Gideon Defeats Zebah and Zalmunna
And the men of Ephraim said to him, “What is this thing you have done to us — not calling us when you went to fight against Midian?” And they contended with him fiercely.
And he said to them: “What have I done now compared with you? Are not the gleanings of Ephraim better than the vintage of Abiezer?
Into your hand God has given the princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb — and what was I able to do compared with you?” Then their spirit toward him subsided when he spoke this word.
And Gideon came to the Jordan, crossing over, he and the three hundred men who were with him — weary, yet pursuing.
And he said to the men of Succoth, “Give, please, loaves of bread to the people at my feet, for they are weary; and I am pursuing after Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian.”
And the princes of Succoth said, “Is the palm of Zebah and Zalmunna now in your hand, that we should give bread to your army?”
And Gideon said, “Therefore, when the LORD gives Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, I will thresh your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness and with briers.”
And he went up from there to Penuel, and spoke to them the same way; and the men of Penuel answered him as the men of Succoth had answered.
And he said to the men of Penuel also, saying, “When I return in peace, I will tear down this tower.”
Now Zebah and Zalmunna were at Karkor, and their camps with them — about fifteen thousand, all who were left of all the camp of the sons of the east; and the fallen were a hundred and twenty thousand men who drew the sword.
And Gideon went up by the way of the tent dwellers, east of Nobah and Jogbehah; and he struck the camp while the camp felt secure.
And Zebah and Zalmunna fled, and he pursued after them; and he captured the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and threw the whole camp into panic.
And Gideon the son of Joash returned from the battle, from the ascent of Heres.
And he captured a young man of the men of Succoth and questioned him; and he wrote down for him the princes of Succoth and its elders — seventy-seven men.
And he came to the men of Succoth and said, “Look — Zebah and Zalmunna, about whom you taunted me, saying, ‘Is the palm of Zebah and Zalmunna now in your hand, that we should give bread to your weary men?’”
And he took the elders of the city, and the thorns of the wilderness and the briers; and with them he taught the men of Succoth a lesson.
And the tower of Penuel he tore down; and he killed the men of the city.
And he said to Zebah and to Zalmunna, “Where are the men whom you killed at Tabor?” And they said, “As you are, so were they — each one in form like the sons of a king.”
And he said, “They were my brothers, the sons of my mother. As the LORD lives, if you had kept them alive, I would not kill you.”
And he said to Jether his firstborn, “Rise, kill them.” But the young man did not draw his sword, for he was afraid, because he was still a young man.
And Zebah and Zalmunna said, “Rise yourself, and fall on us — for as the man is, so is his strength.” And Gideon rose and killed Zebah and Zalmunna; and he took the crescent ornaments that were on the necks of their camels.
Gideon’s Ephod
And the men of Israel said to Gideon, “Rule over us — you, and also your son, and also your son’s son — for you have saved us from the hand of Midian.”
And Gideon said to them, “I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you. The LORD will rule over you.”
And Gideon said to them, “Let me ask a request of you: give me, each of you, the earring of his spoil.” For they had earrings of gold, because they were Ishmaelites.
And they said, “We will surely give them.” And they spread out a garment, and each threw there the earring of his spoil.
And the weight of the earrings of gold that he asked for was a thousand and seven hundred shekels of gold — besides the crescent ornaments, and the pendants, and the purple garments that were on the kings of Midian, and besides the chains that were on the necks of their camels.
And Gideon made it into an ephod, and set it up in his city, in Ophrah; and all Israel whored after it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and to his house.
Forty Years of Peace
And Midian was subdued before the sons of Israel, and they did not lift their head again. And the land had rest forty years in the days of Gideon.
And Jerubbaal the son of Joash went and lived in his own house.
And Gideon had seventy sons, who came from his own body — for he had many wives.
And his concubine who was in Shechem, she also bore him a son; and he gave him the name Abimelech.
Gideon’s Death
And Gideon the son of Joash died at a good old age, and was buried in the tomb of Joash his father, at Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
And it was, when Gideon died, that the sons of Israel turned back and whored after the Baals, and they made Baal-berith their god.
And the sons of Israel did not remember the LORD their God, who had delivered them from the hand of all their enemies all around;
and they did not do loyal love with the house of Jerubbaal — Gideon — according to all the good that he had done for Israel.