Judges 8

1 And the men of Ephraim say to him, “What [is] this thing you have done to us—not to call for us when you went to fight with Midian?” And they strive with him severely;

Then the men of Ephraim said to Gideon, “Why have you done this to us? Why did you fail to call us when you went to fight against Midian?” And they contended with him violently.

2 and he says to them, “What have I now done like you? Are the gleanings of Ephraim not better than the harvest of Abi-Ezer?

But Gideon answered them, “Now what have I accomplished compared to you? Are not the gleanings of Ephraim better than the grape harvest of Abiezer?

3 God has given the heads of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb, into your hand; and what have I been able to do like you?” Then their temper desisted from off him in his speaking this thing.

God has delivered Oreb and Zeeb, the two princes of Midian, into your hand. What was I able to do compared to you?” When he had said this, their anger against him subsided.

4 And Gideon comes to the Jordan, passing over, he and the three hundred men who [are] with him—wearied, yet pursuing—

Then Gideon and his three hundred men came to the Jordan and crossed it, exhausted yet still in pursuit.

5 and he says to the men of Succoth, “Please give cakes of bread to the people who [are] at my feet, for they [are] wearied, and I am pursuing after Zebah and Zalmunna, kings of Midian.”

So Gideon said to the men of Succoth, “Please give my troops some bread, for they are exhausted, and I am still pursuing Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian.”

6 And the heads of Succoth say, “Is the hand of Zebah and Zalmunna now in your hand, that we give bread to your host?”

But the leaders of Succoth asked, “Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your possession, that we should give bread to your army?”

7 And Gideon says, “Therefore—in YHWH’s giving Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand—I have threshed your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness, and with the threshing instruments.”

“Very well,” Gideon replied, “when the LORD has delivered Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, I will tear your flesh with the thorns and briers of the wilderness!”

8 And he goes up there [to] Penuel, and speaks to them thus; and the men of Penuel answer him as the men of Succoth answered.

From there he went up to Penuel and asked the same from them, but the men of Penuel gave the same response as the men of Succoth.

9 And he also speaks to the men of Penuel, saying, “In my turning back in peace, I break down this tower.”

So Gideon told the men of Penuel, “When I return in triumph, I will tear down this tower!”

10 And Zebah and Zalmunna [are] in Karkor, and their camps with them, about fifteen thousand, all who are left of all the camp of the sons of the east; and those falling [are] one hundred and twenty thousand men, drawing sword.

Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor with their army of about fifteen thousand men—all that were left of the armies of the people of the east. A hundred and twenty thousand swordsmen had already fallen.

11 And Gideon goes up the way of those who dwell in tents, on the east of Nobah and Jogbehah, and strikes the camp, and the camp was confident;

And Gideon went up by way of the caravan route east of Nobah and Jogbehah, and he attacked their army, taking them by surprise.

12 and Zebab and Zalmunna flee, and he pursues after them, and captures the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and he has caused all the camp to tremble.

When Zebah and Zalmunna fled, Gideon pursued and captured these two kings of Midian, routing their entire army.

13 And Gideon son of Joash turns back from the battle, at the going up of the sun,

After this, Gideon son of Joash returned from the battle along the Ascent of Heres.

14 and captures a young man of the men of Succoth, and asks him, and he describes to him the heads of Succoth, and its elderly—seventy-seven men.

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

15 And he comes to the men of Succoth and says, “Behold Zebah and Zalmunna, with whom you reproached me, saying, Is the hand of Zebah and Zalmunna now in your hand that we give bread to your men who [are] wearied?”

And Gideon went to the men of Succoth and said, “Here are Zebah and Zalmunna, about whom you taunted me, saying, ‘Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your possession, that we should give bread to your weary men?’”

16 And he takes the elderly of the city, and [the] thorns of the wilderness, and the threshing instruments, and teaches the men of Succoth by them,

Then he took the elders of the city, and using the thorns and briers of the wilderness, he disciplined the men of Succoth.

17 and he has broken down the Tower of Penuel, and slays the men of the city.

He also pulled down the tower of Penuel and killed the men of the city.

18 And he says to Zebah and to Zalmunna, “What manner of men [were they] whom you slew in Tabor?” And they say, “As you—so they, [each] one as the form of the king’s sons.”

Next, Gideon asked Zebah and Zalmunna, “What kind of men did you kill at Tabor?” “Men like you,” they answered, “each one resembling the son of a king.”

19 And he says, “They [were] my brothers—sons of my mother; YHWH lives, if you had kept them alive—I would not kill you.”

“They were my brothers,” Gideon replied, “the sons of my mother! As surely as the LORD lives, if you had let them live, I would not kill you.”

20 And he says to his firstborn Jether, “Rise, slay them”; and the young man has not drawn his sword, for he has been afraid, for he [is] yet a youth.

So he said to Jether, his firstborn, “Get up and kill them.” But the young man did not draw his sword; he was fearful because he was still a youth.

21 And Zebah and Zalmunna say, “Rise and fall on us; for as the man—his might”; and Gideon rises, and slays Zebah and Zalmunna, and takes the crescents which [are] on the necks of their camels.

Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, “Get up and kill us yourself, for as the man is, so is his strength.” So Gideon got up and killed Zebah and Zalmunna, and he took the crescent ornaments from the necks of their camels.

22 And the men of Israel say to Gideon, “Rule over us, both you, and your son, and your son’s son, for you have saved us from the hand of Midian.”

Then the Israelites said to Gideon, “Rule over us—you and your son and grandson—for you have saved us from the hand of Midian.”

23 And Gideon says to them, “I do not rule over you, nor does my son rule over you; YHWH rules over you.”

But Gideon replied, “I will not rule over you, nor will my son. The LORD shall rule over you.”

24 And Gideon says to them, “Let me ask a petition of you, and each give to me the ring of his prey, for they have rings of gold, for they [are] Ishmaelites.”

Then he added, “Let me make a request of you, that each of you give me an earring from his plunder.” (For the enemies had gold earrings because they were Ishmaelites.)

25 And they say, “We certainly give”; and they spread out the garment, and each casts the ring of his prey there;

“We will give them gladly,” they replied. So they spread out a garment, and each man threw an earring from his plunder onto it.

26 and the weight of the rings of gold which he asked for is one thousand and seven hundred [shekels] of gold, apart from the crescents, and the pendants, and the purple garments, which [are] on the kings of Midian, and apart from the chains which [are] on the necks of their camels,

The weight of the gold earrings he had requested was 1,700 shekels, in addition to the crescent ornaments, the pendants, the purple garments of the kings of Midian, and the chains from the necks of their camels.

27 and Gideon makes it into an ephod, and sets it up in his city, in Ophrah, and all Israel go whoring after it there, and it is for a snare to Gideon and to his house.

From all this Gideon made an ephod, which he placed in Ophrah, his hometown. But soon all Israel prostituted themselves by worshiping it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and his household.

28 And Midian is humbled before the sons of Israel, and have not added to lift up their head; and the land rests [for] forty years in the days of Gideon.

In this way Midian was subdued before the Israelites and did not raise its head again. So the land had rest for forty years in the days of Gideon,

29 And Jerubba‘al son of Joash goes and dwells in his own house,

and he—Jerubbaal son of Joash—returned home and settled down.

30 and there have been seventy sons of Gideon, coming out of his loin, for he had many wives;

Gideon had seventy sons of his own, since he had many wives.

31 and his concubine, who [is] in Shechem, has borne to him—even she—a son, and he appoints his name Abimelech.

His concubine, who dwelt in Shechem, also bore him a son, and he named him Abimelech.

32 And Gideon son of Joash dies, in a good old age, and is buried in the burying-place of his father Joash, in Ophrah of the Abi-Ezrite.

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

33 And it comes to pass, when Gideon [is] dead, that the sons of Israel turn back and go whoring after the Ba‘alim, and set Ba‘al-Berith over them for a god;

And as soon as Gideon was dead, the Israelites turned and prostituted themselves with the Baals, and they set up Baal-berith as their god.

34 and the sons of Israel have not remembered their God YHWH, who is delivering them out of the hand of all their surrounding enemies,

The Israelites failed to remember the LORD their God who had delivered them from the hands of all their enemies on every side.

35 neither have they done kindness with the house of Jerubba‘al—Gideon—according to all the good which he did with Israel.

They did not show kindness to the house of Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) for all the good things he had done for Israel.