And Gideon came to the Jordan and crossed over, he and (A)the 300 men who were with him, exhausted yet pursuing. So he said to the men of (B)Succoth, “Please give loaves of bread to the people who follow me, for they are exhausted, and I am pursuing after Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian.” And the officials of Succoth said, (C)“Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your hand, (D)that we should give bread to your army?” So Gideon said, “Well then, when the Lord has given Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, (E)I will flail your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness and with briers.” And from there he went up to (F)Penuel, and spoke to them in the same way, and the men of Penuel answered him as the men of Succoth had answered. And he said to the men of Penuel, (G)“When I come again in peace, (H)I will break down this tower.”

10 Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor with their army, about 15,000 men, all who were left of all the army of (I)the people of the East, for there had fallen 120,000 men (J)who drew the sword. 11 And Gideon went up by the way of the tent dwellers east of (K)Nobah and Jogbehah and attacked the army, for the army felt (L)secure. 12 And Zebah and Zalmunna fled, and he pursued them (M)and captured the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and he threw all the army into a panic.

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Gideon and his three hundred men, exhausted yet keeping up the pursuit, came to the Jordan(A) and crossed it. He said to the men of Sukkoth,(B) “Give my troops some bread; they are worn out,(C) and I am still pursuing Zebah and Zalmunna,(D) the kings of Midian.”

But the officials of Sukkoth(E) said, “Do you already have the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna in your possession? Why should we give bread(F) to your troops?”(G)

Then Gideon replied, “Just for that, when the Lord has given Zebah and Zalmunna(H) into my hand, I will tear your flesh with desert thorns and briers.”

From there he went up to Peniel[a](I) and made the same request of them, but they answered as the men of Sukkoth had. So he said to the men of Peniel, “When I return in triumph, I will tear down this tower.”(J)

10 Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor with a force of about fifteen thousand men, all that were left of the armies of the eastern peoples; a hundred and twenty thousand swordsmen had fallen.(K) 11 Gideon went up by the route of the nomads east of Nobah(L) and Jogbehah(M) and attacked the unsuspecting army. 12 Zebah and Zalmunna, the two kings of Midian, fled, but he pursued them and captured them, routing their entire army.

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Footnotes

  1. Judges 8:8 Hebrew Penuel, a variant of Peniel; also in verses 9 and 17