1. The men of Ephraim said to him, “What is this thing you have done to us, not calling us when you went to fight against the Midianites?” And they quarreled with him severely.
2. And he said to them, “What I have done now in comparison with you? Are not the gleanings of Ephraim better than the grape harvest of Abiezer?
3. God has given into your hand the commanders of Midian, Oreb, and Zeeb. What have I been able to do in comparison with you?” And their anger against him subsided when he said that.
4. Then Gideon came to the Jordan, crossing it with the three hundred men who were with him, weary and pursuing.
5. He said to the men of Succoth, “Please give loaves of bread to the people who are following me, for they are weary, and I am pursuing Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian.”
6. The officials of Succoth said, “Is the hand of Zebah and Zalmunna in your hand now, that we should give bread to your army?”
7. Gideon said, “Well then, when Yahweh gives Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, I will trample your flesh with the thorns and briers of the wilderness.”
8. He went from there to Penuel, and he spoke similarly to them; and the men of Penuel answered him just as the men of Succoth answered.
9. And he said also to the men of Penuel, saying, “When I return safely, I will tear down this tower.”
10. Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor, and their armies with them, about fifteen thousand men remained from the entire army of the people of the east; those that fell in battle were one hundred and twenty thousand swordsmen.
11. And Gideon went up the route of those who dwell in tents on the east of Nobah and Jogbehah, and he attacked the army when it was off its guard.
12. And Zebah and Zalmunna fled, and he pursued them and captured the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and he routed the entire army.