Judges 8:10-35

English Standard Version

¹⁰ Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor with their army, about 15,000 men, all who were left of all the army of ^(A)the people of the East, for there had fallen 120,000 men ^(B)who drew the sword. ¹¹ And Gideon went up by the way of the tent dwellers east of ^(C)Nobah and Jogbehah and attacked the army, for the army felt ^(D)secure. ¹² And Zebah and Zalmunna fled, and he pursued them ^(E)and captured the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and he threw all the army into a panic.

¹³ Then Gideon the son of Joash returned from the battle by the ascent of Heres. ¹⁴ 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. ¹⁵ And he came to the men of Succoth and said, “Behold Zebah and Zalmunna, about whom you taunted me, saying, ^(F)‘Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your hand, that we should give bread to your men who are exhausted?’” ¹⁶ 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. ^17 (G)And he broke down the tower of Penuel and killed the men of the city.

¹⁸ Then he said to Zebah and Zalmunna, “Where are the men whom you killed at ^(H)Tabor?” They answered, “As you are, so were they. Every one of them resembled the son of a king.” ¹⁹ And he said, “They were my brothers, the sons of my mother. ^(I)As the Lord lives, if you had saved them alive, I would not kill you.” ²⁰ 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. ²¹ Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, “Rise yourself and fall upon us, for as the man is, so is his strength.” And Gideon arose and ^(J)killed Zebah and Zalmunna, and he took ^(K)the crescent ornaments that were on the necks of their camels.

Gideon's Ephod

²² 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.” ²³ Gideon said to them, “I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you; ^(L)the Lord will rule over you.” ²⁴ 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, ^(M)because they were Ishmaelites.) ²⁵ And they answered, “We will willingly give them.” And they spread a cloak, and every man threw in it the earrings of his spoil. ²⁶ And the weight of the golden earrings that he requested was 1,700 shekels^[a] of gold, besides ^(N)the crescent ornaments and ^(O)the pendants and the purple garments worn by the kings of Midian, and besides the collars that were around the necks of their camels. ²⁷ And Gideon ^(P)made an ephod of it and put it in his city, ^(Q)in Ophrah. And all Israel ^(R)whored after it there, and it became a ^(S)snare to Gideon and to his family. ²⁸ So Midian was subdued before the people of Israel, and they raised their heads no more. ^(T)And the land had rest forty years in the days of Gideon.

The Death of Gideon

^29 (U)Jerubbaal the son of Joash went and lived in his own house. ³⁰ Now Gideon had ^(V)seventy sons, his own offspring,^[b] for he had many wives. ³¹ And his concubine ^(W)who was in Shechem also bore him a son, and he called his name Abimelech. ³² And Gideon the son of Joash died ^(X)in a good old age and was buried in the tomb of Joash his father, ^(Y)at Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

^33 (Z)As soon as Gideon died, the people of Israel turned again and ^(AA)whored after the Baals and made ^(AB)Baal-berith their god. ³⁴ And the people of Israel ^(AC)did not remember the Lord their God, who had delivered them from the hand of all their enemies on every side, ^35 (AD)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.