Then the men of Ephraim said to him, “What is this that you have
done to us, not to call us when you went to fight against Midian?”
And they accused him fiercely. And he said to them, “What have I
done now in comparison with you? Is not the gleaning of the grapes
of Ephraim better than the grape harvest of Abiezer? God has given
into your hands the princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb. What have I
been able to do in comparison with you?” Then their anger against
him subsided when he said this.
And Gideon came to the Jordan and crossed over, he and the 300
men who were with him, exhausted yet pursuing. So he said to the
men of Succoth, “Please give loaves of bread to the people who
follow me, for they are exhausted, and I am pursuing after Zebah
and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian.” And the officials of Succoth
said, “Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your hand,
that we should give bread to your army?” So Gideon said, “Well
then, when the LORD has given Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, I
will flail your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness and with
briers.” And from there he went up to Penuel, and spoke to them in
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, “When I
come again in peace, I will break down this tower.”
Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor with their army, about
15,000 men, all who were left of all the army of the people of the
East, for there had fallen 120,000 men who drew the sword. And
Gideon went up by the way of the tent dwellers east of Nobah and
Jogbehah and attacked the army, for the army felt secure. And Zebah
and Zalmunna fled, and he pursued them and captured the two kings
of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and he threw all the army into a
panic.
Then Gideon the son of Joash returned from the battle by the
ascent of Heres. And he captured a young man of Succoth and
questioned him. And he wrote down for him the officials and elders
of Succoth, seventy-seven men. And he came to the men of Succoth
and said, “Behold Zebah and Zalmunna, about whom you taunted me,
saying, ‘Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your hand,
that we should give bread to your men who are exhausted?’” And he
took the elders of the city, and he took thorns of the wilderness
and briers and with them taught the men of Succoth a lesson. And he
broke down the tower of Penuel and killed the men of the city.
Then he said to Zebah and Zalmunna, “Where are the men whom you
killed at Tabor?” They answered, “As you are, so were they. Every
one of them resembled the son of a king.” 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 kill you.” So he said to Jether his
firstborn, “Rise and kill them!” But the young man did not draw his
sword, for he was afraid, because he was still a young man. Then
Zebah and Zalmunna said, “Rise yourself and fall upon us, for as
the man is, so is his strength.” And Gideon arose and killed Zebah
and Zalmunna, and he took the crescent ornaments that were on the
necks of their camels.
Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, “Rule over us, you and
your son and your grandson also, for you have saved us from the
hand of Midian.” 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 make a request of you: every one
of you give me the earrings from his spoil.” (For they had golden
earrings, because they were Ishmaelites.) And they answered, “We
will willingly give them.” And they spread a cloak, and every man
threw in it the earrings of his spoil. And the weight of the golden
earrings that he requested was 1,700 shekels of gold, besides the
crescent ornaments and the pendants and the purple garments worn by
the kings of Midian, and besides the collars that were around the
necks of their camels. And Gideon made an ephod of it and put it in
his city, in Ophrah. And all Israel whored after it there, and it
became a snare to Gideon and to his family. So Midian was subdued
before the people of Israel, and they raised their heads no more.
And the land had rest forty years in the days of Gideon.
Jerubbaal the son of Joash went and lived in his own house. Now
Gideon had seventy sons, his own offspring, for he had many wives.
And his concubine who was in Shechem also bore him a son, and he
called his name Abimelech. And Gideon the son of Joash died in a
good old age and was buried in the tomb of Joash his father, at
Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
As soon as Gideon died, the people of Israel turned again and
whored after the Baals and made Baal-berith their god. And the
people of Israel did not remember the LORD their God, who had
delivered them from the hand of all their enemies on every side,
and they did not show steadfast love to the family of Jerubbaal
(that is, Gideon) in return for all the good that he had done to
Israel.
