8 But then the Efrati men challenged Gid’on, “Why have you side-tracked us? Why didn’t you call us when you went to battle against the Midyanites?” And they severely rebuked him.

2 “What have I achieved compared to you guys?” answered Gid’on. “Aren’t the seconds of Efrayim’s (Ephraim) grapes better than the whole grape harvest of Aviezer? 3 God helped you all defeat Orev and Ze’ev, the princes of Midyan.[ref] What did I do compared to that?” After he said that, they all calmed down again.

4 Then Gid’on and his three hundred warriors crossed the Yarden (Jordan) going east. They were all exhausted, but continued the pursuit. 5 When they arrived at the town of Sukot, Gid’on asked the leaders, “Please give my men some bread to eat because they’re exhausted, but we’re chasing Zevah and Tsalmuna, the Midyanite kings.”

6 However, the Sukot officials asked cautiously, “Do you already have Zevah and Tsalmuna in your grasp that we should give food to your army?”

7 “Let me assure you all,” Gid’on responded, “that when Yahweh has helped us capture Zevah and Tsalmuna, I will rip off your flesh with the wilderness thorns and briers.”

8 From there they climbed up to Penuel, and he asked them for food in a similar manner, and the leaders there responded similarly to the leaders of Sukot. 9 So he said to the men of Penuel as well, “When I return safely, I’ll tear down this tower.”

10 Now Zevah and Tsalmuna were in Karkor with around fifteen thousand warriors—all that remained out of all of that allied Midyanite camp of eastern people, because one hundred and twenty thousand of their warriors had already been killed. 11 Gid’on approached them unexpectedly via the caravan route east of Novah and Yagebehah, and struck their camp when they were feeling secure. 12 Zevah and Tsalmuna fled, but they chased after those two Midyanite kings and captured them, thus defeating their entire army.

13 The Gid’on (Yoash’s son) and his warriors returned from battle, going through the Heres pass. 14 He captured a young man from Sukot and questioned him—writing down the names of the seventy-seven leaders and elders of Sukot. 15 Then he returned to Sukot and told them, “Look here at Zevah and Tsalmuna—the ones you taunted me about when you asked, ‘Do you already have Zevah and Tsalmuna in your grasp that we should give food to your weary men.’ ” 16 He took the city elders and had them punished with wilderness thorns and briers to teach them a lesson, 17 then they went to Penuel and tore down the tower and executed the city leaders.

18 Then Gid’on asked Zevah and Tsalmuna, “What were the men like that you killed at Tavor?”

“They were just like you,” they replied. “They seemed like they could have been a king’s sons.”

19 “They were my brothers—the sons of my mother,” he said. “As Yahweh lives, if only you had let them live, I wouldn’t have killed you.” 20 Then he ordered Yeter, his oldest son, “Go and kill them.” But Yeter didn’t pull out his sword because he was afraid—he was still a youth.

21 Then Zevah and Tsalmuna said, “Come and kill us yourself—be a man and use your own strength.” So Gid’on went over and killed Zevah and Tsalmuna, and then he took the crescent-shaped ornaments that were on their camels’ necks.

22 Then a group of Israeli men said to Gid’on, “We want you and your sons and your future descendants to rule over us, because you have saved us from the Midyanites.”

23 But Gid’on answered, “No, I won’t rule over you myself, nor will my son rule over you. Yahweh will rule over you.” 24 However, he continued, “Let me ask you all for something: that each man give me the earrings from his spoil.” (The enemies had gold earrings because they were Yishmaelim (Ishmaelites).)

25 “We can certainly do that for you,” they replied. So they spread out a garment and each man threw the earrings from his spoil onto it. 26 Now the weight of the gold earrings of gold came to twenty kilograms, and then there were the crescent-shaped ornaments, the pendants, the dyed purple garments that the Midyanite kings had been wearing, as well as the collars that had been around their camels’ necks. 27 Then Gid’on made the gold into an idol[fn] and placed it in his home city of Ofrah, and the Israelis prostituted themselves to it there, and so it became like a trap for Gid’on and his household.

28 So Midyan was kept under control by the Israelis and they didn’t continue to oppress the people, and there was peace in the region for forty years during Gid’on’s time.