Judges 8-12

New King James Version

Gideon Subdues the Midianites

8 Now ^(A)the men of Ephraim said to him, “Why have you done this to us by not calling us when you went to fight with the Midianites?” And they reprimanded him sharply.

² So he said to them, “What have I done now in comparison with you? Is not the ^[a]gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than ^[b]the vintage of ^(B)Abiezer? ^3 (C)God has delivered into your hands the princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb. And what was I able to do in comparison with you?” Then their ^(D)anger toward him subsided when he said that.

⁴ When Gideon came ^(E)to the Jordan, he and ^(F)the three hundred men who were with him crossed over, exhausted but still in pursuit. ⁵ Then he said to the men of ^(G)Succoth, “Please give loaves of bread to the people who follow me, for they are exhausted, and I am pursuing Zebah and Zalmunna, kings of Midian.”

⁶ And the leaders of Succoth said, ^(H)“Are^[c] the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in your hand, that ^(I)we should give bread to your army?”

⁷ So Gideon said, “For this cause, when the Lord has delivered Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, ^(J)then I will tear your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness and with briers!” ⁸ Then he went up from there ^(K)to Penuel and spoke to them in the same way. And the men of Penuel answered him as the men of Succoth had answered. ⁹ So he also spoke to the men of Penuel, saying, “When I ^(L)come back in peace, ^(M)I will tear down this tower!”

¹⁰ Now Zebah and Zalmunna were at Karkor, and their armies with them, about fifteen thousand, all who were left of ^(N)all the army of the people of the East; for ^(O)one hundred and twenty thousand men who drew the sword had fallen. ¹¹ Then Gideon went up by the road of those who dwell in tents on the east of ^(P)Nobah and Jogbehah; and he ^[d]attacked the army while the camp felt ^(Q)secure. ¹² When Zebah and Zalmunna fled, he pursued them; and he ^(R)took the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and routed the whole army.

¹³ Then Gideon the son of Joash returned from battle, from the Ascent of Heres. ¹⁴ And he caught a young man of the men of Succoth and interrogated him; and he wrote down for him the leaders of Succoth and its elders, seventy-seven men. ¹⁵ Then he came to the men of Succoth and said, “Here are Zebah and Zalmunna, about whom you ^(S)ridiculed me, saying, ‘Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in your hand, that we should give bread to your weary men?’ ” ^16 (T)And he took the elders of the city, and thorns of the wilderness and briers, and with them he ^[e]taught the men of Succoth. ^17 (U)Then he tore down the tower of ^(V)Penuel and killed the men of the city.

¹⁸ And he said to Zebah and Zalmunna, “What kind of men were they whom you killed at ^(W)Tabor?”

So they answered, “As you are, so were they; each one resembled the son of a king.”

¹⁹ Then 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 And he said to Jether his firstborn, “Rise, kill them!” But the youth would not draw his sword; for he was afraid, because he was still a youth.

²¹ So Zebah and Zalmunna said, “Rise yourself, and kill us; for as a man is, so is his strength.” So Gideon arose and ^(X)killed Zebah and Zalmunna, and took the crescent ornaments that were on their camels’ necks.

Gideon’s Ephod

²² Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, ^(Y)“Rule over us, both you and your son, and your grandson also; for you have ^(Z)delivered us from the hand of Midian.”

²³ But Gideon said to them, “I will not rule over you, nor shall my son rule over you; ^(AA)the Lord shall rule over you.” ²⁴ Then Gideon said to them, “I would like to ^[f]make a request of you, that each of you would give me the earrings from his plunder.” For they had golden earrings, ^(AB)because they were Ishmaelites.

²⁵ So they answered, “We will gladly give them.” And they spread out a garment, and each man threw into it the earrings from his plunder. ²⁶ Now the weight of the gold earrings that he requested was one thousand seven hundred shekels of gold, besides the crescent ornaments, pendants, and purple robes which were on the kings of Midian, and besides the chains that were around their camels’ necks. ²⁷ Then Gideon ^(AC)made it into an ephod and set it up in his city, ^(AD)Ophrah. And all Israel ^(AE)played the harlot with it there. It became ^(AF)a snare to Gideon and to his house.

²⁸ Thus Midian was subdued before the children of Israel, so that they lifted their heads no more. ^(AG)And the country was quiet for forty years in the days of Gideon.

Death of Gideon

²⁹ Then ^(AH)Jerubbaal the son of Joash went and dwelt in his own house. ³⁰ Gideon had ^(AI)seventy sons who were his own offspring, for he had many wives. ^31 (AJ)And his concubine who was in Shechem also bore him a son, whose name he called Abimelech. ³² Now Gideon the son of Joash died ^(AK)at a good old age, and was buried in the tomb of Joash his father, ^(AL)in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

³³ So it was, ^(AM)as soon as Gideon was dead, that the children of Israel again ^(AN)played the harlot with the Baals, ^(AO)and made Baal-Berith their god. ³⁴ Thus the children of Israel ^(AP)did not remember the Lord their God, who had delivered them from the hands of all their enemies on every side; ^35 (AQ)nor did they show kindness to the house of Jerubbaal (Gideon) in accordance with the good he had done for Israel.

Abimelech’s Conspiracy

9 Then Abimelech the son of Jerubbaal went to Shechem, to ^(AR)his mother’s brothers, and spoke with them and with all the family of the house of his mother’s father, saying, ² “Please speak in the hearing of all the men of Shechem: ‘Which is better for you, that all ^(AS)seventy of the sons of Jerubbaal reign over you, or that one reign over you?’ Remember that I am your own flesh and ^(AT)bone.”

³ And his mother’s brothers spoke all these words concerning him in the hearing of all the men of Shechem; and their heart was inclined to follow Abimelech, for they said, “He is our ^(AU)brother.” ⁴ So they gave him seventy shekels of silver from the temple of ^(AV)Baal-Berith, with which Abimelech hired ^(AW)worthless and reckless men; and they followed him. ⁵ Then he went to his father’s house ^(AX)at Ophrah and ^(AY)killed his brothers, the seventy sons of Jerubbaal, on one stone. But Jotham the youngest son of Jerubbaal was left, because he hid himself. ⁶ And all the men of Shechem gathered together, all of Beth Millo, and they went and made Abimelech king beside the terebinth tree at the pillar that was in Shechem.

The Parable of the Trees

⁷ Now when they told Jotham, he went and stood on top of ^(AZ)Mount Gerizim, and lifted his voice and cried out. And he said to them:

¹⁶ “Now therefore, if you have acted in truth and sincerity in making Abimelech king, and if you have dealt well with Jerubbaal and his house, and have done to him ^(BH)as^[g] he deserves— ¹⁷ for my ^(BI)father fought for you, risked his life, and ^(BJ)delivered you out of the hand of Midian; ^18 (BK)but you have risen up against my father’s house this day, and killed his seventy sons on one stone, and made Abimelech, the son of his ^(BL)female servant, king over the men of Shechem, because he is your brother— ¹⁹ if then you have acted in truth and sincerity with Jerubbaal and with his house this day, then ^(BM)rejoice in Abimelech, and let him also rejoice in you. ²⁰ But if not, ^(BN)let fire come from Abimelech and devour the men of Shechem and Beth Millo; and let fire come from the men of Shechem and from Beth Millo and devour Abimelech!” ²¹ And Jotham ran away and fled; and he went to ^(BO)Beer and dwelt there, for fear of Abimelech his brother.

Downfall of Abimelech

²² After Abimelech had reigned over Israel three years, ^23 (BP)God sent a ^(BQ)spirit of ill will between Abimelech and the men of Shechem; and the men of Shechem ^(BR)dealt treacherously with Abimelech, ^24 (BS)that the crime done to the seventy sons of Jerubbaal might be settled and their ^(BT)blood be laid on Abimelech their brother, who killed them, and on the men of Shechem, who aided him in the killing of his brothers. ²⁵ And the men of Shechem set ^[h]men in ambush against him on the tops of the mountains, and they robbed all who passed by them along that way; and it was told Abimelech.

²⁶ Now Gaal the son of Ebed came with his brothers and went over to Shechem; and the men of Shechem put their confidence in him. ²⁷ So they went out into the fields, and gathered grapes from their vineyards and trod them, and ^[i]made merry. And they went into ^(BU)the house of their god, and ate and drank, and cursed Abimelech. ²⁸ Then Gaal the son of Ebed said, ^(BV)“Who is Abimelech, and who is Shechem, that we should serve him? Is he not the son of Jerubbaal, and is not Zebul his officer? Serve the men of ^(BW)Hamor the father of Shechem; but why should we serve him? ^29 (BX)If only this people were under my ^[j]authority! Then I would remove Abimelech.” So ^[k]he said to Abimelech, “Increase your army and come out!”

³⁰ When Zebul, the ruler of the city, heard the words of Gaal the son of Ebed, his anger was aroused. ³¹ And he sent messengers to Abimelech secretly, saying, “Take note! Gaal the son of Ebed and his brothers have come to Shechem; and here they are, fortifying the city against you. ³² Now therefore, get up by night, you and the people who are with you, and ^[l]lie in wait in the field. ³³ And it shall be, as soon as the sun is up in the morning, that you shall rise early and rush upon the city; and when he and the people who are with him come out against you, you may then do to them ^[m]as you find opportunity.”

³⁴ So Abimelech and all the people who were with him rose by night, and ^[n]lay in wait against Shechem in four companies. ³⁵ When Gaal the son of Ebed went out and stood in the entrance to the city gate, Abimelech and the people who were with him rose from lying in wait. ³⁶ And when Gaal saw the people, he said to Zebul, “Look, people are coming down from the tops of the mountains!”

But Zebul said to him, “You see the shadows of the mountains as if they were men.”

³⁷ So Gaal spoke again and said, “See, people are coming down from the center of the land, and another company is coming from the ^[o]Diviners’ Terebinth Tree.”

³⁸ Then Zebul said to him, “Where indeed is your mouth now, with which you ^(BY)said, ‘Who is Abimelech, that we should serve him?’ Are not these the people whom you despised? Go out, if you will, and fight with them now.”

³⁹ So Gaal went out, leading the men of Shechem, and fought with Abimelech. ⁴⁰ And Abimelech chased him, and he fled from him; and many fell wounded, to the very entrance of the gate. ⁴¹ Then Abimelech dwelt at Arumah, and Zebul ^[p]drove out Gaal and his brothers, so that they would not dwell in Shechem.

⁴² And it came about on the next day that the people went out into the field, and they told Abimelech. ⁴³ So he took his people, divided them into three companies, and lay in wait in the field. And he looked, and there were the people, coming out of the city; and he rose against them and ^[q]attacked them. ⁴⁴ Then Abimelech and the company that was with him rushed forward and stood at the entrance of the gate of the city; and the other two companies rushed upon all who were in the fields and killed them. ⁴⁵ So Abimelech fought against the city all that day; ^(BZ)he took the city and killed the people who were in it; and he ^(CA)demolished the city and sowed it with salt.

⁴⁶ Now when all the men of the tower of Shechem had heard that, they entered the ^[r]stronghold of the temple ^(CB)of the god Berith. ⁴⁷ And it was told Abimelech that all the men of the tower of Shechem were gathered together. ⁴⁸ Then Abimelech went up to Mount ^(CC)Zalmon, he and all the people who were with him. And Abimelech took an ax in his hand and cut down a bough from the trees, and took it and laid it on his shoulder; then he said to the people who were with him, “What you have seen me do, make haste and do as I have done.” ⁴⁹ So each of the people likewise cut down his own bough and followed Abimelech, put them against the ^[s]stronghold, and set the stronghold on fire above them, so that all the people of the tower of Shechem died, about a thousand men and women.

⁵⁰ Then Abimelech went to Thebez, and he ^[t]encamped against Thebez and took it. ⁵¹ But there was a strong tower in the city, and all the men and women—all the people of the city—fled there and shut themselves in; then they went up to the top of the tower. ⁵² So Abimelech came as far as the tower and fought against it; and he drew near the door of the tower to burn it with fire. ⁵³ But a certain woman ^(CD)dropped an upper millstone on Abimelech’s head and crushed his skull. ⁵⁴ Then ^(CE)he called quickly to the young man, his armorbearer, and said to him, “Draw your sword and kill me, lest men say of me, ‘A woman killed him.’ ” So his young man thrust him through, and he died. ⁵⁵ And when the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead, they departed, every man to his ^[u]place.

^56 (CF)Thus God repaid the wickedness of Abimelech, which he had done to his father by killing his seventy brothers. ⁵⁷ And all the evil of the men of Shechem God returned on their own heads, and on them came ^(CG)the curse of Jotham the son of Jerubbaal.

Tola

10 After Abimelech there ^(CH)arose to save Israel Tola the son of Puah, the son of Dodo, a man of Issachar; and he dwelt in Shamir in the mountains of Ephraim. ² He judged Israel twenty-three years; and he died and was buried in Shamir.

Jair

³ After him arose Jair, a Gileadite; and he judged Israel twenty-two years. ⁴ Now he had thirty sons who ^(CI)rode on thirty donkeys; they also had thirty towns, ^(CJ)which are called ^[v]“Havoth Jair” to this day, which are in the land of Gilead. ⁵ And Jair died and was buried in Camon.

Israel Oppressed Again

⁶ Then ^(CK)the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord, and ^(CL)served the Baals and the Ashtoreths, ^(CM)the gods of Syria, the gods of ^(CN)Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the people of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines; and they forsook the Lord and did not serve Him. ⁷ So the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel; and He ^(CO)sold them into the hands of the ^(CP)Philistines and into the hands of the people of ^(CQ)Ammon. ⁸ From that year they ^[w]harassed and oppressed the children of Israel for eighteen years—all the children of Israel who were on the other side of the Jordan in the ^(CR)land of the Amorites, in Gilead. ⁹ Moreover the people of Ammon crossed over the Jordan to fight against Judah also, against Benjamin, and against the house of Ephraim, so that Israel was severely distressed.

^10 (CS)And the children of Israel cried out to the Lord, saying, “We have ^(CT)sinned against You, because we have both forsaken our God and served the Baals!”

¹¹ So the Lord said to the children of Israel, “Did I not deliver you ^(CU)from the Egyptians and ^(CV)from the Amorites and ^(CW)from the people of Ammon and ^(CX)from the Philistines? ¹² Also ^(CY)the Sidonians ^(CZ)and Amalekites and ^[x]Maonites ^(DA)oppressed you; and you cried out to Me, and I delivered you from their hand. ^13 (DB)Yet you have forsaken Me and served other gods. Therefore I will deliver you no more. ¹⁴ “Go and ^(DC)cry out to the gods which you have chosen; let them deliver you in your time of distress.”

¹⁵ And the children of Israel said to the Lord, “We have sinned! ^(DD)Do to us whatever seems best to You; only deliver us this day, we pray.” ^16 (DE)So they put away the foreign gods from among them and served the Lord. And ^(DF)His soul could no longer endure the misery of Israel.

¹⁷ Then the people of Ammon gathered together and encamped in Gilead. And the children of Israel assembled together and encamped in ^(DG)Mizpah. ¹⁸ And the people, the leaders of Gilead, said to one another, “Who is the man who will begin the fight against the people of Ammon? He shall ^(DH)be head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.”

Jephthah

11 Now ^(DI)Jephthah the Gileadite was ^(DJ)a mighty man of valor, but he was the son of a harlot; and Gilead begot Jephthah. ² Gilead’s wife bore sons; and when his wife’s sons grew up, they drove Jephthah out, and said to him, “You shall have ^(DK)no inheritance in our father’s house, for you are the son of another woman.” ³ Then Jephthah fled from his brothers and dwelt in the land of ^(DL)Tob; and ^(DM)worthless men banded together with Jephthah and went out raiding with him.

⁴ It came to pass after a time that the ^(DN)people of Ammon made war against Israel. ⁵ And so it was, when the people of Ammon made war against Israel, that the elders of Gilead went to get Jephthah from the land of Tob. ⁶ Then they said to Jephthah, “Come and be our commander, that we may fight against the people of Ammon.”

⁷ So Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, ^(DO)“Did you not hate me, and expel me from my father’s house? Why have you come to me now when you are in ^[y]distress?”

^8 (DP)And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “That is why we have ^(DQ)turned^[z] again to you now, that you may go with us and fight against the people of Ammon, and be ^(DR)our head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.”

⁹ So Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, “If you take me back home to fight against the people of Ammon, and the Lord delivers them to me, shall I be your head?”

¹⁰ And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, ^(DS)“The Lord will be a witness between us, if we do not do according to your words.” ¹¹ Then Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him ^(DT)head and commander over them; and Jephthah spoke all his words ^(DU)before the Lord in Mizpah.

¹² Now Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the people of Ammon, saying, ^(DV)“What do you have against me, that you have come to fight against me in my land?”

¹³ And the king of the people of Ammon answered the messengers of Jephthah, ^(DW)“Because Israel took away my land when they came up out of Egypt, from ^(DX)the Arnon as far as ^(DY)the Jabbok, and to the Jordan. Now therefore, restore those lands peaceably.”

¹⁴ So Jephthah again sent messengers to the king of the people of Ammon, ¹⁵ and said to him, “Thus says Jephthah: ^(DZ)‘Israel did not take away the land of Moab, nor the land of the people of Ammon; ¹⁶ for when Israel came up from Egypt, they walked through the wilderness as far as the Red Sea and ^(EA)came to Kadesh. ¹⁷ Then ^(EB)Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, “Please let me pass through your land.” ^(EC)But the king of Edom would not heed. And in like manner they sent to the ^(ED)king of Moab, but he would not consent. So Israel ^(EE)remained in Kadesh. ¹⁸ And they ^(EF)went along through the wilderness and ^(EG)bypassed the land of Edom and the land of Moab, came to the east side of the land of Moab, and encamped on the other side of the Arnon. But they did not enter the border of Moab, for the Arnon was the border of Moab. ¹⁹ Then ^(EH)Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, king of Heshbon; and Israel said to him, “Please ^(EI)let us pass through your land into our place.” ^20 (EJ)But Sihon did not trust Israel to pass through his territory. So Sihon gathered all his people together, encamped in Jahaz, and fought against Israel. ²¹ And the Lord God of Israel ^(EK)delivered Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they ^(EL)defeated^[aa] them. Thus Israel gained possession of all the land of the Amorites, who inhabited that country. ²² They took possession of ^(EM)all the territory of the Amorites, from the Arnon to the Jabbok and from the wilderness to the Jordan.

²³ ‘And now the Lord God of Israel has ^[ab]dispossessed the Amorites from before His people Israel; should you then possess it? ²⁴ Will you not possess whatever ^(EN)Chemosh your god gives you to possess? So whatever ^(EO)the Lord our God takes possession of before us, we will possess. ²⁵ And now, are you any better than ^(EP)Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever strive against Israel? Did he ever fight against them? ²⁶ While Israel dwelt in ^(EQ)Heshbon and its villages, in ^(ER)Aroer and its villages, and in all the cities along the banks of the Arnon, for three hundred years, why did you not recover them within that time? ²⁷ Therefore I have not sinned against you, but you wronged me by fighting against me. May the Lord, ^(ES)the Judge, ^(ET)render judgment this day between the children of Israel and the people of Ammon.’ ” ²⁸ However, the king of the people of Ammon did not heed the words which Jephthah sent him.

Jephthah’s Vow and Victory

²⁹ Then ^(EU)the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah, and he passed through Gilead and Manasseh, and passed through Mizpah of Gilead; and from Mizpah of Gilead he advanced toward the people of Ammon. ³⁰ And Jephthah ^(EV)made a vow to the Lord, and said, “If You will indeed deliver the people of Ammon into my hands, ³¹ then it will be that whatever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the people of Ammon, ^(EW)shall surely be the Lord’s, ^(EX)and I will offer it up as a burnt offering.”

³² So Jephthah advanced toward the people of Ammon to fight against them, and the Lord delivered them into his hands. ³³ And he ^[ac]defeated them from Aroer as far as ^(EY)Minnith—twenty cities—and to ^[ad]Abel Keramim, with a very great slaughter. Thus the people of Ammon were subdued before the children of Israel.

Jephthah’s Daughter

³⁴ When Jephthah came to his house at ^(EZ)Mizpah, there was ^(FA)his daughter, coming out to meet him with timbrels and dancing; and she was his only child. Besides her he had neither son nor daughter. ³⁵ And it came to pass, when he saw her, that he ^(FB)tore his clothes, and said, “Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low! You are among those who trouble me! For I ^(FC)have ^[ae]given my word to the Lord, and ^(FD)I cannot ^[af]go back on it.”

³⁶ So she said to him, “My father, if you have given your word to the Lord, ^(FE)do to me according to what has gone out of your mouth, because ^(FF)the Lord has avenged you of your enemies, the people of Ammon.” ³⁷ Then she said to her father, “Let this thing be done for me: let me alone for two months, that I may go and wander on the mountains and ^[ag]bewail my virginity, my ^[ah]friends and I.”

³⁸ So he said, “Go.” And he sent her away for two months; and she went with her friends, and bewailed her virginity on the mountains. ³⁹ And it was so at the end of two months that she returned to her father, and he ^(FG)carried out his vow with her which he had vowed. She ^[ai]knew no man.

And it became a custom in Israel ⁴⁰ that the daughters of Israel went four days each year to ^[aj]lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite.

Jephthah’s Conflict with Ephraim

12 Then ^(FH)the men of Ephraim ^[ak]gathered together, crossed over toward Zaphon, and said to Jephthah, “Why did you cross over to fight against the people of Ammon, and did not call us to go with you? We will burn your house down on you with fire!”

² And Jephthah said to them, “My people and I were in a great struggle with the people of Ammon; and when I called you, you did not deliver me out of their hands. ³ So when I saw that you would not deliver me, I ^(FI)took my life in my hands and crossed over against the people of Ammon; and the Lord delivered them into my hand. Why then have you come up to me this day to fight against me?” ⁴ Now Jephthah gathered together all the men of Gilead and fought against Ephraim. And the men of Gilead defeated Ephraim, because they said, “You Gileadites ^(FJ)are fugitives of Ephraim among the Ephraimites and among the Manassites.” ⁵ The Gileadites seized the ^(FK)fords of the Jordan before the Ephraimites arrived. And when any Ephraimite who escaped said, “Let me cross over,” the men of Gilead would say to him, “Are you an Ephraimite?” If he said, “No,” ⁶ then they would say to him, “Then say, ^(FL)‘Shibboleth’!”^[al] And he would say, “Sibboleth,” for he could not ^[am]pronounce it right. Then they would take him and kill him at the fords of the Jordan. There fell at that time forty-two thousand Ephraimites.

⁷ And Jephthah judged Israel six years. Then Jephthah the Gileadite died and was buried among the cities of Gilead.

Ibzan, Elon, and Abdon

⁸ After him, Ibzan of Bethlehem judged Israel. ⁹ He had thirty sons. And he gave away thirty daughters in marriage, and brought in thirty daughters from elsewhere for his sons. He judged Israel seven years. ¹⁰ Then Ibzan died and was buried at Bethlehem.

¹¹ After him, Elon the Zebulunite judged Israel. He judged Israel ten years. ¹² And Elon the Zebulunite died and was buried at Aijalon in the country of Zebulun.

¹³ After him, Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite judged Israel. ¹⁴ He had forty sons and thirty grandsons, who ^(FM)rode on seventy young donkeys. He judged Israel eight years. ¹⁵ Then Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite died and was buried in Pirathon in the land of Ephraim, ^(FN)in the mountains of the Amalekites.