Judges 8

And the men of Ephraim said to him, “What {is} this thing you have done to us, not calling to us when you went to fight against Midian?” And they contended with him in strength. \*

But he said to them, “What have I now done like you? {Are} not the gleanings of Ephraim better than the vintage of Abiezer?

God has given into your hand the commanders of Midian, Oreb, and Zeeb! So what was I able to do like you?” Then their spirit abated toward him, upon him speaking this word. \*

Then Gideon came to the Jordan. Crossing over, he and the 300 men who {were} with him {were} weary, but pursuing.

And he said to the men of Succoth, “Please give loaves of bread to the people who {are} at my feet, for they {are} weary, and I {am} pursuing after Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian.” \*

But the leaders of Succoth said, “{Is} the palm of Zebah and Zalmunna now in your hand, that {we are} giving bread to your army?”

So Gideon said, “Therefore, in the giving of God {of} Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, then I will thrash your flesh with thorns of the wilderness and briers.” \*

Then he went up from there {to} Penuel, and he spoke to them like this, but the men of Penuel answered him just as the men of Succoth had answered.

And he said also to the men of Penuel, saying, “In my returning in peace, I will tear down this tower.” \*

Now Zebah and Zalmunna {were} in Karkor and their camps {were} with them, about 15, 000, all of the {ones} remaining from all of the camp of the sons of the east, and the {ones} having fallen {were} 120, 000 men drawing the sword. \*

Then Gideon went up the road of the {ones} lodged in tents, from the east to Nobah and Jogbehah. And he struck the camp, and the camp was {in} security.

Then Zebah and Zalmunna fled, but he pursued after them, and he captured the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna. And he made all of the camp tremble. \*

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

And he captured a youth from the men of Succoth and he questioned him. And he wrote for him the leaders of Succoth and its elders, 77 men. \*

Then he went to the men of Succoth and said, “Behold, Zebah and Zalmunna, {about} whom you taunted me, saying, ‘Is the palm of Zebah and Zalmunna now in your hand, that we {are} giving bread to your weary men?’”

And took the elders of the city and thorns of the wilderness and briers, and he taught the men of Succoth with them.

Then he tore down the tower of Penuel and killed the men of the city. \*

Then he said to Zebah and to Zalmunna, “Where {are} the men whom you killed at Tabor?” And they said, “As you {are}, so they {were}. Each {was} like the form of the sons of the king.”

And he said, “They {were} my brothers, the sons of my mother! The life of God, if you had let them live, I would not have killed you.” \*

Then he said to Jether his firstborn, “Arise, kill them!” But the youth did not draw his sword, for he feared, for he {was} still a youth.

Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, “Arise yourself and strike us! For like a man {is} his strength.” So Gideon arose and killed Zebah and Zalmunna, and he took the ornaments that {were} on the necks of their camels. \*

Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, “Rule over us, both you and your son and the son of your son, for you have saved us from the hand of Midian.”

But Gideon said to them, “I will not rule over you myself, and my son will not rule over you. God will rule over you.” \*

But Gideon said to them, “Let me request a request from you, that a man give to me an earring of his spoil.” For earrings of gold {were} to them, for they {were} Ishmaelites.

And they said, “Giving, we will give.” And they spread out a cloak, and a man threw an earring of his spoil there. \*

Now the weight of the earrings of gold that he requested {was} 1,700 gold, apart from the ornaments and the pendants and the purple robes that {were} on the kings of Midian and apart from the chains that were on the necks of their camels. \*

Then Gideon made it into an ephod and placed it in his city, in Ophrah, and all of Israel whored after it there. And it was for a snare to Gideon and to his house.

So Midian was subdued to the face of the sons of Israel, and they did not continue to lift their head. And the land rested forty years in the days of Gideon. \*

And Jerubbaal, the son of Joash, went and lived in his house.

Now to Gideon were 70 sons coming from his thigh, for many wives were to him.

And his concubine, who {was} in Shechem, bore to him, she too, a son, and he made his name Abimelech. \*

And Gideon, the son of Joash, died in good old age, and he was buried in the tomb of Joash his father at Ophrah of the Abiezerite.

Now it happened, when Gideon died, that the sons of Israel turned and whored after the Baals. And they made for themselves Baal-Berith as a god. \*

And the sons of Israel did not remember God, their God, the one having delivered them from the hand of all of their enemies from around.

And they did not do covenant faithfulness with the house of Jerubbaal, Gideon, according to all of the good that he did with Israel. \*