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[1] And the men of Ephraim say unto him, `What [is] this thing thou hast done to us -- not to call for us when thou didst go to fight with Midian?' and they strive with him severely;
[2] and he saith unto them, `What have I done now like you? are not the gleanings of Ephraim better than the harvest of Abi-Ezer?
[3] Into your hand hath God given the heads of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb; and what have I been able to do like you?' Then their temper desisted from off him in his speaking this thing.
[4] And Gideon cometh in unto the Jordan, passing over, he and the three hundred men who [are] with him -- wearied, and pursuing,
[5] and he saith to the men of Succoth, `Give, I pray you, cakes of bread to the people who [are] at my feet, for they [are] wearied, and I am pursuing after Zebah and Zalmunna kings of Midian.'
[6] And the heads of Succoth say, `Is the hand of Zebah and Zalmunna now in thy hand, that we give to thy host bread?'
[7] And Gideon saith, `Therefore -- in Jehovah's giving Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand -- I have threshed your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness, and with the threshing instruments.'
[8] And he goeth up thence [to] Penuel, and speaketh unto them thus; and the men of Penuel answer him as the men of Succoth answered.
[9] And he speaketh also to the men of Penuel, saying, `In my turning back in peace, I break down this tower.'
[10] And Zebah and Zalmunna [are] in Karkor, and their camps with them, about fifteen thousand, all who are left of all the camp of the sons of the east; and those falling [are] a hundred and twenty thousand men, drawing sword.
[11] And Gideon goeth up the way of those who tabernacle in tents, on the east of Nobah and Jogbehah, and smiteth the camp, and the camp was confident;
[12] and Zebab and Zalmunna flee, and he pursueth after them, and captureth the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and all the camp he hath caused to tremble.
[13] And Gideon son of Joash turneth back from the battle, at the going up of the sun,
[14] and captureth a young man of the men of Succoth, and asketh him, and he describeth unto him the heads of Succoth, and its elders -- seventy and seven men.
[15] And he cometh in unto the men of Succoth, and saith, `Lo Zebah and Zalmunna, with whom ye reproached me, saying, Is the hand of Zebah and Zalmunna now in thy hand that we give to thy men who [are] wearied bread?'
[16] And he taketh the elders of the city, and the thorns of the wilderness, and the threshing instruments, and teacheth by them the men of Succoth,
[17] and the tower of Penuel he hath broken down, and slayeth the men of the city.
[18] And he saith unto Zebah and unto Zalmunna, `How -- the men whom ye slew in Tabor?' and they say, `As thou -- so they, one -- as the form of the king's sons.'
[19] And he saith, `My brethren -- sons of my mother -- they; Jehovah liveth, if ye had kept them alive -- I had not slain you.'
[20] And he saith to Jether his first-born, `Rise, slay them;' and the young man hath not drawn his sword, for he hath been afraid, for he [is] yet a youth.
[21] And Zebah saith -- also Zalmunna -- `Rise thou, and fall upon us; for as the man -- his might;' and Gideon riseth, and slayeth Zebah and Zalmunna, and taketh their round ornaments which [are] on the necks of their camels.
[22] And the men of Israel say unto Gideon, `Rule over us, both thou, and thy son, and thy son's son, for thou hast saved us from the hand of Midian.'
[23] And Gideon saith unto them, `I do not rule over you, nor doth my son rule over you; Jehovah doth rule over you.'
[24] And Gideon saith unto them, `Let me ask of you a petition, and give ye to me each the ring of his prey, for they have rings of gold, for they [are] Ishmaelites.'
[25] And they say, `We certainly give;' and they spread out the garment, and cast thither each the ring of his prey;
[26] and the weight of the rings of gold which he asked is a thousand and seven hundred [shekels] of gold, apart from the round ornaments, and the drops, and the purple garments, which [are] on the kings of Midian, and apart from the chains which [are] on the necks of their camels,
[27] and Gideon maketh it into an ephod, and setteth it up in his city, in Ophrah, and all Israel go a-whoring after it there, and it is to Gideon and to his house for a snare.
[28] And Midian is humbled before the sons of Israel, and have not added to lift up their head; and the land resteth forty years in the days of Gideon.
[29] And Jerubbaal son of Joash goeth and dwelleth in his own house,
[30] and to Gideon there have been seventy sons, coming out of his loin, for he had many wives;
[31] and his concubine, who [is] in Shechem, hath born to him -- even she -- a son, and he appointeth his name Abimelech.
[32] And Gideon son of Joash dieth, in a good old age, and is buried in the burying-place of Joash his father, in Ophrah of the Abi-Ezrite.
[33] And it cometh to pass, when Gideon [is] dead, that the sons of Israel turn back and go a-whoring after the Baalim, and set over them Baal-Berith for a god;
[34] and the sons of Israel have not remembered Jehovah their God, who is delivering them out of the hand of all their enemies round about,
[35] neither have they done kindness with the house of Jerubbaal -- Gideon -- according to all the good which he did with Israel.
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