8
1 And the Ish Ephrayim said unto him, Why hast thou served us thus that thou calledst us not, when thou wentest to fight with Midyan? And they did criticize him sharply. 2 And he said unto them, What have I done now in comparison with you? Is not the gleaning of the grapes of Ephrayim tov (better) than the vintage of Avi'ezer? 3 Elohim hath delivered into your hands the sarim of Midyan, Orev and Ze'ev; and what was I able to do in comparison with you? Then their anger was abated toward him, when he had said that.
4 And Gid'on came to the Yarden, and passed over, he, and the three hundred haIsh that were with him, exhausted yet pursuing them. 5 And he said unto the Anshei Sukkot, Give, now, loaves of lechem unto the people that follow me; for they be exhausted, and I am pursuing after Zevach and Tzalmunna, melachim of Midyan.
6 And the sarei Sukkot said, Are the hands of Zevach and Tzalmunna now in thine yad, that we should give lechem unto thine tz'va (army)?
7 And Gid'on said, Therefore when Hashem hath delivered Zevach and Tzalmunna into mine yad, then I will tear your basar with the kotz (thorns) of the midbar and with briers.
8 And he went up from there to Penuel,* and spoke unto them likewise; and the Anshei Penuel† answered him as the men of Sukkot had answered him.
9 And he spoke also unto the Anshei Penuel, saying, When I come again in shalom, I will break down this migdal.
10 Now Zevach and Tzalmunna were in Karkor, and their machaneh with them, about 15,000, all that were left of all the machaneh of the Bnei Kedem; for there fell a 120,000 Ish that drew the cherev.
11 And Gid'on went up by the derech of them that dwelt in ohalim on the east of Novach and Yogbehah, and struck down the machaneh; for the machaneh was unsuspecting, thinking themselves secure. 12 And when Zevach and Tzalmunna fled, he pursued after them, and took the two melachim of Midyan, Zevach and Tzalmunna, and did rout all the machaneh.
13 And Gid'on ben Yoash returned from milchamah by the Cheres Pass, 14 And caught a na'ar of the Anshei Sukkot, and inquired of him; and he wrote down for him the sarim of Sukkot, and the zekenim thereof, even threescore and seventeen ish. 15 And he came unto the Anshei Sukkot, and said, Hinei, Zevach and Tzalmunna, with whom ye did upbraid me, saying, Are the hands of Zevach and Tzalmunna now in thine yad, that we should give lechem unto thy anashim that are exhausted?
16 And he took the zekenim of the Ir, kotz of the midbar and briers, and with them he taught the Anashim of Sukkot. 17 And he pulled down the migdal of Penuel,‡ and put to death the Anshei HaIr.
18 Then said he unto Zevach and Tzalmunna, What manner of men were they whom ye slaughtered at Tavor? And they answered, As thou art, so were they; each one with the bearing of Bnei HaMelech. 19 And he said, They were my brethren, even the Bnei Immi; as Hashem liveth, if ye had saved them alive, I should not have put you to death. 20 And he said unto Yeter his bechor, Up, and slay them. But the na'ar (youth) drew not his cherev; for he feared, because he was yet a na'ar. 21 Then Zevach and Tzalmunna said, Rise thou, and fall upon us; for as the ish is, so is his gevurah. And Gid'on arose, and put to death Zevach and Tzalmunna, and took away the ornaments that were on their camelsʼ necks.
22 Then the Ish Yisroel said unto Gid'on, Rule thou over us, both thou, and thy ben, and the ben of thy ben also; for thou hast delivered us from the yad Midyan. 23 And Gid'on said unto them, I will not rule over you, neither shall beni rule over you; Hashem shall rule over you. 24 And Gid'on said unto them, I would desire a request of you, that ye would give me every ish the nezem (earring) of his booty — for they had nizmei zahav (gold earrings), because they were Yishm'elim.§ 25 And they answered, We will willingly give them. And they spread out a simlah (upper garment), and did cast therein every ish the nezem of his booty. 26 And the weight of the nizmei hazahav that he requested was 1,700 shekels of zahav; beside ornaments, and pendants, and purple raiment that was on the melachim of Midyan, and apart from the chains that were about their camelsʼ necks. 27 And Gid'on made an ephod thereof, and put it in his Ir, even in Ophrah; and kol Yisroel went there a-whoring after it; which thing became a mokesh (snare) unto Gid'on, and to his Bais.
28 Thus was Midyan subdued before the Bnei Yisroel, so that they lifted up their heads no more. And HaAretz was in quietness arba'im shanah in the days of Gid'on.
29 And Yeruba'al ben Yoash went and dwelt in his own bais. 30 And Gid'on had threescore and ten banim of his own; for he had many nashim. 31 And his pilegesh (concubine) that was in Shechem, she also bore him a ben, whose shem he called Avimelech. 32 And Gid'on ben Yoash died in a good old age, and was buried in the kever of Yoash his av, in Ophrah of the Aviezri.
33 And it came to pass, as soon as Gid'on was dead, that the Bnei Yisroel turned again, and went a-whoring after Ba'alim, and made Ba'al-Brit their elohim. 34 And the Bnei Yisroel remembered not Hashem Eloheihem, who had delivered them out of the hands of all their enemies on every side; 35 Neither showed they chesed to the Bais Yeruba'al, namely, Gid'on, according to all the tovah which he had showed unto Yisroel.
* 8:8 Peniel † 8:8 Peniel ‡ 8:17 Peniel § 8:24 descendants of Ishmael