士師記 第 8 章

And the men of Ephraim said to Gideon, "What is this thing you have done to us, in not calling us when you went to draw up in battle against Madiam?" And they contended with him strongly.

And he said to them, "What have I now done, compared with you? Is not the gleaning of Ephraim better than the vintage of Abiezer?"

"Into your hand the Lord delivered the rulers of Midian, Oreb and Zeb; and what was I able to do such as you did?" Then, when he spoke this word, their spirit was relaxed from him.

And Gideon came to the Jordan and crossed over, he and the three hundred men with him, hungry and pursuing.

And he said to the men of Sokchoth, "Please give loaves as food for this people who are at my feet, for they are giving out; and behold, I am pursuing after Zebee and Selmana, kings of Midian."

And the rulers of Sokchoth said, "Is the hand of Zebee and Selmana now in your hand? We will not give loaves to your force."

And Gideon said, "Therefore, when the Lord gives Zebee and Selmana into my hand, I myself will thresh your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness and with the abarkenin."

And he went up from there to Phanouel and spoke to them in the same way; and the men of Phanouel answered him just as the men of Sokchoth had answered.

And Gideon said to the men of Phanouel, "When I return in peace, I will tear down this tower."

Now Zebee and Selmana were in Karkar, and their camp with them, about fifteen thousand, all those left from the whole camp of the foreigners; and those who had fallen were a hundred and twenty thousand men who drew the sword.

And Gideon went up by the road of those who dwell in tents, east of Nabai and Iegebal, and he struck the camp; and the camp was off its guard.

And Zebee and Selmana fled, and he pursued after them and seized the two kings of Midian, Zebee and Selmana, and he threw the whole camp into panic.

And Gideon son of Ioas returned from the battle line, from above the battle line of Ares.

And he caught a young man from the men of Sokchoth and questioned him; and he wrote down for him the names of the rulers of Sokchoth and of their elders, seventy-seven men.

And Gideon came to the rulers of Sokchoth and said, "Look, here are Zebee and Selmana, about whom you reproached me, saying, 'Is the hand of Zebee and Selmana now in your hand, that we should give loaves to the men who are giving out?'"

And he took the elders of the city, with the thorns of the wilderness and with the barakenim, and with them he threshed the men of the city.

And he overthrew the tower of Phanouel and killed the men of the city.

And he said to Zebee and Selmana, "Where are the men whom you killed at Thabor?" And they said, "As you are, so were they, after the likeness of a king's son."

And Gideon said, "They were my brothers, the sons of my mother. As the Lord lives, if you had kept them alive, I would not kill you."

And he said to Iether his firstborn, "Rise up and kill them." But the boy did not draw his sword, for he was afraid, because he was still young.

And Zebee and Selmana said, "Rise up yourself and meet us, for your strength is as a man's." And Gideon rose and killed Zebee and Selmana, and he took the crescents that were on the necks of their camels.

And the men of Israel said to Gideon, "My lord, rule over us, both you and your son, for you saved us from the hand of Midian."

And Gideon said to them, "I will not rule, and my son will not rule among you; the Lord will rule over you."

And Gideon said to them, "I will ask a request of you: let each man give me an earring from his spoils" - for they had golden earrings, because they were Ismaelites.

And they said, "We will gladly give." And he spread out his cloak, and each man threw there an earring from his spoils.

And the weight of the golden earrings that he asked for was one thousand five hundred gold pieces, besides the crescents and the pendants and the garments and the purple robes that were on the kings of Midian, and apart from the collars that were on the necks of their camels.

And Gideon made it into an ephoth and set it up in his city Ephratha; and all Israel played the harlot after it there, and it became a stumbling block to Gideon and to his house.

So Midian was brought low before the sons of Israel, and they did not again lift up their head; and the land was quiet forty years in the days of Gideon.

And Ierobaal son of Ioas went and settled in his house.

And Gideon had seventy sons who had come out of his loins, for he had many wives.

And his concubine was in Sychem, and she also bore him a son, and he set his name as Abimelech.

And Gideon son of Ioas died in his own city, and he was buried in the tomb of Ioas his father, in Ephratha of Abiesdri.

And it happened, when Gideon died, that the sons of Israel turned back and played the harlot after the Baalim, and they made for themselves a covenant with Baal, that he should be their god.

And the sons of Israel did not remember the Lord God, who had rescued them from the hand of all who afflicted them round about.

And they did not show mercy to the house of Ierobaal - he is Gideon - according to all the good things that he had done for Israel.