| 1 | And the men of Ephraim say unto him, `What [is] this thing thou hast done to us -- not to call for us when thou didst go to fight with Midian?` and they strive with him severely; |
| 2 | and he saith unto them, `What have I done now like you? are not the gleanings of Ephraim better than the harvest of Abi-Ezer? |
| 3 | Into your hand hath God given the heads of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb; and what have I been able to do like you?` Then their temper desisted from off him in his speaking this thing. |
| 4 | And Gideon cometh in unto the Jordan, passing over, he and the three hundred men who [are] with him -- wearied, and pursuing, |
| 5 | and he saith to the men of Succoth, `Give, I pray you, cakes of bread to the people who [are] at my feet, for they [are] wearied, and I am pursuing after Zebah and Zalmunna kings of Midian.` |
| 6 | And the heads of Succoth say, `Is the hand of Zebah and Zalmunna now in thy hand, that we give to thy host bread?` |
| 7 | And Gideon saith, `Therefore -- in Jehovah`s giving Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand -- I have threshed your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness, and with the threshing instruments.` |
| 8 | And he goeth up thence [to] Penuel, and speaketh unto them thus; and the men of Penuel answer him as the men of Succoth answered. |
| 9 | And he speaketh also to the men of Penuel, saying, `In my turning back in peace, I break down this tower.` |
| 10 | And Zebah and Zalmunna [are] in Karkor, and their camps with them, about fifteen thousand, all who are left of all the camp of the sons of the east; and those falling [are] a hundred and twenty thousand men, drawing sword. |
| 11 | And Gideon goeth up the way of those who tabernacle in tents, on the east of Nobah and Jogbehah, and smiteth the camp, and the camp was confident; |
| 12 | and Zebab and Zalmunna flee, and he pursueth after them, and captureth the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and all the camp he hath caused to tremble. |
| 13 | And Gideon son of Joash turneth back from the battle, at the going up of the sun, |
| 14 | and captureth a young man of the men of Succoth, and asketh him, and he describeth unto him the heads of Succoth, and its elders -- seventy and seven men. |
| 15 | And he cometh in unto the men of Succoth, and saith, `Lo Zebah and Zalmunna, with whom ye reproached me, saying, Is the hand of Zebah and Zalmunna now in thy hand that we give to thy men who [are] wearied bread?` |
| 16 | And he taketh the elders of the city, and the thorns of the wilderness, and the threshing instruments, and teacheth by them the men of Succoth, |
| 17 | and the tower of Penuel he hath broken down, and slayeth the men of the city. |
| 18 | And he saith unto Zebah and unto Zalmunna, `How -- the men whom ye slew in Tabor?` and they say, `As thou -- so they, one -- as the form of the king`s sons.` |
| 19 | And he saith, `My brethren -- sons of my mother -- they; Jehovah liveth, if ye had kept them alive -- I had not slain you.` |
| 20 | And he saith to Jether his first-born, `Rise, slay them;` and the young man hath not drawn his sword, for he hath been afraid, for he [is] yet a youth. |
| 21 | And Zebah saith -- also Zalmunna -- `Rise thou, and fall upon us; for as the man -- his might;` and Gideon riseth, and slayeth Zebah and Zalmunna, and taketh their round ornaments which [are] on the necks of their camels. |
| 22 | And the men of Israel say unto Gideon, `Rule over us, both thou, and thy son, and thy son`s son, for thou hast saved us from the hand of Midian.` |
| 23 | And Gideon saith unto them, `I do not rule over you, nor doth my son rule over you; Jehovah doth rule over you.` |
| 24 | And Gideon saith unto them, `Let me ask of you a petition, and give ye to me each the ring of his prey, for they have rings of gold, for they [are] Ishmaelites.` |
| 25 | And they say, `We certainly give;` and they spread out the garment, and cast thither each the ring of his prey; |
| 26 | and the weight of the rings of gold which he asked is a thousand and seven hundred [shekels] of gold, apart from the round ornaments, and the drops, and the purple garments, which [are] on the kings of Midian, and apart from the chains which [are] on the necks of their camels, |
| 27 | and Gideon maketh it into an ephod, and setteth it up in his city, in Ophrah, and all Israel go a-whoring after it there, and it is to Gideon and to his house for a snare. |
| 28 | And Midian is humbled before the sons of Israel, and have not added to lift up their head; and the land resteth forty years in the days of Gideon. |
| 29 | And Jerubbaal son of Joash goeth and dwelleth in his own house, |
| 30 | and to Gideon there have been seventy sons, coming out of his loin, for he had many wives; |
| 31 | and his concubine, who [is] in Shechem, hath born to him -- even she -- a son, and he appointeth his name Abimelech. |
| 32 | And Gideon son of Joash dieth, in a good old age, and is buried in the burying-place of Joash his father, in Ophrah of the Abi-Ezrite. |
| 33 | And it cometh to pass, when Gideon [is] dead, that the sons of Israel turn back and go a-whoring after the Baalim, and set over them Baal-Berith for a god; |
| 34 | and the sons of Israel have not remembered Jehovah their God, who is delivering them out of the hand of all their enemies round about, |
| 35 | neither have they done kindness with the house of Jerubbaal -- Gideon -- according to all the good which he did with Israel. |
