Chapter 8

^1 (A)But the Ephraimites said to him, “What have you done to us, not summoning us when you went to fight against Midian?” And they quarreled bitterly with him. ² But he answered them, “What have I done in comparison with you? Is not the gleaning of Ephraim better than the vintage of Abiezer?^{(B) 3} It was into your power God delivered the princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb.^(C) What have I been able to do in comparison with you?” When he said this, their anger against him subsided.

⁴ When Gideon reached the Jordan and crossed it, he and his three hundred men were exhausted and famished. ⁵ So he said to the people of Succoth, “Will you give my followers some loaves of bread? They are exhausted, and I am pursuing Zebah and Zalmunna, kings of Midian.” ⁶ But the princes of Succoth replied, “Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your possession, that we should give food to your army?”^{[a] 7} Gideon said, “Very well; when the Lord has delivered Zebah and Zalmunna into my power, I will thrash your bodies with desert thorns and briers.” ⁸ He went up from there to Penuel and made the same request of them, but the people of Penuel answered him as had the people of Succoth. ⁹ So to the people of Penuel, too, he said, “When I return in peace, I will demolish this tower.”

¹⁰ Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor with their force of about fifteen thousand men; these were all who were left of the whole Kedemite army, a hundred and twenty thousand swordsmen having fallen. ¹¹ Gideon went up by the route of the tent-dwellers east of Nobah and Jogbehah, and attacked the force when it felt secure. ¹² Zebah and Zalmunna fled and Gideon pursued them. He captured the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, terrifying the entire force.

¹³ Then Gideon, son of Joash, returned from battle by the pass of Heres. ¹⁴ He captured a young man of Succoth and questioned him, and he wrote down for him the seventy-seven princes and elders of Succoth. ¹⁵ So he went to the princes of Succoth and said, “Here are Zebah and Zalmunna, with whom you taunted me, ‘Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your possession, that we should give food to your weary men?’” ¹⁶ He seized the elders of the city, and with desert thorns and briers he thrashed the people of Succoth. ¹⁷ He also demolished the tower of Penuel and killed the people of the city.

¹⁸ Then he said to Zebah and Zalmunna, “What about the men you killed at Tabor?” “They were all like you,” they replied. “They appeared to be princes.” ¹⁹ “They were my brothers, my mother’s sons,” he said. “As the Lord lives, if you had spared their lives, I would not kill you.” ²⁰ Then he said to his firstborn, Jether, “Go, kill them.” But the boy did not draw his sword, for he was afraid, for he was still a boy. ^21 (D)Zebah and Zalmunna said, “Come, kill us yourself, for as a man is, so is his strength.” So Gideon stepped forward and killed Zebah and Zalmunna. He also took the crescents that were on the necks of their camels.

^22 (E)The Israelites then said to Gideon, “Rule over us—you, your son, and your son’s son—for you saved us from the power of Midian.” ²³ But Gideon answered them, “I will not rule over you, nor shall my son rule over you. The Lord must rule over you.”^(F)

²⁴ Gideon went on to say, “Let me make a request of you. Give me, each of you, a ring from his spoils.” (Since they were Ishmaelites,^[b] the enemy had gold rings.) ²⁵ “We will certainly give them,” they replied, and they spread out a cloak into which everyone threw a ring from his spoils. ²⁶ The gold rings he had requested weighed seventeen hundred gold shekels, apart from the crescents and pendants, the purple garments worn by the kings of Midian, and apart from the trappings that were on the necks of their camels. ^27 (G)Gideon made an ephod out of the gold and placed it in his city, Ophrah. All Israel prostituted themselves there, and it became a snare to Gideon and his household.

²⁸ Midian was brought into subjection by the Israelites; they no longer held their heads high, and the land had rest for forty years,^(H) during the lifetime of Gideon.

Gideon’s Son Abimelech. ²⁹ Then Jerubbaal, son of Joash, went to live in his house. ^30 (I)Now Gideon had seventy sons, his own offspring, for he had many wives. ³¹ His concubine^[c] who lived in Shechem also bore him a son, whom he named Abimelech. ³² At a good old age Gideon, son of Joash, died and was buried in the tomb of Joash his father in Ophrah of the Abiezrites. ^33 (J)But after Gideon was dead, the Israelites again prostituted themselves by following the Baals, making Baal-berith^[d] their god. ³⁴ The Israelites did not remember the Lord, their God, who had delivered them from the power of their enemies all around them. ³⁵ Nor were they loyal to the house of Jerubbaal (Gideon) for all the good he had done for Israel.

Chapter 12

Herod’s Persecution of the Christians.^{[a] 1} About that time King Herod laid hands upon some members of the church to harm them. ² He had James, the brother of John,^[b] killed by the sword, ^3 [c]and when he saw that this was pleasing to the Jews he proceeded to arrest Peter also. (It was [the] feast of Unleavened Bread.) ⁴ He had him taken into custody and put in prison under the guard of four squads of four soldiers each. He intended to bring him before the people after Passover. ⁵ Peter thus was being kept in prison, but prayer by the church was fervently being made to God on his behalf.^(A)

⁶ On the very night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter, secured by double chains, was sleeping between two soldiers, while outside the door guards kept watch on the prison. ⁷ Suddenly the angel of the Lord stood by him and a light shone in the cell. He tapped Peter on the side and awakened him, saying, “Get up quickly.” The chains fell from his wrists. ⁸ The angel said to him, “Put on your belt and your sandals.” He did so. Then he said to him, “Put on your cloak and follow me.” ⁹ So he followed him out, not realizing that what was happening through the angel was real; he thought he was seeing a vision. ¹⁰ They passed the first guard, then the second, and came to the iron gate leading out to the city, which opened for them by itself. They emerged and made their way down an alley, and suddenly the angel left him. ¹¹ Then Peter recovered his senses and said, “Now I know for certain that [the] Lord sent his angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all that the Jewish people had been expecting.” ¹² When he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John who is called Mark, where there were many people gathered in prayer.^{(B) 13} When he knocked on the gateway door, a maid named Rhoda came to answer it. ¹⁴ She was so overjoyed when she recognized Peter’s voice that, instead of opening the gate, she ran in and announced that Peter was standing at the gate. ¹⁵ They told her, “You are out of your mind,” but she insisted that it was so. But they kept saying, “It is his angel.” ¹⁶ But Peter continued to knock, and when they opened it, they saw him and were astounded. ¹⁷ He motioned to them with his hand to be quiet and explained [to them] how the Lord had led him out of the prison, and said, “Report this to James^[d] and the brothers.” Then he left and went to another place. ¹⁸ At daybreak there was no small commotion among the soldiers over what had become of Peter.^{(C) 19} Herod, after instituting a search but not finding him, ordered the guards tried and executed. Then he left Judea to spend some time in Caesarea.

Herod’s Death. ^20 [e]He had long been very angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon, who now came to him in a body. After winning over Blastus, the king’s chamberlain, they sued for peace because their country was supplied with food from the king’s territory. ²¹ On an appointed day, Herod, attired in royal robes, [and] seated on the rostrum, addressed them publicly. ²² The assembled crowd cried out, “This is the voice of a god, not of a man.” ²³ At once the angel of the Lord struck him down because he did not ascribe the honor to God, and he was eaten by worms and breathed his last. ²⁴ But the word of God continued to spread and grow.^(D)

Mission of Barnabas and Saul. ²⁵ After Barnabas and Saul completed their relief mission, they returned to Jerusalem,^[f] taking with them John, who is called Mark.^(E)