1And the men of Ephraim said to him, Why have you treated us thus, that you did not call us, when you went to fight with Midian? And they chided him sharply. 2And he said to them, What have I now done in comparison with you? Is not the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the vintage of Abiezer? 3God has delivered into your hand the princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb: and what was I able to do in comparison with you? Then their anger was abated toward him, when he had said that. 4And Gideon came to the Jordan, and passed over, he, and the three hundred men who were with him, faint, yet pursuing. 5And he said to the men of Succoth, Please give loaves of bread to the people who follow me; for they are faint, and I am pursuing after Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian. 6And the princes of Succoth said, Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in your hand, that we should give bread to your army? 7And Gideon said, Therefore when Yehovah has delivered Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, then I will tear your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness and with briers. 8And he went up from there to Penuel, and spoke to them in like manner; and the men of Penuel answered him as the men of Succoth had answered. 9And he spoke also to the men of Penuel, saying, When I come again in peace, I will break down this tower. 10Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor, and their hosts with them, about fifteen thousand men, all who were left of all the host of the children of the east; for there fell a hundred and twenty thousand men who drew the sword. 11And Gideon went up by the way of those who dwelt in tents on the east of Nobah and Jogbehah, and struck the host; for the host was secure. 12And Zebah and Zalmunna fled; and he pursued after them; and he took the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and routed all the host. 13And Gideon the son of Joash returned from the battle from the ascent of Heres. 14And he caught a young man of the men of Succoth, and inquired of him: and he described for him the princes of Succoth, and its elders, seventy-seven men. 15And he came to the men of Succoth, and said, Behold Zebah and Zalmunna, concerning whom you taunted me, saying, Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in your hand, that we should give bread to your men who are weary? 16And he took the elders of the city, and thorns of the wilderness and briers, and with them he taught the men of Succoth. 17And he broke down the tower of Penuel, and killed the men of the city. 18Then he said to Zebah and Zalmunna, What manner of men were they whom you killed at Tabor? And they answered, As you are, so were they; each one resembled the children of a king. 19And he said, They were my brothers, the sons of my mother: as Yehovah lives, if you had saved them alive, I would not kill you. 20And he said to Jether his firstborn, Up, and kill them. But the youth did not draw his sword; for he feared, because he was still a youth. 21Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, Rise yourself, and fall on us; for as the man is, so is his strength. And Gideon arose, and killed Zebah and Zalmunna, and took the crescents that were on their camels’ necks. 22Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, Rule over us, both you, and your son, and your son’s son also; for you have saved us out of the hand of Midian. 23And Gideon said to them, I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you: Yehovah shall rule over you. 24And Gideon said to them, I would make a request of you, that you would give me every man the ear-rings of his spoil. (For they had golden ear-rings, because they were Ishmaelites.) 25And they answered, We will willingly give them. And they spread a garment, and every man cast in it the ear-rings of his spoil. 26And the weight of the golden ear-rings that he requested was a thousand seven hundred shekels of gold; besides the crescents, and the pendants, and the purple clothing that was on the kings of Midian, and besides the chains that were about their camels’ necks. 27And Gideon made an ephod of it, and put it in his city, even in Ophrah: and all Israel played the prostitute after it there; and it became a snare to Gideon, and to his house. 28So Midian was subdued before the children of Israel, and they lifted up their heads no more. And the land had rest forty years in the days of Gideon. 29And Jerubbaal the son of Joash went and dwelt in his own house. 30And Gideon had seventy sons begotten of his body; for he had many wives. 31And his concubine who was in Shechem, she also bore him a son, and he called his name Abimelech. 32And 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. 33And it happened, as soon as Gideon was dead, that the children of Israel turned again, and played the prostitute after the Baalim, and made Baal-berith their god. 34And the children of Israel did not remember Yehovah their God, who had delivered them out of the hand of all their enemies on every side; 35nor did they show kindness to the house of Jerubbaal, who is Gideon, according to all the goodness which he had shown to Israel.