Gideon Defeats Zebah and Zalmunna

¹Then the men of Ephraim said to Gideon, “Why have you done this to us? Why did you fail to call us when you went to fight against Midian?” And they contended with him violently.

²But Gideon answered them, “Now what have I accomplished compared to you? Are not the gleanings of Ephraim better than the grape harvest of Abiezer?

³God has delivered Oreb and Zeeb, the two princes of Midian, into your hand. What was I able to do compared to you?” When he had said this, their angeragainst him subsided.

⁴Then Gideon and his three hundred men came to the Jordan and crossed it, exhausted yet still in pursuit.

⁵So Gideon said to the men of Succoth, “Please give my troops some bread, for they are exhausted, and I am still pursuing Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian.”

⁶But the leaders of Succoth asked, “Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your possession, that we should give bread to your army?”

⁷“Very well,” Gideon replied, “when the LORD has delivered Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, I will tear your flesh with the thorns and briers of the wilderness!”

⁸From there he went up to Penueland asked the same from them, but the men of Penuel gave the same response as the men of Succoth.

⁹So Gideon told the men of Penuel, “When I return in triumph, I will tear down this tower!”

¹⁰Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor with their army of about fifteen thousand men—all that were left of the armies of the people of the east. A hundred and twenty thousand swordsmen had already fallen.

¹¹And Gideon went up by way of the caravan route east of Nobah and Jogbehah, and he attacked their army, taking them by surprise.

¹²When Zebah and Zalmunna fled, Gideon pursued and captured these two kings of Midian, routing their entire army.

¹³After this, Gideon son of Joash returned from the battle along the Ascent of Heres.

¹⁴There he captured a young man of Succoth and interrogated him. The young man wrote down for him the names of the seventy-seven leaders and elders of Succoth.

¹⁵And Gideon went to the men of Succoth and said, “Here are Zebah and Zalmunna, about whom you taunted me, saying, ‘Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your possession, that we should give bread to your weary men?’”

¹⁶Then he took the elders of the city, and using the thorns and briers of the wilderness, he disciplined the men of Succoth.

¹⁷He also pulled down the tower of Penuel and killed the men of the city.

¹⁸Next, Gideon asked Zebah and Zalmunna, “What kind of men did you kill at Tabor?”“Men like you,” they answered, “each one resembling the son of a king.”

¹⁹“They were my brothers,” Gideon replied, “the sons of my mother! As surely as the LORD lives, if you had let them live, I would not kill you.”

²⁰So he said to Jether, his firstborn, “Get up and kill them.” But the young man did not draw his sword; he was fearful because he was still a youth.

²¹Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, “Get up and kill us yourself, for as the man is, so is his strength.” So Gideon got up and killed Zebah and Zalmunna, and he took the crescent ornaments from the necks of their camels.

Gideon’s Ephod

²²Then the Israelites said to Gideon, “Rule over us—you and your son and grandson—for you have saved us from the hand of Midian.”

²³But Gideon replied, “I will not rule over you, nor will my son. The LORD shall rule over you.”

²⁴Then he added, “Let me make a request of you, that each of you give me an earring from his plunder.” (For the enemies had gold earrings because they were Ishmaelites.)

²⁵“We will give them gladly,” they replied.So they spread out a garment, and each man threw an earring from his plunder onto it.

²⁶The weight of the gold earrings he had requested was 1,700 shekels,in addition to the crescent ornaments, the pendants, the purple garments of the kings of Midian, and the chains from the necks of their camels.

²⁷From all this Gideon made an ephod, which he placed in Ophrah, his hometown. But soon all Israel prostituted themselves by worshiping it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and his household.

Forty Years of Peace

²⁸In this way Midian was subdued before the Israelites and did not raise its head again. So the land had rest for forty years in the days of Gideon,

²⁹and he—Jerubbaalson of Joash—returned home and settled down.

³⁰Gideon had seventy sons of his own,since he had many wives.

³¹His concubine, who dwelt in Shechem, also bore him a son, and he named him Abimelech.

Gideon’s Death

³²Later, Gideon son of Joash died at a ripe old age and was buried in the tomb of his father Joash in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

³³And as soon as Gideon was dead, the Israelites turned and prostituted themselves with the Baals, and they set up Baal-berith as their god.

³⁴The Israelites failed to remember the LORD their God who had delivered them from the hands of all their enemies on every side.

³⁵They did not show kindness to the house of Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) for all the good things he had done for Israel.

Judgment to Continue

¹Then the LORD said to me: “Even if Moses and Samuel should stand before Me, My heart would not go out to this people. Send them from My presence, and let them go!

²If they ask you, ‘Where shall we go?’ you are to tell them that this is what the LORD says:‘Those destined for death, to death;those destined for the sword, to the sword;those destined for famine, to famine;and those destined for captivity, to captivity.’

³I will appoint over them four kinds of destroyers, declares the LORD: the sword to kill, the dogs to drag away, and the birds of the air and beasts of the earth to devour and destroy.

⁴I will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth because of what Manasseh son of Hezekiah king of Judah did in Jerusalem.

⁵Who will have pity on you, O Jerusalem?Who will mourn for you?Who will turn asideto ask about your welfare?

⁶You have forsaken Me, declares the LORD.You have turned your back.So I will stretch out My hand against youand I will destroy you;I am weary of showing compassion.

⁷I will scatter them with a winnowing forkat the gates of the land.I will bereave and destroy My peoplewho have not turned from their ways.

⁸I will make their widows more numerousthan the sand of the sea.I will bring a destroyer at noonagainst the mothers of young men.I will suddenly bring upon themanguish and dismay.

⁹The mother of seven will grow faint;she will breathe her last breath.Her sun will set while it is still day;she will be disgraced and humiliated.And the rest I will put to the swordin the presence of their enemies,”declares the LORD.

Jeremiah’s Woe

¹⁰Woe to me, my mother,that you have borne me,a man of strife and conflictin all the land.I have neither lent nor borrowed,yet everyone curses me.

¹¹The LORD said:“Surely I will deliver you for a good purpose;surely I will intercede with your enemyin your time of trouble,in your time of distress.

¹²Can anyone smash iron—iron from the north—or bronze?

¹³Your wealth and your treasuresI will give up as plunder,without charge for all your sinswithin all your borders.

¹⁴Then I will enslave you to your enemiesin a landyou do not know,for My anger will kindle a firethat will burn against you.”

¹⁵You understand, O LORD;remember me and attend to me.Avenge me against my persecutors.In Your patience, do not take me away.Know that I endure reproach for Your honor.

¹⁶Your words were found, and I ate them.Your words became my joyand my heart’s delight.For I bear Your name,O LORD God of Hosts.

¹⁷I never sat with the band of revelers,nor did I celebrate with them.Because Your hand was on me, I sat alone,for You have filled me with indignation.

¹⁸Why is my pain unending,and my wound incurable,refusing to be healed?You have indeed become like a mirage to me—water that is not there.

The LORD’s Promise

¹⁹Therefore this is what the LORD says:“If you return, I will restore you;you will stand in My presence.And if you speak words that are noble instead of worthless,you will be My spokesman.It is they who must turn to you,but you must not turn to them.

²⁰Then I will make you a wall to this people,a fortified wall of bronze;they will fight against youbut will not overcome you,for I am with you to save and deliver you,declares the LORD.

²¹I will deliver you from the hand of the wickedand redeem you from the grasp of the ruthless.”

Invitation to the Needy

¹“Come, all you who are thirsty,come to the waters;and you without money,come, buy, and eat!Come, buy wine and milkwithout money and without cost!

²Why spend money on that which is not bread,and your labor on that which does not satisfy?Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good,and your soul will delight in the richest of foods.

³Incline your ear and come to Me;listen, so that your soul may live.I will make with you an everlasting covenant—My loving devotion promised to David.

⁴Behold, I have made him a witness to the nations,a leader and commander of the peoples.

⁵Surely you will summon a nation you do not know,and nations who do not know you will run to you.For the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel,has bestowed glory on you.”

⁶Seek the LORD while He may be found;call on Him while He is near.

⁷Let the wicked man forsake his wayand the unrighteous man his thoughts;let him return to the LORD,that He may have compassion,and to our God,for He will freely pardon.

⁸“For My thoughts are not your thoughts,neither are your ways My ways,”declares the LORD.

⁹“For as the heavens are higher than the earth,so My ways are higher than your waysand My thoughts than your thoughts.

¹⁰For just as rain and snow fall from heavenand do not return without watering the earth,making it bud and sprout,and providing seed to sow and food to eat,

¹¹so My word that proceeds from My mouthwill not return to Me empty,but it will accomplish what I please,and it will prosper where I send it.

¹²You will indeed go out with joyand be led forth in peace;the mountains and hills will burst into song before you,and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.

¹³Instead of the thornbush, the cypresswill grow,and instead of the brier, the myrtle will spring up;this will make a name for the LORD,an everlasting sign, never to be destroyed.”

Sing to the LORD a New Song

¹Sing to the LORD a new song,for He has done wonders;His right hand and holy armhave gained Him the victory.

²The LORD has proclaimed His salvationand revealed His righteousness to the nations.

³He has remembered His love and faithfulnessto the house of Israel;all the ends of the earthhave seen the salvation of our God.

⁴Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth;break forth—let your cry ring out, and sing praises!

⁵Sing praises to the LORD with the lyre,in melodious song with the harp.

⁶With trumpets and the blast of the ram’s hornshout for joy before the LORD, the King.

⁷Let the sea resound, and all that fills it,the world, and all who dwell in it.

⁸Let the rivers clap their hands,let the mountains sing together for joy

⁹before the LORD,for He comes to judge the earth.He will judge the world with righteousnessand the peoples with equity.