Judges 8

1 The men of Ephraim said to him, "Why have you done such a thing to us, not calling us when you went to fight with Midian?" And they argued with him fiercely.

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.

2 He said to them, "What have I now done in comparison with you? Isn't the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the vintage of Abiezer?

“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!

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

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.

4 Gideon came to the Jordan, and passed over, he, and the three hundred men who were with him, exhausted and famished.

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

5 He said to the men of Succoth, "Please give loaves of bread to the people who follow me; for they are exhausted, and I am pursuing after Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian."

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.”

6 The princes of Succoth said, "Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in your hand, that we should give bread to your army?"

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

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

“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.

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

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.

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

So he told them, “When I return victorious, I'll demolish 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 Kedemites; for there fell one hundred twenty thousand men who drew sword.

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.

11 And Gideon went up by the way of those who dwell in tents on the east of Nobah and Jogbehah, opposite Zebah, and struck the army, when the army was unsuspecting.

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

12 Zebah and Zalmunna fled, and he pursued after them, and he took the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and routed the entire army.

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

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

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

14 He caught a young man of the men of Succoth, and inquired of him: and he described for him the officials of Succoth, and its elders, seventy-seven men.

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.

15 He came to the men of Succoth, and said, "Look Zebah and Zalmunna, concerning whom you taunted me, saying, "Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in your hand, that we should give bread to your men who are weary?"

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?’”

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

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

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

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

18 Then he said to Zebah and Zalmunna, "What kind of men were they whom you killed at Tabor?" They answered, "As you are, so were they; each one resembled the son of a king."

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.”

19 He said, "They were my brothers, the sons of my mother. As the LORD lives, if you had saved them alive, I would not kill you."

“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!”

20 He said to Jether his firstborn, "Get up, and kill them." But the youth did not draw his sword; for he feared, because he was yet a youth.

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

21 Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, "Rise up yourself, and kill us, for a man is judged by his strength." Gideon arose, and killed Zebah and Zalmunna, and took the crescent ornaments that were on their camels' necks.

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.

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

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.”

23 Gideon said to them, "I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you: the LORD shall rule over you."

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

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

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.)

25 They answered, "We will willingly give them." They spread a garment, and every one of them threw an earring from his plunder.

“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.

26 The weight of the golden earrings that he requested was one thousand and seven hundred pieces of gold, besides the crescents, and the pendants, and the purple clothing that was on the kings of Midian, and besides the chains that were about their camels' necks.

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.

27 Gideon made an ephod of it, and put it in his city, even in Ophrah: and all Israel prostituted themselves after it there; and it became a snare to Gideon, and to his house.

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.

28 So Midian was subdued before the children of Israel, and did not become a threat again. The land had rest forty years in the days of Gideon.

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.

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

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

30 Gideon had seventy sons conceived from his body; for he had many wives.

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

31 His secondary wife who was in Shechem, she also bore him a son, and he named him Abimelech.

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

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

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.

33 It happened, as soon as Gideon was dead, that the children of Israel turned again, and played the prostitute after the Baals, and made Baal Berith their god.

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

34 The children of Israel did not remember the LORD their God, who had delivered them out of the hand of all their enemies on every side;

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

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.

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