1 And the men of Ephraim said to Gideon, What is this that you have done to us, in that you did not call us when you went to fight with Midian? and they chided him sharply. 2 And he said to them, What have I now done in comparison with you? is not the gleaning of Ephraim better than the vintage of Abiezer? 3 The Lord has delivered into your hand the princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb; and what could I do in comparison with you? Then was their spirit calmed toward him, when he spoke this word. 4 And Gideon came to Jordan, and went over, himself and the three hundred with him, hungry, yet pursuing. 5 And he said to the men of Sukkoth, Give, Please, bread to feed this people that follow me; because they are faint, and look, I am following after Zebah and Zalmunna, kings of Midian. 6 And the princes of Sukkoth said, Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in your hand, that we should give bread to your host? 7 And Gideon said, Therefore when the Lord gives Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, then I will tear your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness, and the Barkenim. 8 And he went up from there to Penuel, and spoke to them likewise: and the men of Penuel answered him as the men of Sukkoth had answered him. 9 And Gideon said to the men of Penuel, When I return in peace, I will break down this tower. 10 And Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor, and their host was with them, about fifteen thousand, all that were left of all the host of the aliens; and they that fell were one hundred and twenty thousand men that drew the sword. 11 And Gideon went up by the way of those who lived in tents, eastward of Nobah and Jegebal; and he struck the host, and the host was secure. 12 And Zebah and Zalmunna fled; and he pursued after them, and took the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and discomfited all the army. 13 And Gideon the son of Joash returned from the battle, down from the battle of Heres. 14 And he took prisoner a young lad of the men of Sukkoth, and questioned him; and he wrote to him the names of the princes of Sukkoth and of their elders, seventy-seven men. 15 And Gideon came to the princes of Sukkoth, and said, Look at Zebah and Zalmunna, about whom you reproached me, saying, Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in your hand, that we should give bread to your men that are faint? 16 And he took the elders of the city with the thorns of the wilderness and the Barkenim, and with them he threshed the men of the city.⁠a 17 And he overthrew the tower of Penuel, and killed the men of the city. 18 And he said to Zebah and Zalmunna, Where are the men whom you killed in Tabor? and they said, As you, so were they, according to the likeness of the son of a king. 19 And Gideon said, They were my brothers and the sons of my mother: as the Lord lives, if you had preserved them alive, I would not have killed you. 20 And he said to Jether his firstborn, Rise and kill them; but the lad did not draw his sword, for he was afraid, for he was yet very young. 21 And Zebah and Zalmunna said, Rise you and fall upon us, for your power is as that of a man; and Gideon arose, and killed Zebah and Zalmunna: and he took the round ornaments that were on the necks of their camels. 22 And the men of Israel said to Gideon, Rule, my lord, over us, both you and your son; for you have saved us out of the hand of Midian. 23 And Gideon said to them, I will not rule, and my son shall not rule among you; the Lord shall rule over you. 24 And Gideon said to them, I will make a request of you, and give me every man an earring out of his captured goods: for they had golden earrings, for they were Ishmaelites. 25 And they said, We will certainly give them: and he opened his garment, and each man cast in it an earring of his captured goods. 26 And the weight of the golden earrings which he asked, was a thousand and five hundred pieces of gold, besides the crescents, and the chains, and the garments, and the purple cloths that were on the kings of Midian, and besides the chains that were on the necks of their camels. 27 And Gideon made an ephod of it, and set it in his city in Ephrathah; and all Israel went there and prostituted itself by pursuing it, and it became a stumbling block to Gideon and his house. 28 And Midian was straitened before the children of Israel, and they did not lift up their head any more; and the land had rest forty years in the days of Gideon. 29 And Jerubbaal the son of Joash went and sat in his house. 30 And Gideon had seventy sons begotten of his body, for he had many wives. 31 And his concubine was in Shechem, and she also bore him a son, and gave him the name Abimelech. 32 And Gideon son of Joash died in his city, and he was buried in the tomb of Joash his father in Ephrathah of Abiezrites. 33 And it happened when Gideon was dead, that the children of Israel turned, and prostituted themselves by pursuing Baals, and made for themselves a covenant with Baal that he should be their god. 34 And the children of Israel did not remember the Lord their God who had delivered them out of the hand of all that afflicted them all around. 35 And they did not deal mercifully with the house of Jerubbaal, (the same is Gideon) according to all the good which he did to Israel.