⁴ Gideon then went to the Jordan and crossed over with the three hundred men who were with him. They were exhausted but kept pursuing the enemy.

⁵ Gideon said to the men of Succoth, “Please give loaves of bread to the troops who are following right behind me, because they are exhausted, and I am pursuing Zebah and Zalmunna, kings of Midian.”

⁶ But the leaders of Succoth said, “Are the cut-off hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your hands? Why then would we give bread to your army?”

⁷ Gideon replied, “Just for that, when the Lord gives Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, I will tear your flesh with thorns from the wilderness and with briars.”

⁸ Then Gideon went up from there to Penuel^[a] and made the same request, and the men of Penuel gave him the same answer that the men of Succoth had. ⁹ So Gideon said to the men of Penuel, “When I return in peace, I will tear down this tower.”