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Judges 8:18-35
King James Version
Judges 8:18-35
King James Version
18 Then said he unto Zebah and Zalmunna, What manner of men were they whom ye slew at Tabor? And they answered, As thou art, so were they; each one resembled the children of a king.
19 And he said, They were my brethren, even the sons of my mother: as the Lord liveth, if ye had saved them alive, I would not slay you.
20 And he said unto Jether his firstborn, Up, and slay them. But the youth drew not his sword: for he feared, because he was yet a youth.
21 Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, Rise thou, and fall upon us: for as the man is, so is his strength. And Gideon arose, and slew Zebah and Zalmunna, and took away the ornaments that were on their camels' necks.
22 Then the men of Israel said unto Gideon, Rule thou over us, both thou, and thy son, and thy son's son also: for thou hast delivered us from the hand of Midian.
23 And Gideon said unto them, I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you: the Lord shall rule over you.
24 And Gideon said unto them, I would desire a request of you, that ye would give me every man the earrings of his prey. (For they had golden earrings, because they were Ishmaelites.)
25 And they answered, We will willingly give them. And they spread a garment, and did cast therein every man the earrings of his prey.
26 And the weight of the golden earrings that he requested was a thousand and seven hundred shekels of gold; beside ornaments, and collars, and purple raiment that was on the kings of Midian, and beside the chains that were about their camels' necks.
27 And Gideon made an ephod thereof, and put it in his city, even in Ophrah: and all Israel went thither a whoring after it: which thing became a snare unto Gideon, and to his house.
28 Thus was Midian subdued before the children of Israel, so that they lifted up their heads no more. And the country was in quietness forty years in the days of Gideon.
29 And Jerubbaal the son of Joash went and dwelt in his own house.
30 And Gideon had threescore and ten sons of his body begotten: for he had many wives.
31 And his concubine that was in Shechem, she also bare him a son, whose name he called Abimelech.
32 And Gideon the son of Joash died in a good old age, and was buried in the sepulchre of Joash his father, in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
33 And it came to pass, as soon as Gideon was dead, that the children of Israel turned again, and went a whoring after Baalim, and made Baalberith their god.
34 And the children of Israel remembered not the Lord their God, who had delivered them out of the hands of all their enemies on every side:
35 Neither shewed they kindness to the house of Jerubbaal, namely, Gideon, according to all the goodness which he had shewed unto Israel.
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Judges 8:18-35
New International Version
Judges 8:18-35
New International Version
18 Then he asked Zebah and Zalmunna, “What kind of men did you kill at Tabor?(A)”
“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,(B) 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(C) 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(D) over you.” 24 And he said, “I do have one request, that each of you give me an earring(E) from your share of the plunder.(F)” (It was the custom of the Ishmaelites(G) 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,[a] not counting the ornaments, the pendants and the purple garments worn by the kings of Midian or the chains(H) that were on their camels’ necks. 27 Gideon made the gold into an ephod,(I) which he placed in Ophrah,(J) his town. All Israel prostituted themselves by worshiping it there, and it became a snare(K) to Gideon and his family.(L)
Gideon’s Death
28 Thus Midian was subdued before the Israelites and did not raise its head(M) again. During Gideon’s lifetime, the land had peace(N) forty years.
29 Jerub-Baal(O) son of Joash(P) went back home to live. 30 He had seventy sons(Q) of his own, for he had many wives. 31 His concubine,(R) who lived in Shechem, also bore him a son, whom he named Abimelek.(S) 32 Gideon son of Joash died at a good old age(T) 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.(U) They set up Baal-Berith(V) as their god(W) 34 and did not remember(X) 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(Y) (that is, Gideon) in spite of all the good things he had done for them.(Z)
Footnotes
- Judges 8:26 That is, about 43 pounds or about 20 kilograms
Judges 8:18-35
New King James Version
Judges 8:18-35
New King James Version
18 And he said to Zebah and Zalmunna, “What kind of men were they whom you killed at (A)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 (B)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, (C)“Rule over us, both you and your son, and your grandson also; for you have (D)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; (E)the Lord shall rule over you.” 24 Then Gideon said to them, “I would like to [a]make a request of you, that each of you would give me the earrings from his plunder.” For they had golden earrings, (F)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 (G)made it into an ephod and set it up in his city, (H)Ophrah. And all Israel (I)played the harlot with it there. It became (J)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. (K)And the country was quiet for forty years in the days of Gideon.
Death of Gideon
29 Then (L)Jerubbaal the son of Joash went and dwelt in his own house. 30 Gideon had (M)seventy sons who were his own offspring, for he had many wives. 31 (N)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 (O)at a good old age, and was buried in the tomb of Joash his father, (P)in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
33 So it was, (Q)as soon as Gideon was dead, that the children of Israel again (R)played the harlot with the Baals, (S)and made Baal-Berith their god. 34 Thus the children of Israel (T)did not remember the Lord their God, who had delivered them from the hands of all their enemies on every side; 35 (U)nor did they show kindness to the house of Jerubbaal (Gideon) in accordance with the good he had done for Israel.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Judges 8:24 Lit. request a request
New International Version (NIV) 
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NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.
New King James Version (NKJV) 
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.