Judges
Chapter 8

Gideon slays Midian's kings

8:1 And the men of Ephraim said to him, Why have you served us thus, that you called us not, when you went to fight with the Midianites ? And they did scold with him sharply.
8:2 And he said to them, What have I done now in comparison of you? [Is] not the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the vintage of Abiezer ?
8:3 God has delivered into your hands the princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb and what was I able to do in comparison of you? Then their anger was abated toward him, when he had said that.
8:4 And Gideon came to Jordan, [and] passed over, he, and the three hundred men that [were] with him, faint, yet pursuing [them].
8:5 And he said to the men of Succoth, Give, I pray you, loaves of bread to the people that follow me; for they [be] faint, and I am pursuing after Zebah and Zalmunna, kings of Midian.
8:6 And the princes of Succoth said, [Are] the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in your hand, that we should give bread to your army ?
8:7 And Gideon said, Therefore when the LORD has delivered Zebah and Zalmunna into mine hand, then I will tear your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness and with briers.
8:8 And he went up there to Penuel, and spake to them likewise and the men of Penuel answered him as the men of Succoth had answered [him].
8:9 And he spake also to the men of Penuel, saying, When I come again in peace, I will break down this tower.
8:10 Now Zebah and Zalmunna [were] in Karkor, and their hosts with them, about fifteen thousand [men], all that were left of all the hosts of the children of the east for there fell an hundred and twenty thousand men that drew sword.
8:11 And Gideon went up by the way of them that dwelt in tents on the east of Nobah and Jogbehah, and struck the host for the host was secure.
8:12 And when Zebah and Zalmunna fled, he pursued after them, and took the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and discomfited all the host.
8:13 And Gideon the son of Joash returned from battle before the sun [was up],
8:14 And caught a young man of the men of Succoth, and enquired of him and he described to him the princes of Succoth, and the elders thereof, [even] sixty and seventeen men.
8:15 And he came to the men of Succoth, and said, Behold Zebah and Zalmunna, with whom ya'll did upbraid me, saying, [Are] the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in your hand, that we should give bread to your men [that are] weary ?
8:16 And he took the elders of the city, and thorns of the wilderness and briers, and with them he taught the men of Succoth. 8:17 And he beat down the tower of Penuel, and slew the men of the city.
8:18 Then said he to Zebah and Zalmunna, What manner of men [were they] whom ya'll slew at Tabor ? And they answered, As you [are], so [were] they; each one resembled the children of a king.
8:19 And he said, They [were] my brethren, [even] the sons of my mother [as] the LORD lives, if ya'll had saved them alive, I would not slay you.
8:20 And he said to Jether his firstborn, Up, [and] slay them. But the youth drew not his sword for he feared, because he [was] yet a youth.
8:21 Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, Rise you, and fall upon us for as the man [is, so is] his strength. And Gideon arose, and slew Zebah and Zalmunna, and took away the ornaments that [were] on their camels' necks.
8:22 Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, Rule you over us, both you, and your son, and your son's son also for you have delivered us from the hand of Midian.
8:23 And Gideon said to them, I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you the LORD shall rule over you.
8:24 And Gideon said to them, I would desire a request of you, that ya'll would give me every man the earrings of his prey.(For they had golden earrings, because they [were] Ishmaelites.)
8:25 And they answered, We will willingly give [them]. And they spread a garment, and did cast therein every man the earrings of his prey.
8:26 And the weight of the golden earrings that he requested was a thousand and seven hundred [shekels] of gold ; beside ornaments, and collars, and purple raiment that [was] on the kings of Midian, and beside the chains that [were] about their camels' necks.
8:27 And Gideon made an ephod thereof, and put it in his city, [even] in Ophrah and all Israel went there a whoring after it which thing became a snare to Gideon, and to his house.
8:28 This was Midian subdued before the children of Israel, so that they lifted up their heads no more. And the country was in quietness forty years in the days of Gideon.

Gideon's children and death

8:29 And Jerubbaal the son of Joash went and dwelt in his own house.
8:30 And Gideon had sixty and ten sons of his body begotten for he had many wives.
8:31 And his concubine that [was] in Shechem, she also bare him a son, whose name he called Abimelech.
8:32 And Gideon the son of Joash died in a good old age, and was buried in the sepulchre of Joash his father, in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

Israel's return to idolatry

8:33 And it came to pass, as soon as Gideon was dead, that the children of Israel turned again, and went a whoring after Baalim, and made Baalberith their god.
8:34 And the children of Israel remembered not the LORD their God, who had delivered them out of the hands of all their enemies on every side
8:35 Neither shown they kindness to the house of Jerubbaal, [namely], Gideon, according to all the goodness which he had shown to Israel.

Judges Index || Main Index

Chapter 1 || Chapter 2 || Chapter 3 || Chapter 4 || Chapter 5 || Chapter 6 || Chapter 7 || Chapter 8 || Chapter 9 || Chapter 10

Chapter 11 || Chapter 12 || Chapter 13 || Chapter 14 || Chapter 15 || Chapter 16 || Chapter 17 || Chapter 18 || Chapter 19 || Chapter 20

Chapter 21