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¹ THEN the men of Ephraim said to him, Why have you done thus, that you never called us when you went to fight with the Midianites? And they quarreled with him violently.

² And he said to them, What have I done now in comparison to you? Is not the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the vintage of Jezreel?

³ For in Jezreel God has delivered into your hands the two princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb; and what was I able to do in comparison to 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 who were with him, pursuing, yet faint from hunger.

⁵ And he said to the men of Succoth, Give a few loaves of bread to the people who are with me; for they are faint from hunger, and, behold, I am pursuing Zebah and Zalmunna, kings of Midian.

⁶ And the princes of Succoth said to him, Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in your hands, that we should give bread to your army?

⁷ And Gideon said to them, Therefore when the LORD has delivered Zebah and Zalmunna into my hands, then I will tear your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness and with briers.

⁸ And he went up from there to Penuel, and the men of Penuel answered him as the men of Succoth had answered him.

⁹ And he said also to the men of Penuel, When I come again in peace, I will break down this tower.

¹⁰ Now Zebah and Zalmunna were staying at Karkab, and their armies with them, about fifteen thousand men, all that were left of all the armies of the people 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 who dwell in tents on the east of Necah and Jogbehah, and attacked the army camp; for the army was not on guard.

¹² And Zebah and Zalmunna fled, and he pursued them, and captured the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and threw the whole army into confusion.

¹³ And Gideon the son of Joash returned from the battle at the slope of Hadas.

¹⁴ And he captured a young man of the men of Succoth, and questioned him; and he wrote down for him a description of the princes of Succoth and its elders, seventy-seven men.

¹⁵ And he came to the men of Succoth and said to them, Behold Zebah and Zalmunna, about whom you upbraided me, saying, Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in your hands, that we should give bread to your servants who are faint from hunger?

¹⁶ And he dragged the elders of the city over the briers and thorns of the wilderness, and thus inflicted tortures on the men of Succoth.

¹⁷ And he broke clown the tower of Penuel, and slew the men of the city.

¹⁸ Then he said to Zebah and Zalmunna, What manner of men were they whom you slew at Tabor? They said to him, They were like yourself, they resembled the sons of kings.

¹⁹ And he said, They were my brothers, the sons of my mother; as the LORD lives, if you had saved them alive, I would not slay you.

²⁰ And he said to Jether his firstborn, Arise and slay them. But the youth did not draw his sword; for he was afraid, because he was still a youth.

²¹ Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, Rise yourself, and fall upon us; for as the man is, so is his might. And Gideon arose and slew Zebah and Zalmunna, and took away the ornaments that were on their camels necks.

²² Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, Rule over us, both you and your son and your sons son also; for you have delivered us from the hand of Midian.

²³ And Gideon said to them, I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you; the LORD shall rule over you.

²⁴ And Gideon said to them, I would like to make a request of you: give me every man of you an earring of his spoil. (For they had golden earrings, since the enemies were Arabians.)

²⁵ And they said to him, We will gladly give it. And they spread a mantle, and every man threw onto it one earring from his spoil.

²⁶ And the weight of the golden earrings that he requested was one thousand seven hundred shekels of gold; besides ornaments, neck chains, and purple raiment that were worn by the kings of Midian, and besides the chains that were about their camels necks.

²⁷ And Gideon took some of them and made a little idol, and set it up in his town, Ophrah; and all Israel went astray after it there; and it became a stumbling block to Gideon and to all his household,

²⁸ Thus the Midianites were defeated before the children of Israel, so that they lifted up their heads no more. And the land was tranquil forty years in the days of Gideon.

²⁹ Then Nedo-baal the son of Joash went and dwelt in his own house.

³⁰ And Gideon had seventy sons who were begotten by him; for he had many wives.

³¹ And his concubine who was in Shechem also bore him a son, whose name he called Abimeleck.

³² And Gideon the son of Joash died at a good old age, and was buried in the town of his father Joash, in Ophrah of the father of Azri.

³³ And it came to pass, as soon as Gideon was dead, the children of Israel turned again and went astray after Baal, and made Baal-kiama their god.

³⁴ And the children of Israel did not remember the LORD their God, who had delivered them from the hand of all their enemies on every side;

³⁵ Neither did they show kindness to the house of Nedo-baal, that is, Gideon, according to all the goodness that he had done to Israel.