Gideon

13And Gideon the son of Joash returned from battle before the sun was up,

Then Gideon son of Joash came back from the battle, before the sun came up.

14And caught a young man of the men of Succoth, and enquired of him: and he described unto him the princes of Succoth, and the elders thereof, even threescore and seventeen men.

He caught a young man from Succoth and asked him questions. The young man wrote down the names of the town's leaders and older men. There were seventy-seven of them.

15And he came unto the men of Succoth, and said, Behold Zebah and Zalmunna, with whom ye did upbraid me, saying, Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in thine hand, that we should give bread unto thy men that are weary?

Gideon came to the men of Succoth and said, "Here are Zebah and Zalmunna. You made fun of me about them. You said, 'Have you caught them yet? Why should we feed your tired men?'"

16And he took the elders of the city, and thorns of the wilderness and briers, and with them he taught the men of Succoth.

So he took the older leaders of the town. He used sharp desert thorns and prickly branches, and he punished the men of Succoth with them.

17And he beat down the tower of Penuel, and slew the men of the city.

He also knocked down the tower of Penuel and killed the men of that town.

18Then 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.

Then Gideon asked Zebah and Zalmunna, "What were the men like that you killed at Mount Tabor?" They answered, "They looked like you. Each one looked like a king's son."

19And 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.

Gideon said, "Those were my brothers, my own mother's sons. As surely as the LORD lives, I would not kill you if you had let them live."

20And 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.

He said to Jether, his oldest son, "Get up and kill them." But the boy did not pull out his sword. He was afraid, because he was still young.

21Then 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.

Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, "Do it yourself. A grown man has a grown man's strength." So Gideon got up and killed them both. He took the curved ornaments off their camels' necks.

22Then 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.

Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, "Be our ruler. You, then your son, then your son's son. You saved us from Midian."

23And Gideon said unto them, I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you: the LORD shall rule over you.

Gideon said, "I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you. The LORD will rule over you."

24And 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.)

Then Gideon said, "I do want to ask you for one thing. Each of you give me an earring you took from the enemy." The enemy soldiers wore gold earrings, because they were Ishmaelites.

25And they answered, We will willingly give them. And they spread a garment, and did cast therein every man the earrings of his prey.

They said, "We will gladly give them." So they spread out a coat on the ground. Every man threw in an earring he had taken.

26And 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.

The gold earrings he asked for weighed one thousand seven hundred shekels. He also got curved ornaments, hanging jewels, and the purple robes the Midianite kings wore. He got the chains from their camels' necks too.

27And 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.

Gideon used the gold to make an ephod, a special coat like the ones priests wore. He put it in his hometown, Ophrah. All Israel went there and worshiped it, turning away from God. It became a trap for Gideon and his family.

28Thus 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.

So Midian was beaten down in front of Israel and never rose up again. The land was quiet and peaceful for forty years, while Gideon lived.

29And Jerubbaal the son of Joash went and dwelt in his own house.

Jerubbaal son of Joash, which was another name for Gideon, went home and lived there.

30And Gideon had threescore and ten sons of his body begotten: for he had many wives.

Gideon had seventy sons of his own, because he had many wives.

31And his concubine that was in Shechem, she also bare him a son, whose name he called Abimelech.

He also had a woman in Shechem who lived with him like a wife, but with less honor. She had a son, and Gideon named him Abimelech.

32And 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.

Gideon son of Joash died when he was very old. He was buried in his father Joash's grave, in Ophrah, the town of the Abiezrites.

33And 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.

As soon as Gideon died, the people of Israel turned away from God again. They worshiped the Baals, which were false gods. They chose Baal-berith as their god.

34And 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:

The people of Israel did not remember the LORD their God. He was the one who had saved them from all their enemies all around them.

35Neither shewed they kindness to the house of Jerubbaal, namely, Gideon, according to all the goodness which he had shewed unto Israel.

They also were not kind to Gideon's family, even though Gideon had done so much good for Israel.

1And Abimelech the son of Jerubbaal went to Shechem unto his mother’s brethren, and communed with them, and with all the family of the house of his mother’s father, saying,

Abimelech was a son of Jerubbaal. He went to Shechem to see his mother's brothers. He talked with them and with all his mother's family.

2Speak, I pray you, in the ears of all the men of Shechem, Whether is better for you, either that all the sons of Jerubbaal, which are threescore and ten persons, reign over you, or that one reign over you? remember also that I am your bone and your flesh.

He said, "Ask the leaders of Shechem a question. Is it better for seventy sons of Jerubbaal to rule you, or one man? Remember, I am your own family."

3And his mother’s brethren spake of him in the ears of all the men of Shechem all these words: and their hearts inclined to follow Abimelech; for they said, He is our brother.

His mother's brothers said all this to the leaders of Shechem. The leaders decided to follow Abimelech. They said, "He is our own relative."

4And they gave him threescore and ten pieces of silver out of the house of Baalberith, wherewith Abimelech hired vain and light persons, which followed him.

They took seventy pieces of silver from the temple of the god Baal-berith. They gave the silver to Abimelech. He used it to hire rough, worthless men who followed him.

5And he went unto his father’s house at Ophrah, and slew his brethren the sons of Jerubbaal, being threescore and ten persons, upon one stone: notwithstanding yet Jotham the youngest son of Jerubbaal was left; for he hid himself.

He went to his father's house at Ophrah. There he killed his seventy brothers, the sons of Jerubbaal, on one stone. But the youngest brother, Jotham, hid himself and lived.

6And all the men of Shechem gathered together, and all the house of Millo, and went, and made Abimelech king, by the plain of the pillar that was in Shechem.

All the leaders of Shechem and of Beth-millo came together. They met by the big tree beside the stone pillar in Shechem. There they made Abimelech their king.

16Now therefore, if ye have done truly and sincerely, in that ye have made Abimelech king, and if ye have dealt well with Jerubbaal and his house, and have done unto him according to the deserving of his hands;

"Now think about what you did. Were you honest and fair when you made Abimelech king? Did you treat Jerubbaal and his family the way they deserved?

17(For my father fought for you, and adventured his life far, and delivered you out of the hand of Midian:

"My father fought for you. He risked his own life. He saved you from the army of Midian.

18And ye are risen up against my father’s house this day, and have slain his sons, threescore and ten persons, upon one stone, and have made Abimelech, the son of his maidservant, king over the men of Shechem, because he is your brother;)

"But today you turned against my father's family. You killed his seventy sons on one stone. You made Abimelech king over Shechem, only because his mother was a servant here and he is your relative.

19If ye then have dealt truly and sincerely with Jerubbaal and with his house this day, then rejoice ye in Abimelech, and let him also rejoice in you:

"If you have been honest and fair with Jerubbaal and his family today, then be happy with Abimelech. And let him be happy with you.

20But if not, let fire come out from Abimelech, and devour the men of Shechem, and the house of Millo; and let fire come out from the men of Shechem, and from the house of Millo, and devour Abimelech.

"But if not, may fire come out of Abimelech and burn up the leaders of Shechem and Beth-millo. And may fire come out of them and burn up Abimelech."

21And Jotham ran away, and fled, and went to Beer, and dwelt there, for fear of Abimelech his brother.

Then Jotham ran away. He escaped to a place called Beer and lived there. He was afraid of his brother Abimelech.

9And when they forgat the LORD their God, he sold them into the hand of Sisera, captain of the host of Hazor, and into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the king of Moab, and they fought against them.

"But your families forgot God. So he handed them over to their enemies. Sisera, the army leader from Hazor, fought them. The Philistines fought them. The king of Moab fought them too."

10And they cried unto the LORD, and said, We have sinned, because we have forsaken the LORD, and have served Baalim and Ashtaroth: but now deliver us out of the hand of our enemies, and we will serve thee.

"Then they cried out to God. They said, 'We have done wrong. We left you and served Baal and Ashtoreth, gods that are not real. Save us from our enemies, and we will serve you.'"

11And the LORD sent Jerubbaal, and Bedan, and Jephthah, and Samuel, and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on every side, and ye dwelled safe.

"So God sent Jerubbaal, Bedan, Jephthah, and Samuel. God saved you from your enemies all around. You lived in your land safely."

32And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets:

Not written for this reading age yet.

33Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions,

Not written for this reading age yet.

34Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens.

Not written for this reading age yet.