1The men of Ephraim said to him, "Why have you treated us like this? You did not call us when you went to fight the Midianites." And they argued with him sharply.
2He said to them, "What have I done now compared with you? Is not the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the whole grape harvest of Abiezer?"
3"God handed over to you the princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb. What was I able to do compared with you?" When he said that, their anger against him died down.
4Gideon came to the Jordan and crossed over, he and the three hundred men who were with him. They were tired out, yet they kept up the chase.
5He said to the men of Succoth, "Please give loaves of bread to the people who are following me, for they are worn out. I am chasing Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian."
6But the princes of Succoth said, "Are Zebah and Zalmunna already in your hand, that we should give bread to your army?"
7Gideon said, "For that, when the LORD has given Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, I will tear your flesh with the thorns of the desert and with briers."
8From there he went up to Penuel and spoke to them in the same way. The men of Penuel answered him just as the men of Succoth had answered.
9So he said to the men of Penuel, "When I come back in peace, I will break down this tower."
10Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor with their armies, about fifteen thousand men. They were all who were left of all the armies of the people of the east, for a hundred and twenty thousand men who carried swords had fallen.
11Gideon went up by the road of those who lived in tents, east of Nobah and Jogbehah, and he struck the army down, for the army felt safe.
12When Zebah and Zalmunna ran away, he chased them. He captured the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and he scattered the whole army in panic.
13Gideon the son of Joash came back from the battle before the sun was up.
14He caught a young man from the men of Succoth and questioned him. The young man wrote down for him the names of the princes of Succoth and its elders, seventy-seven men.
15Then he came to the men of Succoth and said, "Look at Zebah and Zalmunna. You taunted me about them and said, 'Are Zebah and Zalmunna already in your hand, that we should give bread to your tired men?'"
16So he took the elders of the city, and thorns of the desert and briers, and with them he taught the men of Succoth.
17He broke down the tower of Penuel and killed the men of the city.
18Then he said to Zebah and Zalmunna, "What sort of men were those you killed at Tabor?" They answered, "They were like you. Each one looked like the son of a king."
19He said, "They were my brothers, the sons of my own mother. As surely as the LORD lives, if you had let them live, I would not kill you."
20He said to Jether his oldest son, "Get up and kill them." But the boy did not draw his sword. He was afraid, because he was still only a boy.
21Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, "Get up yourself and strike us down, for as the man is, so is his strength." So Gideon got up and killed Zebah and Zalmunna, and he took the ornaments that were on the necks of their camels.
22Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, "Rule over us, you and your son and your son's son also, for you have saved us from the hand of Midian."
23Gideon said to them, "I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you. The LORD will rule over you."
24Gideon said to them, "I would like to ask one thing of you. Let each of you give me the earrings from what he has taken." (They had golden earrings, because they were Ishmaelites.)
25They answered, "We will gladly give them." So they spread out a garment, and each man threw into it the earrings from what he had taken.
26The golden earrings he asked for weighed one thousand seven hundred shekels of gold. This was besides the ornaments, the collars, and the purple clothes that were on the kings of Midian, and besides the chains that were round the necks of their camels.
27Gideon made an ephod out of it and put it in his own town, in Ophrah. And all Israel went there and prostituted themselves to it. It became a trap to Gideon and to his family.
28So Midian was brought down before the children of Israel, and they did not lift up their heads any more. And the land was quiet for forty years, in the days of Gideon.
29Jerubbaal the son of Joash went and lived in his own house.
30Gideon had seventy sons of his own, for he had many wives.
32Gideon the son of Joash died at a good old age. He was buried in the tomb of Joash his father, in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
33As soon as Gideon was dead, the children of Israel turned away again and prostituted themselves to the Baalim, and they made Baalberith their god.
34The children of Israel did not remember the LORD their God, who had saved them from the hands of all their enemies on every side.
35They showed no kindness to the family of Jerubbaal, that is, Gideon, for all the good that he had done for Israel.