1 Then the men of Ephraim {Ephrayim: northern tribe} said to him, “What is this thing you have done to us, not calling us when you went to fight against Midian? And they contended with him forcefully {bechozkah: with intense determination}.”
2 And he said to them, “What have I accomplished now compared to you? Are not the gleanings of Ephraim better {tov: exceeding in quality} than the vintage harvest {mibtsir: vine gathering} of Abiezer?”
3 By your hand, God {Elohim, Deliverer} has delivered the princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb into your power. And what could I do in comparison with you? Then their spirit {ruach: inner resolve} subsided from upon him when he spoke this word.
4 And Gideon came to the Jordan {yardenah: crossing boundary} and crossed over, he and the three hundred men who were with him, exhausted {ayefim: physically spent} yet pursuing.
5 And he said to the men of Sukkoth, “Please give loaves of bread to the people who are with me {raglai: those under my command}, for they are weary {ayephim: exhausted by the march}, and I am pursuing after Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian.”
6 And the officials of Sukkoth said, “Is the hand {kaf: emblem of authority} of Zebah and Zalmunna now in your hand, that we should give bread {lechem: provision} to your army?”
7 And Gideon said, “Therefore, when the LORD {YHWH, Deliverer and Judge} has given Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, then I will thresh your flesh {besar’khem: physical body} with the thorns of the wilderness and with the briers.”
8 And he went up from there to Penuel {penuel: place of divine encounter} and spoke to them in this same way. The men of Penuel answered him just as the men of Sukkoth {sukkoth: tents or booths} had answered.
9 And he said also to the men of Penuel {Penuel: Face of God}, saying, “When I return in peace {shalom: wholeness and safety}, I will break down this tower.”
10 Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor, and their camp was with them—about fifteen thousand {kachameshet asar: about fifteen}, all who remained of the entire camp of the sons of the east; for one hundred twenty thousand men who drew {sholef: drawing for battle} the sword had fallen.
11 Gideon {gidon: skilled tactical leader} went up by the way of those dwelling in tents east of Nobah and Jogbehah and struck the camp, and the camp was in security {vetakh: misplaced confidence}.
12 And Zebah and Zalmunna, the two kings of Midian, fled; he pursued {vayirdof: military chase} them, captured them, and terrified all the camp {machaneh: military encampment}.
13 And Gideon son of Joash returned from the battle {milchamah: military engagement} by the Ascent of Heres {ḥeres: sun}.
14 And he captured {vayilkad: forceful seizure} a young man from among the men of Sukkoth and questioned him, and he wrote down for him the officials of Sukkoth and its elders {z’keneha: civic authorities}, seventy-seven men.
15 And he came to the men of Sukkoth and said, “Behold Zebah and Zalmunna, whom you taunted {cheravtem: reproached} when you said, ‘Is the palm of Zebah and Zalmunna now in your hand, that bread should be given to your weary {haye'efim: exhausted} men?’”
16 And he took the elders {zakenim: city leaders} of the city and the thorns of the wilderness and the briers, and he taught the men of Sukkoth {sukkot: encampment town}.
17 And he pulled down the tower of Penuel {Penuel: place name}, and he killed the men {anshei: male inhabitants} of the city.
18 And he said to Zebah and Zalmunna, “Where are the men whom you killed at Tabor?” And they said, “They were like you {kamocha: resemblance}, each one with a royal appearance {ketoar: regal form}.”
19 And he said, “They were my brothers, the sons of my mother. As the LORD {YHWH, Covenant Judge} lives, if only you had kept them alive {hachayitem: spared their lives}, I would not have slain you.”
20 And he said to Jether, his firstborn {bekhor: eldest son}, “Arise, kill them.” But the youth {na’ar: young man} did not draw his sword because he was afraid, for he was still a youth.
21 Zebah and Zalmunna said, “Arise, you strike {fega: deadly blow} us, for as a man is, so is his strength {gevurah: might or valor}.” And Gideon arose and slew Zebah and Zalmunna, and he took the crescent ornaments that were on the necks of their camels.
22 Then the men of Israel {Yisrael: covenant community} said to Gideon, “Rule over us — you, your son, and your grandson {ben-benekha: generational succession} — because you have delivered us from the hand of Midian.”
23 And Gideon said to them, “I will not rule over you, nor will my son rule over you; the LORD {YHWH, Supreme Ruler} will rule {yimshol: exercise dominion} over you.”
24 And Gideon said to them, “Let me make a request {she’elah: formal petition} of you—give me, each man, an earring from his spoil—for they had golden earrings, for they were Ishmaelites {yishme‘elim: desert dwellers}.”
25 And they said, “We will surely give {naton niten: emphatic promise},” then they spread out the garment; and each man threw an earring of his spoil {shelalo: captured goods} onto it.
26 And the weight {mishqal: unit of weight} of the gold earrings {nizmei: decorative earrings} he requested was 1,700 shekels of gold, apart from the crescent ornaments, the pendants, the purple garments on the kings of Midian, and the collars on the necks of their camels.
27 And Gideon made it into an ephod and placed it in his city, in Ophrah. And all Israel prostituted themselves after it there, and it became a snare to Gideon {gidon: mighty warrior} and to his house {beito: household}.
28 Midian was subdued before the sons of Israel, and they did not lift their heads again. The land experienced rest {tishkot: ceased from war} for forty years in the days of Gideon {gid'on: mighty warrior}.
29 Jerub-Baal {Yerubbaʿal: Baal contender}, son of Joash, went and settled in his house {beit: personal household}.
30 And Gideon {Gid‘on: Judge-Deliverer} had seventy sons who came from his own loins {yerech: Seat of Procreation}, for he had many wives.
31 And his concubine {pilgesh: secondary wife} who was in Shechem bore him also a son, and he called his name Abimelech {avimelekh: my father is king}.
32 And Gideon son of Joash died at a good old age {seivah: fullness of days}, and he was buried in the grave of Joash his father in Ophrah of the Abiezrites {Abiezrite: clan of Abiezer}.
33 And it happened that when Gideon {gid’on: judge of Israel} died, the sons of Israel turned back and prostituted themselves to the Baals, and they made Baal-Berith {ba‘al berit: covenant master} their god.
34 And the Israelites did not remember the LORD {YHWH, Faithful Deliverer} their God, who delivered {hamatzil: delivering One} them from the hand of all their enemies from all around.
35 And they did not show covenant loyalty {chesed: steadfast kindness} with the house of Jerubbaal—that is, Gideon—according to all the good {hatovah: beneficial acts} that he had done for Israel.