Read the Bible

¹ And the men of Ephraim said vnto him: Why hast thou serued vs thus, that thou calledst vs not, when thou wentest to fyght with the Madianites? And they chode with him sharpely.

² And he sayde vnto them: What deede haue I done lyke vnto yours? Is not the gleaning of grapes of Ephraim, better then the vinetage of Abiezer?

³ God hath delyuered into your handes the lordes of Madian, Oreb and Zeb: And what was I able to do lyke as you haue done? And then their spirites abated from of him, when he had sayde that.

⁴ And Gedeon came to Iordane to passe ouer, he & the three hundred men that were with him weery, and yet folowed the chase.

⁵ And he sayd vnto ye men of Sucoth: Geue I pray you, takes of bread vnto ye people that folow me, for they be fayntie, that I may folowe after Zebah, and Zalmana, kynges of Madian.

⁶ And the lordes of Sucoth sayde: Are the handes of Zebah and Zalmana now in thyne handes, that we should geue bread vnto thyne armie?

⁷ Gedeon sayde: Therfore when the Lord hath deliuered Zebah and Zalmana into mine hande, I will teare the fleshe of you with the thornes of the wildernes, and with bryers.

⁸ And he went vp thence to Phanuel, & spake vnto them lykewyse: And ye men of Phanuel aunswered him, as did the men of Sucoth.

⁹ And he sayd also vnto the men of Phanuel: When I come agayne in peace, I will breake downe this towre.

¹⁰ Zebah & Zalmana were in Carcor, and their hoastes with them, vpon a fifteene thousande men, which were all that were left of all the hoastes of them of the east: For there was slaine an hundred and twentie thousande men that drewe swordes.

¹¹ And Gedeon went thorowe them that dwelt in tabernacles on the east syde of Nobah and Iegbahah, and smote the hoaste: for the hoaste dyd cast no perylles.

¹² And whan Zebah and Zalmana fled, he folowed after them, and toke ye two kynges of Madian, Zebah and Zalmana, and discomfited all the hoaste.

¹³ And Gedeon the sonne of Ioas, returned from battel afore the sunne was vp,

¹⁴ And caught a ladde of the men of Sucoth, & enquired of him: And he wrote him of the lordes and elders of Sucoth threescore and seuenteene men.

¹⁵ And he came vnto the men of Sucoth, and sayd: Beholde Zebah and Zalmana, with which ye dyd cast me in the teeth, saying: Are the handes of Zebah and Zalmana alredy in thyne hande, that we should geue bread vnto thy fayntie men?

¹⁶ And he toke the elders of the citie, and thornes of the wildernesse, and bryers, and dyd teare the men of Sucoth with them.

¹⁷ And he brake downe the towre of Phanuel, & slue the men of the citie.

¹⁸ And then sayde he vnto Zebah and Zalmana: What maner of men were they whom ye slue at Thabor? And they aunswered: The lykenesse of thee and them is al one, eue after the fashion of the children of a kyng.

¹⁹ And he sayd, They were my brethren, euen my mothers children: As truly as the Lord liueth, if ye had saued their lyues, I would not slay you.

²⁰ And he sayde vnto Iether his eldest sonne, Up and slay them. But the ladde drue not his sworde: for he feared, because he was yet young.

²¹ Then Zebah and Zalmana sayde: Ryse thou, and fall vpon vs: for as the man is, so is his strength. And Gedeon arose, and slue Zebah and Zalmana, and toke away the ornamentes that were on their camels neckes.

²² Then the men of Israel sayde vnto Gedeon: Raigne thou ouer vs, both thou, thy sonne, and thy sonnes sonne, for thou hast deliuered vs out of ye hand of Madian.

²³ And Gedeon sayd vnto them: I wyll not raigne ouer you, neither shall my childe raigne ouer you: but the Lorde shall raigne ouer you.

²⁴ And agayne Gedeon said vnto them: I would desire a request of you, euen that you would geue me euery man the earinges of his pray. For they had golden earinges, because they were Israelites.

²⁵ And they aunswered: We will gyue them. And they spread a mantell, and dyd cast therin euery man the earynges of his pray.

²⁶ And the wayght of ye golden earinges that he required, was a thousand and seuen hundred sicles of golde, besyde chaynes and iewelles, and purple rayment that was on the kynges of Madian, and besyde the chaynes that were about their camels neckes.

²⁷ And Gedeon made an Ephod therof, and put it in his citie Ephrah: And all Israel went a whoryng after it in the same place, which thing became a ruyne vnto Gedeon and to his house.

²⁸ Thus was Madian brought lowe before the children of Israel, so that they lyft vp their heades no more: And the countrey was in quietnes fourtie yeres in the dayes of Gedeon.

²⁹ And Ierobaal ye sonne of Ioas, went and dwelt in his owne house.

³⁰ And Gedeon had threescore and ten sonnes of his body begotten: for he had many wyues.

³¹ And his cocubine that was in Sichem bare him a sonne also, whose name he called Abimelech.

³² And Gedeon the sonne of Ioas dyed in a good age, and was buryed in the sepulchre of Ioas his father, euen in Ephrah, that parteyned vnto the father of the Esrites.

³³ But assoone as Gedeon was dead, the children of Israel turned away, & went a whoryng after Baalim, and made a couenaunt with Baal to be their God.

³⁴ And the children of Israel thought not on the Lorde their God, which had deliuered them out of the handes of all their enemies on euery syde:

³⁵ Neither shewed they mercy on the house of Ierobaal [otherwyse called] Gedeon, according to all the goodnes which he had shewed vnto Israel.