Judges 8

1 Then the men of Ephraim asked Gideon, “Why have you treated us like this? Why didn't you call us when you went to attack the Midianite?” They argued furiously with him.

And the men of Ephraim said unto him—What is this thing thou hast done to us, in not calling us, when thou wentest to fight with Midian? And they did chide with him, sharply.

2 “Now what have I achieved in comparison to you?” Gideon replied. “Even Ephraim's left-over grapes are better than Abiezer's whole grape harvest!

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

3 God handed over to you Oreb and Zeeb, the two Midianite commanders. What have I managed to achieve in comparison to you?” When he told them this their animosity towards him died down.

Into your hand, hath God delivered the princes of Midian—Oreb and Zeeb, what then had I been able to do in comparison with you? Then, was their spirit softened toward him, when he had spoken this word.

4 Then Gideon crossed the Jordan with his three hundred men. Even though they were exhausted they continued the chase.

And Gideon came towards the Jordan, being about to pass over—he, and the three hundred men who were with him, faint yet pursuing.

5 When they got to Succoth, Gideon asked the people there, “Please provide some bread to the men with me because they're worn out—I'm pursuing Zebah and Zalmunna, the Midianite kings.”

So he said unto the men of Succoth, Give, I pray you, loaves of bread to the people that are following me; for, faint, they are, and, I, am in pursuit of Zebah and Zalmunna, kings of Midian.

6 But the Succoth town leaders replied, “Why should we give your army bread when you haven't even captured Zebah and Zalmunna yet?”

And the princes of Succoth said, Are the palms of the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in thy power, —that we should give to thine army bread?

7 “In that case, once the Lord has handed Zebah and Zalmunna over to me, I'll return and thrash you with thorns and briers from the desert!” Gideon replied.

And Gideon said, Therefore, when Yahweh hath delivered Zebah and Zalmunna into my power, then will I tear your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness, and with the nettles.

8 He left and went to Penuel and asked them the same thing, but the people of Penuel answered the same way as the people of Succoth.

So he went up from thence, to Penuel, and spake unto them in like manner, —and the men of Penuel answered him, as had answered the men of Succoth.

9 So he told them, “When I return victorious, I'll demolish this tower!”

So he spake to the men of Penuel also, saying, —When I return with success, I will break down this tower.

10 Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor with their armies of around fifteen thousand men. These were all who remained of the armies of the people of the East—one hundred and twenty thousand swordsmen had already been killed.

Now, Zebah and Zalmunna, were in Karkor, and their hosts with them, about fifteen thousand, all that were left out of all the host of the sons of the east, —and, the fallen, were a hundred and twenty thousand men, who had drawn the sword.

11 Gideon took the caravan route to the east of Nobah and Jogbehah, and he attacked their army, catching them offguard.

So Gideon went up by the way of the tent-dwellers, on the east of Nobah and Jogbehah, and smote the host, when, the host, had become secure.

12 Zebah and Zalmunna ran away, but he chased after the two Midianite kings and captured them, defeating the whole of their terrified army.

And when Zebah and Zalmunna fled, then he pursued them, and captured the two kings of Midian—Zebah and Zalmunna, and, all the host, put he in terror.

13 Then Gideon, son of Joash, returned from the battle through the Heres Pass.

And Gideon son of Joash returned from the battle, —from the ascent of Heres;

14 There he captured a young man from Succoth and questioned him. The man wrote down for him the names of the seventy-seven leaders and elders of Succoth.

and caught a young man, of the men of Succoth, and enquired of him, —so he wrote down for him the princes of Succoth, and the elders thereof, seventy-seven men.

15 Gideon went and said to the Sukkoth town leaders, “Here are Zebah and Zalmunna, the ones you taunted me about when you said, ‘Why should we give your exhausted army bread when you haven't even captured Zebah and Zalmunna yet?’”

Then came he in unto the men of Succoth, and said, Lo! Zebah and Zalmunna, —concerning whom ye did taunt me, saying—Are the palms of the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in thy power, that we should give to thy weary men bread?

16 So he took the town elders of Succoth and taught them a lesson using thorns and briers from the desert.

So he took the elders of the city, and the thorns of the wilderness and the nettles, and taught therewith the men of Succoth:

17 He also demolished the tower of Peniel and killed the men of the town.

the tower of Penuel also, brake he down, —and slew the men of the city.

18 Then Gideon asked Zebah and Zalmunna, “What were they like, the men you killed at Tabor?” “They looked like you,” they answered. “Each of them had the stature of a prince.”

Then said he unto Zebah and unto Zalmunna, What manner of men were they, whom ye slew at Tabor? And they said, As thou art, so were they, each one, as handsome as the sons of a king.

19 “Those were my brothers, my mother's sons,” Gideon burst out. “As the Lord lives, if you had let them live, I wouldn't kill you!”

And he said: My brethren, sons of my mother, they were! As Yahweh liveth, if ye had saved them alive, I would not have slain you.

20 He told Jether, his oldest son, “Go on, kill them!” But the boy refused to draw his sword, because he was young and afraid.

So he said to Jether his firstborn, Up! slay them. But the youth drew not his sword, for he feared, because he was yet a youth.

21 Zebah and Zalmunna said to Gideon, “Come on, you do it! Show yourself a man and kill us!” So Gideon went over and killed Zebah and Zalmunna, and he took the crescent-shaped ornaments from the necks of their camels.

Then said Zebah and Zalmunna—Up! thou, and fall upon us, for, like the man, is his might. So Gideon arose, and slew Zebah and Zalmunna, and took the crescents that were on the necks of their camels.

22 Then the Israelites said to Gideon, “You must become our ruler, you, your son, and your grandson; because you've saved us from the Midianites.”

Then said the men of Israel, unto Gideon, Rule over us—even thou, and thy son, and thy son’s son, —for thou hast saved us out of the power of Midian.

23 “I won't be your ruler, and my son won't either,” Gideon replied. “The Lord will be your ruler.”

And Gideon said unto them, I, will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you, —Yahweh, shall rule over you.

24 Then Gideon said, “I have a request to ask of you: that each of you give me an earring from your plunder.” (Their enemies were Ishmaelites and wore gold earrings.)

And Gideon said unto them—I would make to you a request, Give me, then, every man the nose-ring of his spoil. For they had, nose-rings of gold, for, Ishmaelites, they were.

25 “We'll happily give them to you,” they replied. They spread out a cloak, and each of them threw on it earrings from their plunder.

And they said, We will, freely give. So they spread out a mantle, and cast therein, every man the nose-ring of his spoil.

26 The weight of the earrings he'd asked for was 1,700 shekels, not including the ornaments, the pendants, and the purple garments worn by the Midianite kings or the chains that were round their camels' necks.

And so it was, that the weight of the nose-rings of gold which he requested, was a thousand and seven hundred [shekels] of gold, —besides the crescents, and the pendants, and the raiment of purple that were upon the kings of Midian, and besides the ornaments that were on the necks of their camels.

27 From the gold Gideon made an ephod, which he placed in his hometown of Ophrah. All Israel prostituted themselves there by worshiping it as an idol, and it became a trap to Gideon and his family.

And Gideon made thereof an Ephod, and set it up in his own city, in Ophrah, and all Israel went unchastely astray after it there, —so it became, to Gideon and to his house, a snare.

28 This is how the Midianites was subjugated before the Israelites and did not gain power again. So the land was at peace for forty years during the lifetime of Gideon.

Thus was Midian subdued, before the sons of Israel, neither did they again lift up their head, —and the land had rest forty years, in the days of Gideon.

29 Jerub-baal, son of Joash, went home, living his own house.

So then Jerubbaal, son of Joash, went and dwelt in his own house.

30 Gideon had seventy sons, all his own, because he had many wives.

And, Gideon, had seventy sons, sprung from his own loins, —for, many wives, had he.

31 His concubine, who lived in Shechem, also had a son. He named him Abimelech.

And, his concubine who was in Shechem, she also, bare him a son, —and he gave him the name of Abimelech.

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

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

33 But as soon as Gideon died, the Israelites went back to prostituting themselves, worshiping before the Baals. They made Baal-berith their god.

And it came to pass that, as soon as Gideon was dead, the sons of Israel turned back, and went unchastely astray after the Baals, —and appointed them Baal-berith, to be god:

34 They forgot about the Lord their God, who had saved them from all their enemies that surrounded them.

so the sons of Israel remembered not Yahweh, their own God, —who had rescued them out of the hand of all their enemies, on every side;

35 They did not show any respect to the family of Jerub-baal (Gideon) for all the good he had done for Israel.

neither dealt they in lovingkindness with the house of Jerubbaal [namely] Gideon, —according to all the goodness wherewith he had dealt with Israel.