Judg 8
1
And the men of Ephraim said to him, Why have you served us thus, that you called us
not, when you went to fight with Midian? And they did chide 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 princes 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 that
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
that follow me; for they are faint, and I am pursuing after Zebah and Zalmunna, the
kings of Midian.
6
And the princes of Succoth said, Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in your hand,
that we should give bread to your army?
7
And Gideon said, Therefore when YHWH 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 thence 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 hosts with them, about fifteen thousand
men, all that were left of all the host of the children of the east; for there fell
a hundred and twenty thousand men that drew sword.
11
And Gideon went up by the way of them that dwelt in tents on the east of Nobah and
Jogbehah, and smote the host; for the host was secure.
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 host.
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 princes of Succoth, and its elders, seventy and seven men.
15
And he came to the men of Succoth, and said, Behold Zebah and Zalmunna, concerning
whom you did taunt me, saying, Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in your hand,
that we should give bread to your men that 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 brake down the tower of Penuel, and slew the men of the city.
18
Then said he to Zebah and Zalmunna, What manner of men were they whom you slew at
Tabor? And they answered, As you are, so were they; each one resembled the children
of a king.
19
And he said, They were my brethren, the sons of my mother: as YHWH lives, if you had
saved them alive, I would not slay you.
20
And he said to Jether his first-born, Up, and slay them. But the youth drew not his
sword; for he feared, because he was yet a youth.
21
Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, Rise you, and fall upon us; for as the man is, so is
his strength. And Gideon arose, and slew Zebah and Zalmunna, and took the crescents
that were on their camels` necks.
22
Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, Rule you over us, both you, and your son, and
your son`s son also; for you 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: YHWH shall rule over you.
24
And Gideon said to them, I would make a request of you, that you would give me every
man the ear-rings of his spoil. (For they had golden ear-rings, because they were
Ishmaelites.)
25
And they answered, We will willingly give them. And they spread a garment, and did
cast therein every man the ear-rings of his spoil.
26
And the weight of the golden ear-rings 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 thereof, 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 children 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 threescore and ten sons of his body engendered; for he had many wives.
31
And his concubine that was in Shechem, she also bare 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 children of Israel turned
again, and played the harlot after the Baalim, and made Baal-berith their god.
34
And the children of Israel remembered not YHWH their God, who had delivered them out
of the hand of all their enemies on every side;
35
neither showed they kindness to the house of Jerubbaal, [who is] Gideon, according
to all the goodness which he had showed to Israel.