And he took the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and discomfited all the army.

13 And Gideon the son of Joash returned from the battle from the ascent of Heres.

14 And he caught a young man of the men of Succoth, and inquired of him. And he described for him the rulers of Succoth, and the elders of it, seventy-seven men.

15 And he came to the men of Succoth, and said, Behold Zebah and Zalmunna, concerning whom ye taunted me, saying, Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in thy hand, that we should give bread to thy men who are weary?

16 And he took the elders of the city, and thorns of the wilderness and briers, and with them he taught the men of Succoth.

17 And he broke down the tower of Penuel, and killed the men of the city.

18 Then he said to Zebah and Zalmunna, What manner of men were they whom ye killed at Tabor? And they answered, As thou are, so were they. Each one resembled the sons of a king.

19 And he said, They were my brothers, the sons of my mother. As Jehovah lives, if ye had saved them alive, I would not kill you.

20 And he said to Jether his firstborn, Up, and kill them. But the youth did not draw his sword, for he feared because he was yet a youth.

21 Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, Rise thou, and fall upon us, for as the man is, so is his strength. And Gideon arose, and killed Zebah and Zalmunna, and took the crescents that were on their camels' necks.

22 Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, Rule thou over us, both thou, and thy son, and thy son's son also, for thou have saved us out of the hand of Midian.

23 And Gideon said to them, I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you. Jehovah shall rule over you.

24 And Gideon said to them, I would make a request of you, that ye would give me every man the earrings of his spoil. (For they had golden earrings, because they were Ishmaelites.)

25 And they answered, We will willingly give them. And they spread a garment, and cast in it every man the earrings of his spoil.

26 And the weight of the golden earrings that he requested was a thousand and seven hundred shekels of gold, besides the crescents, and the pendants, and the purple raiment that was on the kings of Midian, and besides the chains that were about their camels' necks.

27 And Gideon made an ephod of it, and put it in his city, even in Ophrah. And all Israel played the harlot after it there, and it became a snare to Gideon, and to his house.

28 So Midian was subdued before the sons of Israel, and they lifted up their heads no more. And the land had rest forty years in the days of Gideon.

29 And Jerubbaal the son of Joash went and dwelt in his own house.

30 And Gideon had seventy sons begotten from his body, for he had many wives.

31 And his concubine who was in Shechem, she also bore him a son, and he called his name Abimelech.

32 And Gideon the son of Joash died in a good old age, and was buried in the sepulcher of Joash his father, in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

33 And it came to pass, as soon as Gideon was dead, that the sons of Israel turned again, and played the harlot after the Baalim, and made Baal-berith their god.

34 And the sons of Israel did not remember Jehovah their God, who had delivered them out of the hand of all their enemies on every side,

35 neither did they show kindness to the house of Jerubbaal, who is Gideon, according to all the goodness which he had shown to Israel.