Judges 8:5-21

Holman Christian Standard Bible

⁵ He said to the men of Succoth,^(A) “Please give some loaves of bread to the people who are following me,^[a] because they are exhausted, for I am pursuing Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian.”

⁶ But the princes of Succoth asked, “Are^[b] Zebah and Zalmunna now in your hands that we should give bread to your army?”

⁷ Gideon replied, “Very well, when the Lord has handed Zebah and Zalmunna over to me, I will trample^[c] your flesh on thorns and briers from the wilderness!” ⁸ He went from there to Penuel and asked the same thing from them. The men of Penuel^(B) answered just as the men of Succoth had answered. ⁹ He also told the men of Penuel, “When I return in peace, I will tear down this tower!”

¹⁰ Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor, and with them was their army of about 15,000 men, who were all those left of the entire army of the Qedemites. Those who had been killed were 120,000 warriors.^{[d] 11} Gideon traveled on the caravan route^[e] east of Nobah^(C) and Jogbehah and attacked their army while the army was unsuspecting. ¹² Zebah and Zalmunna fled, and he pursued them. He captured these two kings of Midian and routed the entire army.

¹³ Gideon son of Joash returned from the battle by the Ascent of Heres. ¹⁴ He captured a youth from the men of Succoth and interrogated him. The youth wrote down for him the names of the 77 princes and elders of Succoth. ¹⁵ Then he went to the men of Succoth and said, “Here are Zebah and Zalmunna. You taunted me about them, saying, ‘Are^[f] Zebah and Zalmunna now in your power that we should give bread to your exhausted men?’” ¹⁶ So he took the elders of the city, and he took some thorns and briers from the wilderness, and he disciplined the men of Succoth with them. ¹⁷ He also tore down the tower of Penuel and killed the men of the city.

¹⁸ He asked Zebah and Zalmunna, “What kind of men did you kill at Tabor?”

“They were like you,” they said. “Each resembled the son of a king.”

¹⁹ So he said, “They were my brothers, the sons of my mother! As the Lord lives, if you had let them live, I would not kill you.” ²⁰ Then he said to Jether, his firstborn, “Get up and kill them.” The youth did not draw his sword, for he was afraid because he was still a youth.

²¹ Zebah and Zalmunna said, “Get up and kill us yourself, for a man is judged by his strength.” So Gideon got up, killed Zebah and Zalmunna, and took the crescent ornaments that were on the necks of their camels.