Judges 8:22-27
Living Bible
22 Now the men of Israel said to Gideon, “Be our king! You and your sons and all your descendants shall be our rulers, for you have saved us from Midian.”
23-24 But Gideon replied, “I will not be your king, nor shall my son; the Lord is your King! However, I have one request. Give me all the earrings collected from your fallen foes”—for the troops of Midian, being Ishmaelites, all wore gold earrings.
25 “Gladly!” they replied, and spread out a sheet for everyone to throw in the gold earrings he had gathered. 26 Their value was estimated at $25,000, not including the crescents and pendants, or the royal clothing of the kings, or the chains around the camels’ necks. 27 Gideon made an ephod[a] from the gold and put it in Ophrah, his hometown. But all Israel soon began worshiping it, so it became an evil deed that Gideon and his family did.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Judges 8:27 The ephod was usually a linen pouch worn by the priests on their chests. In this case the ephod evidently was highly decorated with gold, and probably, because of its weight, hung upon a wall.
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.