UST JDG Chapter 8

◄ JDG 8 ► ║ ═ ©

8 Then the soldiers from the tribe of Ephraim told Gideon, “You have not treated us fairly! You should have given us the opportunity to help you fight against the army of Midian!” They argued very angrily with Gideon.

2 But Gideon told them, “I have done very little compared with what you have done! It is as if I and my soldiers from the clan of Abiezer and other Israelite tribes harvested a crop of grapes. And it is as if you soldiers from the tribe of Ephraim came along after us and collected the few grapes that we had left on the vines. And it is as if those few grapes you collected were better than the whole crop that we harvested. 3 God enabled you to capture Oreb and Zeeb, the rulers who were commanding the Midianite army. What you did is much more important than what I was able to do!” After Gideon told them that, they were no longer angry with him.

4 Then Gideon and his 300 men came to the Jordan River and crossed it. They were very tired, but they continued to chase their enemies. 5 When they arrived at the town of Succoth, Gideon said to the town leaders, “Please give my soldiers something to eat. They are tired and hungry, and we are still trying to capture the Midianite kings, Zebah and Zalmunna.”

6 But the leaders of Succoth replied, “You have not caught Zebah and Zalmunna yet! So we are not going to give your troops anything to eat.”

7 Gideon replied, “Because you have refused to give us food, we will return here after Yahweh enables us to capture Zebah and Zalmunna. We are going to make whips out of the stems of thorny desert plants. Then we are going to use them to whip you and cut you!”

8 Next Gideon and his 300 men went to the town of Penuel and asked for food there. But the town leaders of Penuel also refused to give them anything to eat. 9 So Gideon told the town leaders of Penuel, “I am going to defeat those kings. Then I will come back here and demolish your tower, which you think is going to protect you!”

10 By that time, Zebah and Zalmunna had gone to the town of Karkor with 15,000 troops. Those were all who were left of the armies of Midian, Amalek, and the desert tribes that were their allies. Of their fighting men, 120,000 had already died. 11 Gideon and his men took the road through the wilderness on which caravans travel. This took them east of the villages of Nobah and Jogbehah. The Midianite soldiers were feeling safe out in the wilderness, so Gideon was able to attack them by surprise. 12 When Gideon and his soldiers attacked, the Midianite army panicked and ran away. Zebah and Zalmunna tried to escape, but Gideon and his soldiers chased them. And they captured those two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna.

13 After that, Gideon the son of Joash and his men took Zebah and Zalmunna with them and started to return home. They went through the Ascent of Heres. 14 Gideon was able to capture a young man who lived in Succoth. Gideon made him tell him who all the leaders and elders of the town were. The young man wrote down the names of all 77 of those men. 15 Then Gideon and his men went into Succoth and said to those leaders, “Here are Zebah and Zalmunna! When we were here before, you made fun of me. You said ‘You have not caught Zebah and Zalmunna yet! So we are not going to give your hungry troops anything to eat.’ ” 16 Then Gideon and his men grabbed the town leaders. They made whips from the stems of thorny desert plants, and they whipped the town leaders with them. They did that to punish the leaders for not giving them food. 17 Then Gideon and his men went to the town of Penuel. They tore down the tower and killed men in that town.

18 Then Gideon said to Zebah and Zalmunna, “You and your soldiers killed some men near Mount Tabor. Tell me about those men.”

They replied, “They looked like you. They all looked like royal princes.”

19 Gideon replied, “Those men were my own brothers! I promise you, with Yahweh as my witness, that I would spare your lives now if you had spared their lives then.” 20 Then Gideon turned to his oldest son, Jether. He told him, “Now you kill these two kings!” But Jether was still only a boy, so he was afraid. So he did not pull out his sword to kill them.

21 Then Zebah and Zalmunna said to Gideon, “Do not ask a boy to do the work that a man should do! You kill us yourself.” So Gideon killed both of them. Then he took the golden crescent-shaped ornaments that their camels were wearing.

22 Then the soldiers whom Gideon had led into battle told him, “You should be our king! In fact, we want you and your son and your grandson to be our kings. That is because you rescued us from the Midianites who were oppressing us.”

23 But Gideon told them, “No, I will not be your king. My son will not be your king either. Yahweh is your real king.” 24 But he added, “There is one thing that I would like you to do for me. Would each of you please give me one earring from the things you captured after the battle?” (The Midianite soldiers were descendants of Ishmael, and it was their custom to wear golden earrings.)

25 They replied, “We will each be glad to give an earring to you!” So they spread out a large garment on the ground. Then each man threw a gold earring onto it from the things he had taken from the enemy soldiers he had killed in the battle. 26 The golden earrings that Gideon received weighed a total of over 20 kilograms. That weight did not include some other things that Gideon received. He also received gold, jewels, and luxurious purple robes that the Midianite kings had been wearing and gold chains that had been around their camels’ necks. 27 Gideon used the gold to make a sacred garment. He set it up in his hometown of Ophrah. The people of Israel started going there to worship it, instead of worshiping only Yahweh. Gideon and his family had great trouble because of this.

28 So that is the story of how the Israelites defeated the army of Midian. The people of Midian did not become strong enough to attack Israel again. So while Gideon was alive, Israel was a peaceful place for 40 years.

29 Then Gideon son of Joash, whom people also called Jerubbaal, went back home to live there. 30 Gideon had many full legal wives, and they bore him 70 sons. 31 Gideon also had a secondary wife in the city of Shechem. She too bore him a son, and Gideon named him Abimelek. 32 Gideon son of Joash lived for a long time. When he died, his family buried his body in the burial ground that his father Joash owned. This was in the town of Ophrah in the territory that belonged to the clan of Abiezer.

33 But as soon as Gideon died, the Israelites were unfaithful to Yahweh. They once again worshiped idols that represented gods such as Baal. They made an idol that they called Baal-Berith, and they worshiped it as their god. 34 The enemy nations that surrounded the Israelites had conquered them. Yahweh their God had rescued the Israelites from their control. But they were not grateful for this. 35 Gideon, whom people also called Jerubbaal, had done many good things for the Israelites. But they did not act kindly toward his family.

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