Judges 7-9

Living Bible

7 Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon—his other name) and his army got an early start and went as far as the spring of Harod. The armies of Midian were camped north of them, down in the valley beside the hill of Moreh.

² The Lord then said to Gideon, “There are too many of you! I can’t let all of you fight the Midianites, for then the people of Israel will boast to me that they saved themselves by their own strength! ³ Send home any of your men who are timid and frightened.”

So twenty-two thousand of them left, and only ten thousand remained who were willing to fight.

⁴ But the Lord told Gideon, “There are still too many! Bring them down to the spring and I’ll show you which ones shall go with you and which ones shall not.”

^5-6 So Gideon assembled them at the water. There the Lord told him, “Divide them into two groups decided by the way they drink. In Group 1 will be all the men who cup the water in their hands to get it to their mouths and lap it like dogs. In Group 2 will be those who kneel, with their mouths in the stream.”

Only three hundred of the men drank from their hands; all the others drank with their mouths to the stream.

⁷ “I’ll conquer the Midianites with these three hundred!” the Lord told Gideon. “Send all the others home!”

^8-9 So after Gideon had collected all the clay jars and trumpets they had among them, he sent them home, leaving only three hundred men with him.

During the night, with the Midianites camped in the valley just below, the Lord said to Gideon, “Get up! Take your troops and attack the Midianites, for I will cause you to defeat them! ¹⁰ But if you are afraid, first go down to the camp alone—take along your servant Purah if you like— ¹¹ and listen to what they are saying down there! You will be greatly encouraged and be eager to attack!”

So he took Purah and crept down through the darkness to the outposts of the enemy camp. ^12-13 The vast armies of Midian, Amalek, and the other nations of the Mideast were crowded across the valley like locusts—yes, like the sand upon the seashore—and there were too many camels even to count! Gideon crept up to one of the tents just as a man inside had wakened from a nightmare and was telling his tent-mate about it.

“I had this strange dream,” he was saying, “and there was this huge loaf of barley bread that came tumbling down into our camp. It hit our tent and knocked it flat!”

¹⁴ The other soldier replied, “Your dream can mean only one thing! Gideon, the son of Joash, the Israeli, is going to come and massacre all the allied forces of Midian!”

¹⁵ When Gideon heard the dream and the interpretation, all he could do was just stand there worshiping God! Then he returned to his men and shouted, “Get up! For the Lord is going to use you to conquer all the vast armies of Midian!”

¹⁶ He divided the three hundred men into three groups and gave each man a trumpet and a clay jar with a torch in it. ¹⁷ Then he explained his plan. “When we arrive at the outer guardposts of the camp,” he told them, “do just as I do. ¹⁸ As soon as I and the men in my group blow our trumpets, you blow yours on all sides of the camp and shout, ‘We fight for God and for Gideon!’”

^19-20 It was just after midnight and the change of guards when Gideon and the hundred men with him crept to the outer edge of the camp of Midian.

Suddenly they blew their trumpets and broke their clay jars so that their torches blazed into the night. Then the other two hundred of his men did the same, blowing the trumpets in their right hands, and holding the flaming torches in their left hands, all shouting, “For the Lord and for Gideon!”^[a]

²¹ Then they just stood and watched as the whole vast enemy army began rushing around in a panic, shouting and running away. ²² For in the confusion the Lord caused the enemy troops to begin fighting and killing each other from one end of the camp to the other, and they fled into the night to places as far away as Beth-shittah near Zererah, and to the border of Abel-meholah near Tabbath.

²³ Then Gideon sent for the troops of Naphtali, Asher, and Manasseh and told them to come and chase and destroy the fleeing army of Midian. ²⁴ Gideon also sent messengers throughout the hill country of Ephraim summoning troops who seized the fords of the Jordan River at Beth-barah, thus preventing the Midianites from escaping by going across. ²⁵ Oreb and Zeeb, the two generals of Midian, were captured. Oreb was killed at the rock now known by his name, and Zeeb at the winepress of Zeeb, as it is now called; and the Israelis took the heads of Oreb and Zeeb across the Jordan to Gideon.

8 But the tribal leaders of Ephraim were violently angry with Gideon.

“Why didn’t you send for us when you first went out to fight the Midianites?” they demanded.

^2-3 But Gideon replied, “God let you capture Oreb and Zeeb, the generals of the army of Midian! What have I done in comparison with that? Your actions at the end of the battle were more important than ours at the beginning!”^[b] So they calmed down.

⁴ Gideon now crossed the Jordan River with his three hundred men. They were very tired, but still chasing the enemy. ⁵ He asked the men of Succoth for food. “We are weary from chasing after Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian,” he said.

⁶ But the leaders of Succoth replied, “You haven’t caught them yet!^[c] If we feed you and you fail, they’ll return and destroy us.”

⁷ Then Gideon warned them, “When the Lord has delivered them to us, I will return and tear your flesh with the thorns and briars of the wilderness.”

⁸ Then he went up to Penuel and asked for food there, but got the same answer. ⁹ And he said to them also, “When this is all over, I will return and break down this tower.”

¹⁰ By this time King Zebah and King Zalmunna with a remnant of fifteen thousand troops were in Karkor. That was all that was left of the allied armies of the east; for one hundred twenty thousand had already been killed. ¹¹ Then Gideon circled around by the caravan route east of Nobah and Jogbehah, striking at the Midianite army in surprise raids. ¹² The two kings fled, but Gideon chased and captured them, routing their entire force. ¹³ Later, Gideon returned by way of Heres Pass. ¹⁴ There he captured a young fellow from Succoth and demanded that he write down the names of all the seventy-seven political and religious leaders of the city.

¹⁵ He then returned to Succoth. “You taunted me that I would never catch King Zebah and King Zalmunna, and you refused to give us food when we were tired and hungry,” he said. “Well, here they are!”

¹⁶ Then he took the leaders of the city and scraped them to death^[d] with wild thorns and briars. ¹⁷ He also went to Penuel and knocked down the city tower and killed the entire male population.

¹⁸ Then Gideon asked King Zebah and King Zalmunna, “The men you killed at Tabor—what were they like?”

They replied, “They were dressed just like you—like sons of kings!”

¹⁹ “They must have been my brothers!” Gideon exclaimed. “I swear that if you hadn’t killed them I wouldn’t kill you.”

²⁰ Then, turning to Jether, his oldest son, he instructed him to kill them. But the boy was only a lad and was afraid to.

²¹ Then Zebah and Zalmunna said to Gideon, “You do it; we’d rather be killed by a man!”^[e] So Gideon killed them and took the ornaments from their camels’ necks.

²² Now the men of Israel said to Gideon, “Be our king! You and your sons and all your descendants shall be our rulers, for you have saved us from Midian.”

^23-24 But Gideon replied, “I will not be your king, nor shall my son; the Lord is your King! However, I have one request. Give me all the earrings collected from your fallen foes”—for the troops of Midian, being Ishmaelites, all wore gold earrings.

²⁵ “Gladly!” they replied, and spread out a sheet for everyone to throw in the gold earrings he had gathered. ²⁶ Their value was estimated at $25,000, not including the crescents and pendants, or the royal clothing of the kings, or the chains around the camels’ necks. ²⁷ Gideon made an ephod^[f] from the gold and put it in Ophrah, his hometown. But all Israel soon began worshiping it, so it became an evil deed that Gideon and his family did.

²⁸ That is the true account of how Midian was subdued by Israel. Midian never recovered, and the land was at peace for forty years—all during Gideon’s lifetime. ²⁹ He returned home ³⁰ and eventually had seventy sons, for he married many wives. ³¹ He also had a concubine in Shechem, who presented him with a son named Abimelech. ³² Gideon finally died, an old, old man, and was buried in the sepulcher of his father, Joash, in Ophrah, in the land of the Abiezrites.

³³ But as soon as Gideon was dead, the Israelis began to worship the idols Baal and Baal-berith. ³⁴ They no longer considered the Lord as their God, though he had rescued them from all their enemies on every side. ³⁵ Nor did they show any kindness to the family of Gideon despite all he had done for them.

9 One day Gideon’s son Abimelech visited his uncles—his mother’s brothers—in Shechem.

² “Go and talk to the leaders of Shechem,” he requested, “and ask them whether they want to be ruled by seventy kings—Gideon’s seventy sons—or by one man—meaning me, your own flesh and blood!”^[g]

³ So his uncles went to the leaders of the city and proposed Abimelech’s scheme; and they decided that since his mother was a native of their town they would go along with it. ⁴ They gave him money from the temple offerings of the idol Baal-berith, which he used to hire some worthless loafers who agreed to do whatever he told them to. ⁵ He took them to his father’s home at Ophrah and there, upon one stone, they slaughtered all seventy of his half brothers, except for the youngest, Jotham, who escaped and hid. ⁶ Then the citizens of Shechem and Beth-millo called a meeting under the oak beside the garrison at Shechem, and Abimelech was acclaimed king of Israel.

⁷ When Jotham heard about this, he stood at the top of Mount Gerizim and shouted across to the men of Shechem, “If you want God’s blessing, listen to me! ⁸ Once upon a time the trees decided to elect a king. First they asked the olive tree, ⁹ but it refused.

“‘Should I quit producing the olive oil that blesses God and man, just to wave to and fro over the other trees?’ it asked.

¹⁰ “Then they said to the fig tree, ‘You be our king!’

¹¹ “But the fig tree also refused. ‘Should I quit producing sweetness and fruit just to lift my head above all the other trees?’ it asked.

¹² “Then they said to the grapevine, ‘You reign over us!’

¹³ “But the grapevine replied, ‘Shall I quit producing the wine that cheers both God and man, just to be mightier than all the other trees?’

¹⁴ “Then all the trees finally turned to the thorn bush. ‘You be our king!’ they exclaimed.

¹⁵ “And the thorn bush replied, ‘If you really want me, come and humble yourselves beneath my shade! If you refuse, let fire flame forth from me and burn down the great cedars of Lebanon!’

¹⁶ “Now make sure that you have done the right thing in making Abimelech your king, that you have done right by Gideon and all of his descendants. ¹⁷ For my father fought for you and risked his life and delivered you from the Midianites, ¹⁸ yet you have revolted against him and killed his seventy sons upon one stone. And now you have chosen his slave girl’s son, Abimelech, to be your king just because he is your relative. ¹⁹ If you are sure that you have done right by Gideon and his descendants, then may you and Abimelech have a long and happy life together. ²⁰ But if you have not been fair to Gideon, then may Abimelech destroy the citizens of Shechem and Beth-millo; and may they destroy Abimelech!”

²¹ Then Jotham escaped and lived in Beer for fear of his brother, Abimelech. ^22-23 Three years later God stirred up trouble between King Abimelech and the citizens of Shechem, and they revolted. ²⁴ In the events that followed, both Abimelech and the citizens of Shechem who aided him in butchering Gideon’s seventy sons were given their just punishment for these murders. ²⁵ For the men of Shechem set an ambush for Abimelech along the trail at the top of the mountain. (While they were waiting for him to come along, they robbed everyone else who passed that way.) But someone warned Abimelech about their plot.

²⁶ At that time Gaal (the son of Ebed) moved to Shechem with his brothers, and he became one of the leading citizens. ²⁷ During the harvest feast at Shechem that year, held in the temple of the local god, the wine flowed freely and everyone began cursing Abimelech.

²⁸ “Who is Abimelech,” Gaal shouted, “and why should he be our king? Why should we be his servants? He and his friend Zebul should be our servants. Down with Abimelech! ²⁹ Make me your king and you’ll soon see what happens to Abimelech! I’ll tell Abimelech, ‘Get up an army and come on out and fight!’”

³⁰ But when Zebul, the mayor of the city, heard what Gaal was saying, he was furious. ³¹ He sent messengers to Abimelech in Arumah telling him, “Gaal, son of Ebed, and his relatives have come to live in Shechem, and now they are arousing the city to rebellion against you. ³² Come by night with an army and hide out in the fields; ³³ and in the morning, as soon as it is daylight, storm the city. When he and those who are with him come out against you, you can do with them as you wish!”

³⁴ So Abimelech and his men marched through the night and split into four groups, stationing themselves around the city. ³⁵ The next morning as Gaal sat at the city gates, discussing various issues with the local leaders, Abimelech and his men began their march upon the city.

³⁶ When Gaal saw them, he exclaimed to Zebul, “Look over at that mountain! Doesn’t it look like people coming down?”

“No!” Zebul said. “You’re just seeing shadows that look like men!”

³⁷ “No, look over there,” Gaal said. “I’m sure I see people coming toward us. And look! There are others coming along the road past the oak of Meonenim!”

³⁸ Then Zebul turned on him triumphantly. “Now where is that big mouth of yours?” he demanded. “Who was it who said, ‘Who is Abimelech, and why should he be our king?’ The men you taunted and cursed are right outside the city! Go on out and fight!”

³⁹ So Gaal led the men of Shechem into the battle and fought with Abimelech, ⁴⁰ but was defeated, and many of the men of Shechem were left wounded all the way to the city gate. ⁴¹ Abimelech was living at Arumah at this time, and Zebul drove Gaal and his relatives out of Shechem and wouldn’t let them live there any longer.

⁴² The next day the men of Shechem went out to battle again. However, someone had told Abimelech about their plans, ⁴³ so he had divided his men into three groups hiding in the fields. And when the men of the city went out to attack, he and his men jumped up from their hiding places and began killing them. ⁴⁴ Abimelech stormed the city gate to keep the men of Shechem from getting back in, while his other two groups cut them down in the fields. ⁴⁵ The battle went on all day before Abimelech finally captured the city, killed its people, and leveled it to the ground. ⁴⁶ The people at the nearby town of Migdal saw what was happening and took refuge in the fort next to the temple of Baal-berith.

^47-48 When Abimelech learned of this, he led his forces to Mount Zalmon where he began chopping a bundle of firewood, and placed it upon his shoulder. “Do as I have done,” he told his men. ⁴⁹ So each of them quickly cut a bundle and carried it back to the town where, following Abimelech’s example, the bundles were piled against the walls of the fort and set on fire. So all the people inside died, about a thousand men and women.

⁵⁰ Abimelech next attacked the city of Thebez, and captured it. ⁵¹ However, there was a fort inside the city and the entire population fled into it, barricaded the gates, and climbed to the top of the roof to watch. ⁵² But as Abimelech was preparing to burn it, ⁵³ a woman on the roof threw down a millstone. It landed on Abimelech’s head, crushing his skull.

⁵⁴ “Kill me!” he groaned to his youthful armor bearer. “Never let it be said that a woman killed Abimelech!”

So the young man pierced him with his sword, and he died. ⁵⁵ When his men saw that he was dead, they disbanded and returned to their homes. ^56-57 Thus God punished both Abimelech and the men of Shechem for their sin of murdering Gideon’s seventy sons. So the curse of Jotham, Gideon’s son, came true.