Judges 8:1-35, NLT
Judges 8
Gideon Kills Zebah and Zalmunna
1Then the people of Ephraim asked Gideon, “Why have you treated us this way? Why didn’t you send for us when you first went out to fight the Midianites?” And they argued heatedly with Gideon.
2But Gideon replied, “What have I accomplished compared to you? Aren’t even the leftover grapes of Ephraim’s harvest better than the entire crop of my little clan of Abiezer?
4Gideon then crossed the Jordan River with his 300 men, and though exhausted, they continued to chase the enemy.
6But the officials of Succoth replied, “Catch Zebah and Zalmunna first, and then we will feed your army.”
7So Gideon said, “After the Lord gives me victory over Zebah and Zalmunna, I will return and tear your flesh with the thorns and briers from the wilderness.”
8From there Gideon went up to Peniel*8:8 Hebrew Penuel, a variant spelling of Peniel; also in 8:9, 17. and again asked for food, but he got the same answer.
10By this time Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor with about 15,000 warriors—all that remained of the allied armies of the east, for 120,000 had already been killed.
13After this, Gideon returned from the battle by way of Heres Pass.
18Then Gideon asked Zebah and Zalmunna, “The men you killed at Tabor—what were they like?”
“Like you,” they replied. “They all had the look of a king’s son.”
19“They were my brothers, the sons of my own mother!” Gideon exclaimed. “As surely as the Lord lives, I wouldn’t kill you if you hadn’t killed them.”
20Turning to Jether, his oldest son, he said, “Kill them!” But Jether did not draw his sword, for he was only a boy and was afraid.
21Then Zebah and Zalmunna said to Gideon, “Be a man! Kill us yourself!” So Gideon killed them both and took the royal ornaments from the necks of their camels.
Gideon’s Sacred Ephod
22Then the Israelites said to Gideon, “Be our ruler! You and your son and your grandson will be our rulers, for you have rescued us from Midian.”
23But Gideon replied, “I will not rule over you, nor will my son. The Lord will rule over you!
25“Gladly!” they replied. They spread out a cloak, and each one threw in a gold earring he had gathered from the plunder.
27Gideon made a sacred ephod from the gold and put it in Ophrah, his hometown. But soon all the Israelites prostituted themselves by worshiping it, and it became a trap for Gideon and his family.
28That is the story of how the people of Israel defeated Midian, which never recovered. Throughout the rest of Gideon’s lifetime—about forty years—there was peace in the land.
29Then Gideon*8:29 Hebrew Jerub-baal; see 6:32. son of Joash returned home.
33As soon as Gideon died, the Israelites prostituted themselves by worshiping the images of Baal, making Baal-berith their god.