Judges 8 · שופטים

And the men of Efrayim said to him, What hast thou done to us, that thou didst not call us, when thou didst go to fight with Midyan? And they quarrelled with him sharply.

And he said to them, What have I done now in comparison with you? Are not the gleanings of Efrayim better than the vintage of Avi-῾ezer?

God has delivered into your hands the princes of Midyan, ῾Orev and Ze᾽ev: and what was I able to do in comparison with you? Then their anger was abated toward him, when he had said that.

And Gid῾on came to the Yarden, and passed over, he, and the three hundred men that were with him, faint, yet pursuing them.

And he said to the men of Sukkot, Give, I pray you, loaves of bread to the people that follow me; for they are faint, and I am pursuing after Zevaĥ and Żalmunna, kings of Midyan.

And the princes of Sukkot said, Are the hands of Zevaĥ and Żalmunna now in thy hand, that we should give bread to thy army?

And Gid῾on said, Therefore when the Lord has delivered Zevaĥ and Żalmunna into my hand, then I will tear your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness and with briers.

And he went up from there to Penu᾽el, and spoke to them likewise: and the men of Penu᾽el answered him as the men of Sukkot had answered him.

And he spoke also to the men of Penu᾽el, saying, When I come again in peace, I will break down this tower.

Now Zevaĥ and Żalmunna were in Qarqor, and their hosts with them, about fifteen thousand men, all that were left of all the camp of the children of the east: for there fell a hundred and twenty thousand men that drew sword.

And Gid῾on went up by the way of the tent dwellers, on the east of Novaĥ and Yogbeha, and smote the camp: for the camp thought itself secure.

And when Zevaĥ and Żalmunna fled, he pursued after them, and took the two kings of Midyan, Zevaĥ and Żalmunna, and the whole camp was panic stricken.

And Gid῾on the son of Yo᾽ash returned from the battle from the ascent of Ḥeres,

and caught a young man of the men of Sukkot, and inquired of him: and he wrote down for him the princes of Sukkot, and its elders seventy seven men.

And he came to the men of Sukkot, and said, Behold Zevaĥ and Żalmunna, with whom you taunted me, saying, Are the hands of Zevaĥ and Żalmunna now in thy hand, that we should give bread to thy men that are weary?

And he took the elders of the city, and thorns of the wilderness and briers, and with them he chastised the men of Sukkot.

And he beat down the tower of Penu᾽el, and slew the men of the city.

Then said he to Zevaĥ and Żalmunna, where are the men whom you slew at Tavor? And they answered, As thou art, so were they, the same; in shape like the sons of a king.

And he said, They were my brothers, the sons of my mother: as the Lord lives, if you had saved them alive, I would not slay you.

And he said to Yeter his firstborn, Up, and slay them. But the youth did not draw his sword: for he feared, because he was still a lad.

Then Zevaĥ and Żalmunna said, Rise thou, and fall upon us: for as the man is, so is his strength. And Gid῾on arose, and slew Zevaĥ and Żalmunna, and took away the crescents that were on their camels’ necks.

Then the men of Yisra᾽el said to Gid῾on, Rule thou over us, both thou, and thy son, and thy son’s son also: for thou hast delivered us from the hand of Midyan.

And Gid῾on said to them, I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you: the Lord shall rule over you.

And Gid῾on said to them, I would make a request of you, that you would give me every man the earrings of his spoil. (For they had golden earrings, because they were Yishme᾽elim.)

And they answered, We will willingly give them. And they spread a garment, and did cast on it every man the earrings of his spoil.

And the weight of the golden earrings that he requested was one thousand seven hundred shekels of gold: besides the crescents, and the eardrops, and the purple garments that were on the kings of Midyan, and besides the chains that were about their camels’ necks.

And Gid῾on made an efod of this, and put it in his city, even in ῾Ofra: and all Yisra᾽el went astray there after it: which thing became a snare to Gid῾on, and to his house.

Thus was Midyan subdued before the children of Yisra᾽el, so that they lifted up their heads no more. And the country was in quietness for forty years in the days of Gid῾on.

And Yerubba῾al the son of Yo᾽ash went and dwelt in his own house.

And Gid῾on had seventy sons begotten of his body: for he had many wives.

And his concubine that was in Shekhem, she also bore him a son, whose name he called Avimelekh.

And Gid῾on the son of Yo᾽ash died in a good old age, and was buried in the tomb of Yo᾽ash his father, in ῾Ofra of the Avi-῾ezri.

And it came to pass, as soon as Gid῾on was dead, that the children of Yisra᾽el turned again, and went astray after the Ba῾alim, and made Ba῾al-berit their god.

And the children of Yisra᾽el did not remember the Lord their God, who had delivered them out of the hands of all their enemies on every side:

neither did they show kindness to the house of Yerubba῾al, namely, Gid῾on, according to all the goodness which he had shown to Yisra᾽el.