Judg 8:10-27 | ESV | STEP | Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor with their army , about 15,000 men, all who were left of all the army of the people of the East , for there had fallen 120,000 men who drew the sword .

Judges 8:10-27

10 Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor with their army, about 15,000 men, all who were left of all the army of ^athe people of the East, for there had fallen 120,000 men ^bwho drew the sword. 11 And Gideon went up by the way of the tent dwellers east of ^cNobah and Jogbehah and attacked the army, for the army felt ^dsecure. 12 And Zebah and Zalmunna fled, and he pursued them ^eand captured the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and he threw all the army into a panic.

13 Then Gideon the son of Joash returned from the battle by the ascent of Heres. 14 And he captured a young man of Succoth and questioned him. And he wrote down for him the officials and elders of Succoth, seventy-seven men. 15 And he came to the men of Succoth and said, “Behold Zebah and Zalmunna, about whom you taunted me, saying, ^f‘Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your hand, that we should give bread to your men who are exhausted?’” 16 And he took the elders of the city, and he took thorns of the wilderness and briers and with them taught the men of Succoth a lesson. 17 ^gAnd he broke down the tower of Penuel and killed the men of the city.

18 Then he said to Zebah and Zalmunna, “Where are the men whom you killed at ^hTabor?” They answered, “As you are, so were they. Every one of them resembled the son of a king.” 19 And he said, “They were my brothers, the sons of my mother. ⁱAs the Lord lives, if you had saved them alive, I would not kill you.” 20 So he said to Jether his firstborn, “Rise and kill them!” But the young man did not draw his sword, for he was afraid, because he was still a young man. 21 Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, “Rise yourself and fall upon us, for as the man is, so is his strength.” And Gideon arose and ^jkilled Zebah and Zalmunna, and he took ^kthe crescent ornaments that were on the necks of their camels.

Gideon’s Ephod

22 Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, “Rule over us, you and your son and your grandson also, for you have saved us from the hand of Midian.” 23 Gideon said to them, “I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you; ^lthe Lord will rule over you.” 24 And Gideon said to them, “Let me make a request of you: every one of you give me the earrings from his spoil.” (For they had golden earrings, ^mbecause they were Ishmaelites.) 25 And they answered, “We will willingly give them.” And they spread a cloak, and every man threw in it the earrings of his spoil. 26 And the weight of the golden earrings that he requested was 1,700 shekels ^{▼▼A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams} of gold, besides ^othe crescent ornaments and ^pthe pendants and the purple garments worn by the kings of Midian, and besides the collars that were around the necks of their camels. 27 And Gideon ^qmade an ephod of it and put it in his city, ^rin Ophrah. And all Israel ^swhored after it there, and it became a ^tsnare to Gideon and to his family.