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told. 25 They captured Oreb and Zeeb, the two
Midianite commanders, killing Oreb at the rock
of Oreb, and Zeeb at the winepress of Zeeb.
And they continued to chase the Midianites.
Afterward the Israelites brought the heads
of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon, who was by the
Jordan River.
Gideon Kills Zebah and Zalmunna
Then the people of Ephraim asked Gideon,
“Why have you treated us this way? Why
didn’t you send for us when you first went out to
fight the Midianites?” And they argued heatedly
with Gideon.
2 But Gideon replied, “What have I accomplished compared to you? Aren’t even the leftover grapes of Ephraim’s harvest better than
the entire crop of my little clan of Abiezer? 3 God
gave you victory over Oreb and Zeeb, the commanders of the Midianite army. What have I accomplished compared to that?” When the men
of Ephraim heard Gideon’s answer, their anger
subsided.
4 Gideon then crossed the Jordan River with
his 300 men, and though exhausted, they continued to chase the enemy. 5 When they reached
Succoth, Gideon asked the leaders of the town,
“Please give my warriors some food. They are
very tired. I am chasing Zebah and Zalmunna,
the kings of Midian.”
6 But the officials of Succoth replied, “Catch
Zebah and Zalmunna first, and then we will
feed your army.”
7 So Gideon said, “After the Lord gives me victory over Zebah and Zalmunna, I will return and
tear your flesh with the thorns and briers from
the wilderness.”
8 From there Gideon went up to Peniel* and
again asked for food, but he got the same answer. 9 So he said to the people of Peniel, “After
I return in victory, I will tear down this tower.”
10 By this time Zebah and Zalmunna were
in Karkor with about 15,000 warriors—all that
remained of the allied armies of the east, for
120,000 had already been killed. 11 Gideon
circled around by the caravan route east of Nobah and Jogbehah, taking the Midianite army by
surprise. 12 Zebah and Zalmunna, the two Midianite kings, fled, but Gideon chased them down
and captured all their warriors.
13 After this, Gideon returned from the battle
by way of Heres Pass. 14 There he captured a
young man from Succoth and demanded that he
write down the names of all the seventy-seven
officials and elders in the town. 15 Gideon then
returned to Succoth and said to the leaders,
“Here are Zebah and Zalmunna. When we were
here before, you taunted me, saying, ‘Catch Zebah and Zalmunna first, and then we will feed
8
8:8 Hebrew Penuel, a variant spelling of Peniel; also in 8:9, 17.
8:26 Hebrew 1,700 [shekels] [19.4 kilograms]. 8:29 Hebrew
Jerub-baal; see 6:32.
JUDG ES 8
your exhausted army.’” 16 Then Gideon took the
elders of the town and taught them a lesson,
punishing them with thorns and briers from the
wilderness. 17 He also tore down the tower of Peniel and killed all the men in the town.
18 Then Gideon asked Zebah and Zalmunna,
“The men you killed at Tabor—what were they
like?”
“Like you,” they replied. “They all had the
look of a king’s son.”
19 “They were my brothers, the sons of my
own mother!” Gideon exclaimed. “As surely as
the Lord lives, I wouldn’t kill you if you hadn’t
killed them.”
20 Turning to Jether, his oldest son, he said,
“Kill them!” But Jether did not draw his sword,
for he was only a boy and was afraid.
21 Then Zebah and Zalmunna said to Gideon,
“Be a man! Kill us yourself!” So Gideon killed
them both and took the royal ornaments from
the necks of their camels.
Gideon’s Sacred Ephod
22 Then the Israelites said to Gideon, “Be our
ruler! You and your son and your grandson
will be our rulers, for you have rescued us from
Midian.”
23 But Gideon replied, “I will not rule over you,
nor will my son. The Lord will rule over you!
24 However, I do have one request—that each of
you give me an earring from the plunder you collected from your fallen enemies.” (The enemies,
being Ishmaelites, all wore gold earrings.)
25 “Gladly!” they replied. They spread out a
cloak, and each one threw in a gold earring he
had gathered from the plunder. 26 The weight of
the gold earrings was forty-three pounds,* not
including the royal ornaments and pendants,
the purple clothing worn by the kings of Midian,
or the chains around the necks of their camels.
27 Gideon made a sacred ephod from the gold
and put it in Ophrah, his hometown. But soon
all the Israelites prostituted themselves by worshiping it, and it became a trap for Gideon and
his family.
28 That is the story of how the people of Israel defeated Midian, which never recovered.
Throughout the rest of Gideon’s lifetime—about
forty years—there was peace in the land.
29 Then Gideon* son of Joash returned home.
30 He had seventy sons born to him, for he had
many wives. 31 He also had a concubine in Shechem, who gave birth to a son, whom he named
Abimelech. 32 Gideon died when he was very old,
and he was buried in the grave of his father, Joash, at Ophrah in the land of the clan of Abiezer.
33 As soon as Gideon died, the Israelites prostituted themselves by worshiping the images of
Baal, making Baal-berith their god. 34 They forgot the Lord their God, who had rescued them
from all their enemies surrounding them. 35 Nor