Old Testament
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
New Testament
Judges 8
81The men of Ephraim said to Gideon, “What kind of thing was that which you did to us by not inviting us when you went to fight against Midian?” They contended with him vigorously.
2Gideon said to them, “What have I accomplished compared to you? Are not the gleanings of Ephraim better than the whole grape harvest of Abiezer? 3It was into your hands that God delivered Oreb and Ze'eb, the leaders of Midian. So what have I been able to accomplish compared to you?” Their anger against him died down when he said this.
4Gideon then went to the Jordan and crossed over with the three hundred men who were with him. They were exhausted but kept pursuing the enemy.
5Gideon said to the men of Succoth, “Please give loaves of bread to the troops who are following right behind me, because they are exhausted, and I am pursuing Zebah and Zalmunna, kings of Midian.”
6But the leaders of Succoth said, “Are the cut-off hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your hands? Why then would we give bread to your army?”
7Gideon replied, “Just for that, when the Lord gives Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, I will tear your flesh with thorns from the wilderness and with briers.”
8Then Gideon went up from there to Penuel[] and made the same request, and the men of Penuel gave him the same answer that the men of Succoth had. 9So Gideon said to the men of Penuel, “When I return in peace, I will tear down this tower.”
10In the meantime Zebah and Zalmunna had arrived in Karkor. Their armies were with them, but only about fifteen thousand men were left from all the forces of the peoples from the East. One hundred twenty thousand swordsmen had fallen.
11Gideon went up by the route of the nomads who live in tents east of Nobah and Jogbehah. He struck the camp when it was not on alert. 12Zebah and Zalmunna fled, but Gideon pursued them and captured Zebah and Zalmunna, the two kings of Midian. This made the entire army tremble.
13When Gideon son of Joash returned from the battle by the Ascent of Heres, 14he captured a young man from Succoth. Gideon questioned the young man, who wrote down for him the names of the leaders of Succoth and of the town's elders, seventy-seven men in all.
15Gideon then went to the men of Succoth and said, “Look! Here are Zebah and Zalmunna, about whom you taunted me, saying, ‘Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in your hands? Why then would we give bread to your exhausted men?’”
16Then Gideon took the elders of the town, and he taught the men of Succoth a lesson with thorns from the wilderness and with briers. 17He also tore down the tower of Penuel and killed the men of the city.
They said, “They were just like you. Each one looked like a king's son.”
19“They were my brothers,” Gideon answered, “the sons of my mother. As surely the Lord lives, if you had let them live, I would not kill you.”
20Then he said to Jether, his firstborn, “Get up and kill them right now.” But the young man did not draw his sword because he was afraid, because he was still just a youth.
21Zebah and Zalmunna said, “You get up and strike us down yourself, for a man's strength shows what kind of man he is.” Gideon stepped up and killed Zebah and Zalmunna, and he collected the crescent ornaments that were on the necks of their camels.
22Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, “Rule over us—you and your son and also your grandson—because you have delivered us from the hand of Midian.”
23But Gideon said to them, “I will not rule over you, nor will my son rule over you. Only the Lord will rule over you.” 24But Gideon also said to them, “Let me ask you for one thing: that each man give me an earring from his plunder.” (The enemy wore gold earrings, because they were Ishmaelites.)
25They answered, “All right, we will give them to you.” Then they spread out a garment, and each man among them threw in an earring from his plunder. 26The weight of the gold earrings that he had requested was seventeen hundred shekels.[] This was in addition to the crescents, the pendants, and the purple clothing that had been worn by the kings of Midian, and the ornaments that were on the necks of their camels. 27Gideon made the gold into a sacred breastplate.[] He set it up in his town Ophrah, and all Israel prostituted themselves to it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and his household.
28In this way Midian was humbled before the people of Israel, and they did not raise their heads again.
The land was quiet for forty years during the days of Gideon.
29Jerubbaal son of Joash returned and lived in his own house. 30Gideon had seventy sons, who were his direct descendants from his own body, because he had many wives. 31Also his concubine at Shechem bore him a son, and he named him Abimelek.[]
32Finally Gideon son of Joash died at a good old age, and he was buried in the tomb of his father Joash, in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
33After Gideon died, the people of Israel again prostituted themselves to the Baals, and they set up Baal of the Covenant as their god. 34The people of Israel did not remember the Lord their God, who saved them from the hand of all their enemies around them. 35They were not loyal to the house of Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) in return for all the good he had done for Israel.
Footnotes
- 8:8 Also called Peniel
- 8:18 The Hebrew word translated what about means where in all its other occurrences, but here it seems to mean what kind of.
- 8:26 The Hebrew does not specify the unit of weight. If the weight is measured in shekels, this would be more than forty pounds.
- 8:27 The Hebrew word is ephod, which elsewhere is translated special vest. Here, where it is made of metal, breastplate seems more appropriate.
- 8:31 Abimelek means my father is king or father of a king.