Judges 8 | King James Version

King James Version

1 And the men of Ephraim said unto him, Why hast thou served us thus, that thou calledst us not, when thou wentest to fight with the Midianites? And they did chide with him sharply. 2 And he said unto them, What have I done now in comparison of you? Is not the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the vintage of Abiezer? 3 God hath delivered into your hands the princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb: and what was I able to do in comparison of you? Then their anger was abated toward him, when he had said that. 4 And Gideon came to Jordan, and passed over, he, and the three hundred men that were with him, faint, yet pursuing them . 5 And he said unto the men of Succoth, Give, I pray you, loaves of bread unto the people that follow me; for they be faint, and I am pursuing after Zebah and Zalmunna, kings of Midian. 6 And the princes of Succoth said, Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in thine hand, that we should give bread unto thine army? 7 And Gideon said, Therefore when the LORD hath delivered Zebah and Zalmunna into mine hand, then I will tear your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness and with briers. 8 And he went up thence to Penuel, and spake unto them likewise: and the men of Penuel answered him as the men of Succoth had answered him . 9 And he spake also unto the men of Penuel, saying, When I come again in peace, I will break down this tower. 10 Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor, and their hosts with them, about fifteen thousand men , all that were left of all the hosts of the children of the east: for there fell an hundred and twenty thousand men that drew sword. 11 And Gideon went up by the way of them that dwelt in tents on the east of Nobah and Jogbehah, and smote the host: for the host was secure. 12 And when Zebah and Zalmunna fled, he pursued after them, and took the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and discomfited all the host. 13 And Gideon the son of Joash returned from battle before the sun was up , 14 And caught a young man of the men of Succoth, and enquired of him: and he described unto him the princes of Succoth, and the elders thereof, even threescore and seventeen men. 15 And he came unto the men of Succoth, and said, Behold Zebah and Zalmunna, with whom ye did upbraid me, saying, Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in thine hand, that we should give bread unto thy men that are weary? 16 And he took the elders of the city, and thorns of the wilderness and briers, and with them he taught the men of Succoth. 17 And he beat down the tower of Penuel, and slew the men of the city. 18 Then said he unto Zebah and Zalmunna, What manner of men were they whom ye slew at Tabor? And they answered, As thou art , so were they; each one resembled the children of a king. 19 And he said, They were my brethren, even the sons of my mother: as the LORD liveth, if ye had saved them alive, I would not slay you. 20 And he said unto Jether his firstborn, Up, and slay them. But the youth drew not his sword: for he feared, because he was yet a youth. 21 Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, Rise thou, and fall upon us: for as the man is, so is his strength. And Gideon arose, and slew Zebah and Zalmunna, and took away the ornaments that were on their camels'necks. 22 Then the men of Israel said unto Gideon, Rule thou over us, both thou, and thy son, and thy son' son also: for thou hast delivered us from the hand of Midian. 23 And Gideon said unto them, I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you: the LORD shall rule over you. 24 And Gideon said unto them, I would desire a request of you, that ye would give me every man the earrings of his prey. (For they had golden earrings, because they were Ishmaelites.) 25 And they answered, We will willingly give them . And they spread a garment, and did cast therein every man the earrings of his prey. 26 And the weight of the golden earrings that he requested was a thousand and seven hundred shekels of gold; beside ornaments, and collars, and purple raiment that was on the kings of Midian, and beside the chains that were about their camels'necks. 27 And Gideon made an ephod thereof, and put it in his city, even in Ophrah: and all Israel went thither a whoring after it: which thing became a snare unto Gideon, and to his house. 28 Thus was Midian subdued before the children of Israel, so that they lifted up their heads no more. And the country was in quietness forty years in the days of Gideon. 29 And Jerubbaal the son of Joash went and dwelt in his own house. 30 And Gideon had threescore and ten sons of his body begotten: for he had many wives. 31 And his concubine that was in Shechem, she also bare him a son, whose name he called Abimelech. 32 And Gideon the son of Joash died in a good old age, and was buried in the sepulchre of Joash his father, in Ophrah of the Abiezrites. 33 And it came to pass, as soon as Gideon was dead, that the children of Israel turned again, and went a whoring after Baalim, and made Baalberith their god. 34 And the children of Israel remembered not the LORD their God, who had delivered them out of the hands of all their enemies on every side: 35 Neither shewed they kindness to the house of Jerubbaal, namely , Gideon, according to all the goodness which he had shewed unto Israel.

New International Reader’s Version

Zebah and Zalmunna

1 The men of Ephraim asked Gideon, ‘Why have you treated us like this? Why didn’t you ask us to help you when you went out to fight against Midian?’ In anger they challenged Gideon. 2 But he answered them, ‘What I’ve done isn’t anything compared to what you have done. Ephraim’s grapes have been gathered. Isn’t what is left over better than all the grapes that have been gathered from Abiezer’s vines? 3 God handed Oreb and Zeeb over to you. They were Midianite leaders. So what was I able to do compared to what you did?’ After Gideon had said that, they didn’t feel angry with him anymore. 4 Gideon and his 300 men were very tired. But they kept on chasing their enemies. They came to the River Jordan and went across it. 5 Gideon said to the men of Sukkoth, ‘Give my troops some bread. They are worn out. And I’m still chasing Zebah and Zalmunna. They are the kings of Midian.’ 6 But the officials of Sukkoth objected. They said, ‘Have you already killed Zebah and Zalmunna? Have you cut their hands off and brought them back to prove it? If you haven’t, why should we give bread to your troops?’ 7 Gideon replied, ‘The LORD will hand Zebah and Zalmunna over to me. When he does, I’ll tear your skin with thorns from desert bushes.’ 8 From there Gideon went up to Peniel. He asked its men for the same thing. But they answered as the men of Sukkoth had. 9 So he said to the men of Peniel, ‘I’ll be back after I’ve won the battle. Then I’ll tear down this tower.’ 10 Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor. They had an army of about 15,000 men. That’s all that were left of the armies of the tribes from the east. About 120,000 men who carried swords had died in battle. 11 Gideon went up the trail the people of the desert had made. It ran east of Nobah and Jogbehah. He attacked the army by surprise. 12 Zebah and Zalmunna ran away. They were the two kings of Midian. Gideon chased them and captured them. He destroyed their whole army. 13 Then Gideon, the son of Joash, returned from the battle. He came back through the Pass of Heres. 14 He caught a young man from Sukkoth. He asked him about the elders of the town. The young man wrote down for him the names of Sukkoth’s 77 officials. 15 Then Gideon came and said to the men of Sukkoth, ‘Here are Zebah and Zalmunna. You made fun of me because of them. You said, “Have you already killed Zebah and Zalmunna? Have you cut their hands off and brought them back to prove it? If you haven’t, why should we give bread to your tired men?” ’ 16 Gideon went and got the elders of the town. Then he taught the men of Sukkoth a lesson. He tore their skin with thorns from desert bushes. 17 He also pulled down the tower at Peniel. He killed the men in the town. 18 Then he spoke to Zebah and Zalmunna. He asked, ‘What were the men like that you killed at Tabor?’ ‘Men like you,’ they answered. ‘Each one walked as if he were a prince.’ 19 Gideon replied, ‘Those were my brothers. They were the sons of my own mother. You can be sure that the LORD lives. And you can be just as sure that if you had spared their lives, I wouldn’t kill you.’ 20 Then Gideon turned to his eldest son Jether. He said, ‘Kill them!’ But Jether didn’t pull out his sword. He was only a boy. So he was afraid. 21 Zebah and Zalmunna said, ‘Come on. Do it yourself. “The older the man, the stronger he is.” ’ So Gideon stepped forward and killed them. Then he took the gold chains off the necks of their camels.

Gideon’s linen apron

22 The Israelites said to Gideon, ‘Rule over us. We want you, your son and your grandson to be our rulers. You have saved us from the power of Midian.’ 23 But Gideon told them, ‘I will not rule over you. My son won’t rule over you either. The LORD will rule over you.’ 24 He continued, ‘I do ask one thing. I want each of you to give me an earring. I’m talking about the earrings you took from your enemies.’ It was the practice of the people in the family line of Ishmael to wear gold earrings. 25 The Israelites said, ‘We’ll be glad to give them to you.’ So they spread out a piece of clothing. Each of them threw a ring on it from what he had taken. 26 The weight of the gold rings Gideon asked for was 20 kilograms. That didn’t include the moon-shaped necklaces the kings of Midian had worn. It didn’t include their other necklaces or their purple clothes. And it didn’t include the gold chains that had been on the necks of their camels. 27 Gideon made an object out of all the gold. It looked like the linen apron the high priest of Israel wore. Gideon placed it in Ophrah. That was his home town. All the Israelites worshipped it there. They weren’t faithful to the LORD. So the gold object became a trap to Gideon and his family.

Gideon dies

28 Israel brought Midian under their control. Midian wasn’t able to attack Israel anymore. So the land was at peace for 40 years. The peace lasted as long as Gideon was living. 29 Jerub-Baal, the son of Joash, went back home to live. Jerub-Baal was another name for Gideon. 30 He had 70 sons of his own. That’s because he had many wives. 31 And he had a concubine who lived in Shechem. She also had a son by him. Gideon named that son Abimelek. 32 Gideon, the son of Joash, died when he was very old. He was buried in the tomb of his father Joash in Ophrah. Ophrah was in the territory that belonged to the family line of Abiezer. 33 As soon as Gideon had died, the Israelites began serving and worshipping gods that were named Baal. Israel wasn’t faithful to the LORD. They worshipped Baal-Berith as their god. 34 They forgot what the LORD their God had done for them. He had saved them from the power of their enemies all around them. 35 Jerub-Baal had done many good things for the Israelites. But they weren’t faithful to his family. Jerub-Baal was another name for Gideon.