1And the men of Ephraim said to him, Why have thou done thus to us, that thou did not call us when thou went to fight with Midian? And they chided with 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 rulers 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, Give, I pray you, 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 rulers of Succoth said, Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in thy hand that we should give bread to thine army? 7And Gideon said, Therefore when LORD 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 armies with them, about fifteen thousand men, all who were left of all the army of the sons of the east, for there fell a hundred and twenty thousand men who drew a sword. 11And Gideon went up by the way of those who dwelt in tents on the east of Nobah and Jogbehah, and smote the army, for the army was confident. 12And Zebah and Zalmunna fled, and he pursued after them. And he took the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and discomfited all the army. 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 rulers of Succoth, and the elders of it, seventy-seven men. 15And he came to the men of Succoth, and said, Behold Zebah and Zalmunna, concerning whom ye taunted me, saying, Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in thy hand, that we should give bread to thy 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 ye killed at Tabor? And they answered, As thou are, so were they. Each one resembled the sons of a king. 19And he said, They were my brothers, the sons of my mother. As LORD lives, if ye had saved them alive, I would not kill you. 20And he said to Jether his first-born, Up, and kill them. But the youth did not draw his sword, for he feared because he was yet a youth. 21Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, Rise thou, and fall upon 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 thou over us, both thou, and thy son, and thy son's son also, for thou 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. LORD shall rule over you. 24And Gideon said to them, I would make a request of you, that ye would give me every man the earrings of his spoil. (For they had golden earrings, because they were Ishmaelites.) 25And they answered, We will willingly give them. And they spread a garment, and cast in it every man the earrings of his spoil. 26And the weight of the golden earrings that he requested was a thousand and seven hundred [shekels] of gold, besides the crescents, and the pendants, and the purple raiment that was on the kings of Midian, and besides the chains tha 27And Gideon made an ephod of it, and put it in his city, even in Ophrah. And all Israel played the harlot after it there, and it became a snare to Gideon, and to his house. 28So Midian was subdued before the sons 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 from 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 sepulcher of Joash his father, in Ophrah of the Abiezrites. 33And it came to pass, as soon as Gideon was dead, that the sons of Israel turned again, and played the harlot after the Baalim, and made Baal-berith their god. 34And the sons of Israel did not remember LORD their God, who had delivered them out of the hand of all their enemies on every side, 35neither did they show kindness to the house of Jerubbaal, [who is] Gideon, according to all the goodness which he had shown to Israel.