8Then the people of Ephraim said to Gideon, "Why didn't you call us when you went to fight the Midianites? Why did you treat us like this?" They complained bitterly about it.H376H669H559H4100H6213H1697H7121H1980H3898H4080H7378H23942But he told them, "What I was able to do is nothing compared with what you have done. Even the little that you people of Ephraim did is worth more than what my whole clan has done.H559H6213H5955H669H2896H1210H443After all, through the power of God you killed the two Midianite chiefs, Oreb and Zeeb. What have I done to compare with that?" When he said this, they were no longer so angry.H430H5414H3027H8269H4080H6159H2062H3201H6213H7307H7503H1697H16964By this time Gideon and his three hundred men had come to the Jordan River and had crossed it. They were exhausted, but were still pursuing the enemy.H1439H935H3383H5674H7969H3967H376H5889H72915When they arrived at Sukkoth, he said to the men of the town, "Please give my men some loaves of bread. They are exhausted, and I am chasing Zebah and Zalmunna, the Midianite kings."H559H582H5523H5414H3603H3899H5971H7272H5889H7291H310H2078H6759H4428H40806But the leaders of Sukkoth said, "Why should we give your army any food? You haven't captured Zebah and Zalmunna yet."H8269H5523H559H3709H2078H6759H3027H5414H3899H66357So Gideon said, "All right! When the LORD has handed Zebah and Zalmunna over to me, I will beat you with thorns and briers from the desert!"H1439H559H3068H5414H2078H6759H3027H1758H1320H6975H4057H13038Gideon went on to Penuel and made the same request of the people there, but the men of Penuel gave the same answer as the men of Sukkoth.H5927H6439H1696H2063H582H6439H6030H582H5523H60309So he said to them, "I am going to come back safe and sound, and when I do, I will tear this tower down!"H559H582H6439H559H7725H7965H5422H402610Zebah and Zalmunna were at Karkor with their army. Of the whole army of desert tribesmen, only about 15,000 were left; 120,000 soldiers had been killed.H2078H6759H7174H4264H2568H6240H505H3498H4264H1121H6924H5307H3967H6242H505H376H8025H271911Gideon went on the road along the edge of the desert, east of Nobah and Jogbehah, and attacked the army by surprise.H1439H5927H1870H7931H168H6924H5025H3011H5221H4264H4264H98312The two Midianite kings, Zebah and Zalmunna, ran away, but he pursued them and captured them, and caused their whole army to panic.H2078H6759H5127H7291H310H3920H8147H4428H4080H2078H6759H2729H426413When Gideon was returning from the battle by way of Heres Pass,H1439H1121H3101H7725H4421H4608H277514he captured a young man from Sukkoth and questioned him. The young man wrote down for Gideon the names of the seventy-seven leading men of Sukkoth.H3920H5288H582H5523H7592H3789H8269H5523H2205H7657H7651H37615Then Gideon went to the men of Sukkoth and said, "Remember when you refused to help me? You said that you couldn't give any food to my exhausted army because I hadn't captured Zebah and Zalmunna yet. Well, here they are!"H935H582H5523H559H2078H6759H2778H559H3709H2078H6759H3027H5414H3899H582H328716He then took thorns and briers from the desert and used them to punish the leaders of Sukkoth.H3947H2205H5892H6975H4057H1303H3045H582H552317He also tore down the tower at Penuel and killed the men of that city.H5422H4026H6439H2026H582H589218Then Gideon asked Zebah and Zalmunna, "What about the men you killed at Tabor?" They answered, "They looked like you - every one of them like the son of a king."H559H2078H6759H375H582H2026H8396H559H3644H259H8389H1121H442819Gideon said, "They were my brothers, my own mother's sons. I solemnly swear that if you had not killed them, I would not kill you."H559H251H1121H517H3068H2416H3863H2421H202620Then he said to Jether, his oldest son, "Go ahead, kill them!" But the boy did not draw his sword. He hesitated, because he was still only a boy.H559H3500H1060H6965H2026H5288H8025H2719H3372H528821Then Zebah and Zalmunna said to Gideon, "Come on, kill us yourself. It takes a man to do a man's job." So Gideon killed them and took the ornaments that were on the necks of their camels.H2078H6759H559H6965H6293H376H1369H1439H6965H2026H2078H6759H3947H7720H1581H667722After that, the Israelites said to Gideon, "Be our ruler - you and your descendants after you. You have saved us from the Midianites."H376H3478H559H1439H4910H1121H1121H1121H3467H3027H408023Gideon answered, "I will not be your ruler, nor will my son. The LORD will be your ruler."H1439H559H4910H1121H4910H3068H491024But he went on to say, "Let me ask one thing of you. Every one of you give me the earrings you took." (The Midianites, like other desert people, wore gold earrings.)H1439H559H7592H7596H5414H376H5141H7998H2091H5141H345925The people answered, "We'll be glad to give them to you." They spread out a cloth, and everyone put on it the earrings that he had taken.H559H5414H5414H6566H8071H7993H376H5141H799826The gold earrings that Gideon got weighed over forty pounds, and this did not include the ornaments, necklaces, and purple clothes that the kings of Midian wore, nor the collars that were around the necks of their camels.H4948H2091H5141H7592H505H7651H3967H2091H7720H5188H713H899H4428H4080H6060H1581H667727Gideon made an idol from the gold and put it in his hometown, Ophrah. All the Israelites abandoned God and went there to worship the idol. It was a trap for Gideon and his family.H1439H6213H646H3322H5892H6084H3478H2181H310H4170H1439H100428So Midian was defeated by the Israelites and was no longer a threat. The land was at peace for forty years, until Gideon died.H4080H3665H6440H1121H3478H5375H7218H3254H776H8252H705H8141H3117H143929Gideon went back to his own home and lived there.H3378H1121H3101H3212H3427H100430He had seventy sons, because he had many wives.H1439H7657H1121H3409H3318H7227H80231He also had a concubine in Shechem; she bore him a son, and he named him Abimelech.H6370H7927H3205H1121H8034H7760H4032Gideon son of Joash died at a ripe old age and was buried in the tomb of his father Joash, at Ophrah, the town of the clan of Abiezer.H1439H1121H3101H4191H2896H7872H6912H6913H3101H1H6084H3333After Gideon's death the people of Israel were unfaithful to God again and worshiped the Baals. They made Baal-of-the-Covenant their god,H1439H4191H1121H3478H7725H2181H310H1168H7760H1170H43034and no longer served the LORD their God, who had saved them from all their enemies around them.H1121H3478H2142H3068H430H5337H3027H341H543935They were not grateful to the family of Gideon for all the good that he had done for Israel.H6213H2617H1004H3378H1439H2896H6213H3478
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