Zebah and Zalmunna

8 Now the Ephraimites asked Gideon,^(A) “Why have you treated us like this? Why didn’t you call us when you went to fight Midian?^(B)”^(C) And they challenged him vigorously.^(D)

² But he answered them, “What have I accomplished compared to you? Aren’t the gleanings of Ephraim’s grapes better than the full grape harvest of Abiezer?^{(E) 3} God gave Oreb and Zeeb,^(F) the Midianite leaders, into your hands. What was I able to do compared to you?” At this, their resentment against him subsided.

⁴ Gideon and his three hundred men, exhausted yet keeping up the pursuit, came to the Jordan^(G) and crossed it. ⁵ He said to the men of Sukkoth,^(H) “Give my troops some bread; they are worn out,^(I) and I am still pursuing Zebah and Zalmunna,^(J) the kings of Midian.”

⁶ But the officials of Sukkoth^(K) said, “Do you already have the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna in your possession? Why should we give bread^(L) to your troops?”^(M)

⁷ Then Gideon replied, “Just for that, when the Lord has given Zebah and Zalmunna^(N) into my hand, I will tear your flesh with desert thorns and briers.”

⁸ From there he went up to Peniel^[a](O) and made the same request of them, but they answered as the men of Sukkoth had. ⁹ So he said to the men of Peniel, “When I return in triumph, I will tear down this tower.”^(P)

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.^{(Q) 11} Gideon went up by the route of the nomads east of Nobah^(R) and Jogbehah^(S) 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.

¹³ Gideon son of Joash^(T) then returned from the battle by the Pass of Heres.^{(U) 14} He caught a young man of Sukkoth and questioned him, and the young man wrote down for him the names of the seventy-seven officials of Sukkoth,^(V) the elders^(W) of the town. ¹⁵ Then Gideon came and said to the men of Sukkoth, “Here are Zebah and Zalmunna, about whom you taunted me by saying, ‘Do you already have the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna in your possession? Why should we give bread to your exhausted men?^(X)’” ¹⁶ He took the elders of the town and taught the men of Sukkoth a lesson^(Y) by punishing them with desert thorns and briers. ¹⁷ He also pulled down the tower of Peniel^(Z) and killed the men of the town.^(AA)

¹⁸ Then he asked Zebah and Zalmunna, “What kind of men did you kill at Tabor?^(AB)”

“Men like you,” they answered, “each one with the bearing of a prince.”

¹⁹ Gideon replied, “Those were my brothers, the sons of my own mother. As surely as the Lord lives,^(AC) if you had spared their lives, I would not kill you.” ²⁰ Turning to Jether, his oldest son, he said, “Kill them!” But Jether did not draw his sword, because he was only a boy and was afraid.

²¹ Zebah and Zalmunna said, “Come, do it yourself. ‘As is the man, so is his strength.’” So Gideon stepped forward and killed them, and took the ornaments^(AD) off their camels’ necks.

Gideon’s Ephod

²² The Israelites said to Gideon, “Rule over us—you, your son and your grandson—because you have saved us from the hand of Midian.”

²³ But Gideon told them, “I will not rule over you, nor will my son rule over you. The Lord will rule^(AE) over you.” ²⁴ And he said, “I do have one request, that each of you give me an earring^(AF) from your share of the plunder.^(AG)” (It was the custom of the Ishmaelites^(AH) to wear gold earrings.)

²⁵ They answered, “We’ll be glad to give them.” So they spread out a garment, and each of them threw a ring from his plunder onto it. ²⁶ The weight of the gold rings he asked for came to seventeen hundred shekels,^[b] not counting the ornaments, the pendants and the purple garments worn by the kings of Midian or the chains^(AI) that were on their camels’ necks. ²⁷ Gideon made the gold into an ephod,^(AJ) which he placed in Ophrah,^(AK) his town. All Israel prostituted themselves by worshiping it there, and it became a snare^(AL) to Gideon and his family.^(AM)

Gideon’s Death

²⁸ Thus Midian was subdued before the Israelites and did not raise its head^(AN) again. During Gideon’s lifetime, the land had peace^(AO) forty years.

²⁹ Jerub-Baal^(AP) son of Joash^(AQ) went back home to live. ³⁰ He had seventy sons^(AR) of his own, for he had many wives. ³¹ His concubine,^(AS) who lived in Shechem, also bore him a son, whom he named Abimelek.^{(AT) 32} Gideon son of Joash died at a good old age^(AU) and was buried in the tomb of his father Joash in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

³³ No sooner had Gideon died than the Israelites again prostituted themselves to the Baals.^(AV) They set up Baal-Berith^(AW) as their god^{(AX) 34} and did not remember^(AY) the Lord their God, who had rescued them from the hands of all their enemies on every side. ³⁵ They also failed to show any loyalty to the family of Jerub-Baal^(AZ) (that is, Gideon) in spite of all the good things he had done for them.^(BA)

The Weak and the Strong

14 Accept the one whose faith is weak,^(A) without quarreling over disputable matters. ² One person’s faith allows them to eat anything, but another, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables.^{(B) 3} The one who eats everything must not treat with contempt^(C) the one who does not, and the one who does not eat everything must not judge^(D) the one who does, for God has accepted them. ⁴ Who are you to judge someone else’s servant?^(E) To their own master, servants stand or fall. And they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand.

⁵ One person considers one day more sacred than another;^(F) another considers every day alike. Each of them should be fully convinced in their own mind. ⁶ Whoever regards one day as special does so to the Lord. Whoever eats meat does so to the Lord, for they give thanks to God;^(G) and whoever abstains does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God. ⁷ For none of us lives for ourselves alone,^(H) and none of us dies for ourselves alone. ⁸ If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.^{(I) 9} For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life^(J) so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living.^(K)

¹⁰ You, then, why do you judge your brother or sister^[a]? Or why do you treat them with contempt?^(L) For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat.^{(M) 11} It is written:

¹² So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God.^(P)

¹³ Therefore let us stop passing judgment^(Q) on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in the way of a brother or sister.^{(R) 14} I am convinced, being fully persuaded in the Lord Jesus, that nothing is unclean in itself.^(S) But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for that person it is unclean.^{(T) 15} If your brother or sister is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love.^(U) Do not by your eating destroy someone for whom Christ died.^{(V) 16} Therefore do not let what you know is good be spoken of as evil.^{(W) 17} For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking,^(X) but of righteousness, peace^(Y) and joy in the Holy Spirit,^{(Z) 18} because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and receives human approval.^(AA)

¹⁹ Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace^(AB) and to mutual edification.^{(AC) 20} Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food.^(AD) All food is clean,^(AE) but it is wrong for a person to eat anything that causes someone else to stumble.^{(AF) 21} It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother or sister to fall.^(AG)

²² So whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who does not condemn^(AH) himself by what he approves. ²³ But whoever has doubts^(AI) is condemned if they eat, because their eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin.^[c]