Judges 8

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

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

14 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 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 elders of the city, and the thorns of the wilderness and the nettles, and taught therewith the men of Succoth:

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

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

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

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

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

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