Judges 88JudgesThe judgesBible in Basic English

Bible in Basic EnglishBerean Standard Bible

1. Gideon Defeats Zebah and Zalmunna

2. 1BBEAnd the men of Ephraim came and said to him, Why did you not send for us when you went to war against Midian? And they said sharp and angry words to him.BSBBSB: Then the men of Ephraim said to Gideon, “Why have you done this to us? Why did you fail to call us when you went to fight against Midian?” And they contended with him violently.
3. 2BBEAnd he said to them, What have I done in comparison with you? Is not that which Ephraim took up after the grape-cutting better than all the grapes which Abiezer got in from the grape-cutting?BSBBSB: But Gideon answered them, “Now what have I accomplished compared to you? Are not the gleanings of Ephraim better than the grape harvest of Abiezer?
4. 3BBEGod has given into your hands the chiefs of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb; what have I been able to do in comparison with you? And when he said this, their feeling about him became kinder.BSBBSB: God has delivered Oreb and Zeeb, the two princes of Midian, into your hand. What was I able to do compared to you?” When he had said this, their anger against him subsided.
5. 4BBEThen Gideon came to Jordan and went over it with his three hundred, overcome with weariness and in need of food.BSBBSB: Then Gideon and his three hundred men came to the Jordan and crossed it, exhausted yet still in pursuit.
6. 5BBEAnd he said to the men of Succoth, Give bread cakes to my people, for they are overcome with weariness, and I am going on after Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian.BSBBSB: So Gideon said to the men of Succoth, “Please give my troops some bread, for they are exhausted, and I am still pursuing Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian.”
7. 6BBEBut the chiefs of Succoth said, Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna even now in your hand that we are to give bread to your army?BSBBSB: But the leaders of Succoth asked, “Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your possession, that we should give bread to your army?”
8. 7BBEThen Gideon said, Because of this, when the Lord has given Zebah and Zalmunna into my hands, I will have you stretched on a bed of thorns of the waste land and on sharp stems, and have you crushed as grain is crushed on a grain-floor.BSBBSB: “Very well,” Gideon replied, “when the LORD has delivered Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, I will tear your flesh with the thorns and briers of the wilderness!”
9. 8BBESo he went up from there to Penuel and made the same request to the men of Penuel; but they gave him the same answer as the men of Succoth had given.BSBBSB: From there he went up to Penuel and asked the same from them, but the men of Penuel gave the same response as the men of Succoth.
10. 9BBESo he said to the men of Penuel, When I come back in peace, I will have this tower broken down.BSBBSB: So Gideon told the men of Penuel, “When I return in triumph, I will tear down this tower!”
11. 10BBENow Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor and their armies with them, about fifteen thousand men, those of all the army of the children of the east who were still living; for a hundred and twenty thousand of their swordsmen had been put to death.BSBBSB: Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor with their army of about fifteen thousand men—all that were left of the armies of the people of the east. A hundred and twenty thousand swordsmen had already fallen.
12. 11BBEAnd Gideon went up by the way used by the people living in tents on the east of Nobah and Jogbehah, and made an attack on the army when they had no thought of danger.BSBBSB: And Gideon went up by way of the caravan route east of Nobah and Jogbehah, and he attacked their army, taking them by surprise.
13. 12BBEAnd Zebah and Zalmunna went in flight; and he went after them, and took the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and put all the army to the curse.BSBBSB: When Zebah and Zalmunna fled, Gideon pursued and captured these two kings of Midian, routing their entire army.
14. 13BBEThen Gideon, the son of Joash, went back from the fight:BSBBSB: After this, Gideon son of Joash returned from the battle along the Ascent of Heres.
15. 14BBEAnd taking prisoner a young man of the people of Succoth, he got from him, in answer to his questions, a list of the chiefs of Succoth and the responsible men, seventy-seven men.BSBBSB: There he captured a young man of Succoth and interrogated him. The young man wrote down for him the names of the seventy-seven leaders and elders of Succoth.
16. 15BBESo he came to the men of Succoth and said, Here are Zebah and Zalmunna, on account of whom you made sport of me, saying, Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna even now in your hand, that we are to give bread to your army who are overcome with weariness?BSBBSB: And Gideon went to the men of Succoth and said, “Here are Zebah and Zalmunna, about whom you taunted me, saying, ‘Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your possession, that we should give bread to your weary men?’”
17. 16BBEThen he took the responsible men of the town and had them crushed on a bed of thorns and sharp stems.BSBBSB: Then he took the elders of the city, and using the thorns and briers of the wilderness, he disciplined the men of Succoth.
18. 17BBEAnd he had the tower of Penuel broken down and the men of the town put to death.BSBBSB: He also pulled down the tower of Penuel and killed the men of the city.
19. 18BBEThen he said to Zebah and Zalmunna, Where are the men whom you put to death at Tabor? And they gave answer, As you are, so were they; every one of them was like a king's son.BSBBSB: Next, Gideon asked Zebah and Zalmunna, “What kind of men did you kill at Tabor?” “Men like you,” they answered, “each one resembling the son of a king.”
20. 19BBEAnd he said, They were my brothers, my mother's sons: by the life of the Lord, if you had kept them safe, I would not put you to death.BSBBSB: “They were my brothers,” Gideon replied, “the sons of my mother! As surely as the LORD lives, if you had let them live, I would not kill you.”
21. 20BBEThen he said to Jether, his oldest son, Up! Put them to death. But the boy did not take out his sword, fearing because he was still a boy.BSBBSB: So he said to Jether, his firstborn, “Get up and kill them.” But the young man did not draw his sword; he was fearful because he was still a youth.
22. 21BBEThen Zebah and Zalmunna said, Up! Put an end to us yourself: for you have a man's strength. Then Gideon got up and put Zebah and Zalmunna to death and took the ornaments which were on their camels' necks.BSBBSB: Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, “Get up and kill us yourself, for as the man is, so is his strength.” So Gideon got up and killed Zebah and Zalmunna, and he took the crescent ornaments from the necks of their camels.

23. Gideon’s Ephod

24. 22BBEThen the men of Israel said to Gideon, Be our ruler, you and your son and your son's son after him; for you have been our saviour from the hands of Midian.BSBBSB: Then the Israelites said to Gideon, “Rule over us—you and your son and grandson—for you have saved us from the hand of Midian.”
25. 23BBEBut Gideon said to them, I will not be a ruler over you, and my son will not be a ruler over you: it is the Lord who will be ruler over you.BSBBSB: But Gideon replied, “I will not rule over you, nor will my son. The LORD shall rule over you.”
26. 24BBEThen Gideon said to them, I have a request to make to you; let every man give me the ear-rings he has taken. (For they had gold ear-rings, because they were Ishmaelites.)BSBBSB: Then he added, “Let me make a request of you, that each of you give me an earring from his plunder.” (For the enemies had gold earrings because they were Ishmaelites.)
27. 25BBEAnd they gave answer, We will gladly give them. So they put down a robe, every man dropping into it the ear-rings he had taken.BSBBSB: “We will give them gladly,” they replied. So they spread out a garment, and each man threw an earring from his plunder onto it.
28. 26BBEThe weight of the gold ear-rings which he got from them was one thousand, seven hundred shekels of gold; in addition to the moon-ornaments and jewels and the purple robes which were on the kings of Midian, and the chains on their camels' necks.BSBBSB: The weight of the gold earrings he had requested was 1,700 shekels, in addition to the crescent ornaments, the pendants, the purple garments of the kings of Midian, and the chains from the necks of their camels.
29. 27BBEAnd Gideon made an ephod from them and put it up in his town Ophrah; and all Israel went after it there and were false to the Lord; and it became a cause of sin to Gideon and his house.BSBBSB: From all this Gideon made an ephod, which he placed in Ophrah, his hometown. But soon all Israel prostituted themselves by worshiping it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and his household.

30. Forty Years of Peace

31. 28BBESo Midian was broken before the children of Israel and the Midianites never got back their strength. And the land had peace for forty years, in the days of Gideon.BSBBSB: In this way Midian was subdued before the Israelites and did not raise its head again. So the land had rest for forty years in the days of Gideon,
32. 29BBEAnd Jerubbaal, the son of Joash, went back to his house and was living there.BSBBSB: and he—Jerubbaal son of Joash—returned home and settled down.
33. 30BBEGideon had seventy sons, the offspring of his body; for he had a number of wives.BSBBSB: Gideon had seventy sons of his own, since he had many wives.
34. 31BBEAnd the servant-wife he had in Shechem had a son by him, to whom he gave the name Abimelech.BSBBSB: His concubine, who dwelt in Shechem, also bore him a son, and he named him Abimelech.

35. Gideon’s Death

36. 32BBEAnd Gideon, the son of Joash, came to his end when he was very old, and his body was put in the resting-place of Joash his father, in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.BSBBSB: Later, Gideon son of Joash died at a ripe old age and was buried in the tomb of his father Joash in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
37. 33BBEAnd after the death of Gideon, the children of Israel again went after the gods of Canaan and were false to the Lord, and made Baal-berith their god.BSBBSB: And as soon as Gideon was dead, the Israelites turned and prostituted themselves with the Baals, and they set up Baal-berith as their god.
38. 34BBEAnd the children of Israel did not keep in their minds the Lord their God, who had been their saviour from all their haters on every side;BSBBSB: The Israelites failed to remember the LORD their God who had delivered them from the hands of all their enemies on every side.
39. 35BBEAnd they were not kind to the house of Jerubbaal, that is, Gideon, in reward for all the good he had done to Israel.BSBBSB: They did not show kindness to the house of Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) for all the good things he had done for Israel.

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