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22 The men of Israel said to Gideon, “Rule over us, both you and your sons, and your sons’ son, for you have delivered us from the hand of Midian. 23 But Gideon said to them, “I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you; Yahweh will rule over you.” 24 And Gideon said to them, “Let me make a request of you,[a] that each of you give to me an ornamental ring from his plunder.” (They had ornamental rings of gold, because they were Ishmaelites.) 25 They said, “We will gladly give them,” and they spread out a garment, and everyone threw there an ornamental ring of his plunder. 26 The weight of the ornamental rings of gold that he requested was one thousand seven hundred shekels of gold, apart from the crescents, pendants, and purple garments that were on the kings of Midian, and apart from the pendants that were on the necks of their camels. 27 Gideon made an ephod out of it, and he put it in his town in Ophrah, and all Israel prostituted themselves to it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and his family.

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Footnotes

  1. Judges 8:24 Literally “Let me ask from you a request”

22 Then the men of Israel asked Gideon, “Rule over us—you, your son, and your grandsons—because you have delivered us from Midian’s domination.”

23 But Gideon told them, “I won’t rule over you and my son won’t rule over you. The Lord will rule you.”

Gideon Falls into Idolatry

24 But Gideon also added, “I would like to ask that each of you give me a ring from his war booty” because, as Ishmaelites, the Midianites[a] had been wearing gold rings.

25 They responded, “We’ll be happy to give them.” So they laid out a garment, and each of them contributed a ring from his war booty. 26 The weight of the rings that he had asked for was 1,700 gold coins,[b] not counting the crescent-shaped necklaces, pendants, and purple garments worn by the Midian kings, and also not counting the bands adorning the necks of their camels.

27 Gideon crafted the booty into an ephod[c] and enshrined it in his home town of Ophrah. Then all of Israel committed spiritual adultery with it there, and it became a snare for Gideon and his household.

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Footnotes

  1. Judges 8:24 Lit. they
  2. Judges 8:26 The Heb. lacks coins
  3. Judges 8:27 cf. Lev 8:7; a golden garment rightly worn only by the Levitical high priest