8Now the Ephraimites asked Gideon, "Why have you treated us like this? Why didn't you call us when you went to fight Midian?" And they challenged him vigorously.H376H669H559H4100H6213H1697H7121H1980H3898H4080H7378H23942But he answered them, "What have I accomplished compared to you? Aren't the gleanings of Ephraim's grapes better than the full grape harvest of Abiezer?H559H6213H5955H669H2896H1210H443God gave Oreb and Zeeb, the Midianite leaders, into your hands. What was I able to do compared to you?" At this, their resentment against him subsided.H430H5414H3027H8269H4080H6159H2062H3201H6213H7307H7503H1697H16964Gideon and his three hundred men, exhausted yet keeping up the pursuit, came to the Jordan and crossed it.H1439H935H3383H5674H7969H3967H376H5889H72915He said to the men of Sukkoth, "Give my troops some bread; they are worn out, and I am still pursuing Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian."H559H582H5523H5414H3603H3899H5971H7272H5889H7291H310H2078H6759H4428H40806But the officials of Sukkoth said, "Do you already have the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna in your possession? Why should we give bread to your troops?"H8269H5523H559H3709H2078H6759H3027H5414H3899H66357Then Gideon replied, "Just for that, when the LORD has given Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, I will tear your flesh with desert thorns and briers."H1439H559H3068H5414H2078H6759H3027H1758H1320H6975H4057H13038From there he went up to Peniel and made the same request of them, but they answered as the men of Sukkoth had.H5927H6439H1696H2063H582H6439H6030H582H5523H60309So he said to the men of Peniel, "When I return in triumph, I will tear down this tower."H559H582H6439H559H7725H7965H5422H402610Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor with a force of about fifteen thousand men, all that were left of the armies of the eastern peoples; a hundred and twenty thousand swordsmen had fallen.H2078H6759H7174H4264H2568H6240H505H3498H4264H1121H6924H5307H3967H6242H505H376H8025H271911Gideon went up by the route of the nomads east of Nobah and Jogbehah and attacked the unsuspecting army.H1439H5927H1870H7931H168H6924H5025H3011H5221H4264H4264H98312Zebah and Zalmunna, the two kings of Midian, fled, but he pursued them and captured them, routing their entire army.H2078H6759H5127H7291H310H3920H8147H4428H4080H2078H6759H2729H426413Gideon son of Joash then returned from the battle by the Pass of Heres.H1439H1121H3101H7725H4421H4608H277514He caught a young man of Sukkoth and questioned him, and the young man wrote down for him the names of the seventy-seven officials of Sukkoth, the elders of the town.H3920H5288H582H5523H7592H3789H8269H5523H2205H7657H7651H37615Then Gideon came and said to the men of Sukkoth, "Here are Zebah and Zalmunna, about whom you taunted me by saying, 'Do you already have the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna in your possession? Why should we give bread to your exhausted troops?' "H935H582H5523H559H2078H6759H2778H559H3709H2078H6759H3027H5414H3899H582H328716He took the elders of the town and taught the men of Sukkoth a lesson by punishing them with desert thorns and briers.H3947H2205H5892H6975H4057H1303H3045H582H552317He also pulled down the tower of Peniel and killed the men of the town.H5422H4026H6439H2026H582H589218Then he asked Zebah and Zalmunna, "What kind of men did you kill at Tabor?" "Men like you," they answered, "each one with the bearing of a prince."H559H2078H6759H375H582H2026H8396H559H3644H259H8389H1121H442819Gideon replied, "Those were my brothers, the sons of my own mother. As surely as the LORD lives, if you had spared their lives, I would not kill you."H559H251H1121H517H3068H2416H3863H2421H202620Turning to Jether, his oldest son, he said, "Kill them!" But Jether did not draw his sword, because he was only a boy and was afraid.H559H3500H1060H6965H2026H5288H8025H2719H3372H528821Zebah and Zalmunna said, "Come, do it yourself. 'As is the man, so is his strength.' " So Gideon stepped forward and killed them, and took the ornaments off their camels' necks.H2078H6759H559H6965H6293H376H1369H1439H6965H2026H2078H6759H3947H7720H1581H667722The Israelites said to Gideon, "Rule over us—you, your son and your grandson—because you have saved us from the hand of Midian."H376H3478H559H1439H4910H1121H1121H1121H3467H3027H408023But Gideon told them, "I will not rule over you, nor will my son rule over you. The LORD will rule over you."H1439H559H4910H1121H4910H3068H491024And he said, "I do have one request, that each of you give me an earring from your share of the plunder." (It was the custom of the Ishmaelites to wear gold earrings.)H1439H559H7592H7596H5414H376H5141H7998H2091H5141H345925They answered, "We'll be glad to give them." So they spread out a garment, and each of them threw a ring from his plunder onto it.H559H5414H5414H6566H8071H7993H376H5141H799826The weight of the gold rings he asked for came to seventeen hundred shekels, not counting the ornaments, the pendants and the purple garments worn by the kings of Midian or the chains that were on their camels' necks.H4948H2091H5141H7592H505H7651H3967H2091H7720H5188H713H899H4428H4080H6060H1581H667727Gideon made the gold into an ephod, which he placed in Ophrah, his town. All Israel prostituted themselves by worshiping it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and his family.H1439H6213H646H3322H5892H6084H3478H2181H310H4170H1439H100428Thus Midian was subdued before the Israelites and did not raise its head again. During Gideon's lifetime, the land had peace forty years.H4080H3665H6440H1121H3478H5375H7218H3254H776H8252H705H8141H3117H143929Jerub-Baal son of Joash went back home to live.H3378H1121H3101H3212H3427H100430He had seventy sons of his own, for he had many wives.H1439H7657H1121H3409H3318H7227H80231His concubine, who lived in Shechem, also bore him a son, whom he named Abimelek.H6370H7927H3205H1121H8034H7760H4032Gideon son of Joash died at a good old age and was buried in the tomb of his father Joash in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.H1439H1121H3101H4191H2896H7872H6912H6913H3101H1H6084H3333No sooner had Gideon died than the Israelites again prostituted themselves to the Baals. They set up Baal-Berith as their godH1439H4191H1121H3478H7725H2181H310H1168H7760H1170H43034and did not remember the LORD their God, who had rescued them from the hands of all their enemies on every side.H1121H3478H2142H3068H430H5337H3027H341H543935They also failed to show any loyalty to the family of Jerub-Baal (that is, Gideon) in spite of all the good things he had done for them.H6213H2617H1004H3378H1439H2896H6213H3478