1. Then the men of Ephraim said to him, “What have you done to us by not calling us to go and wage war against Midian?” They argued heatedly with him.
2. He said to them, “What have I done now compared to you? Are not the gleanings of the grapes of Ephraim better than the harvest of Abiezer?
3. It was into your hands that God gave the Midianite commanders, Oreb and Zeeb. What was I able to do compared to you?” When Gideon said this, their anger against him cooled down.
4. Then Gideon came to the Jordan and crossed over, he and the three hundred men who were with him, exhausted but still pursuing.
5. He said to the men of Sukkoth, “Please give some loaves of bread to the people who are following me, for they are exhausted, and I am pursuing Zebah and Zalmunna, kings of Midian.”
6. The officials of Sukkoth said, “Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your hands that we should give bread to your army?”
7. So Gideon said, “Because of this, when the Lord gives Zebah and Zalmunna into my hands, I will tear your bodies with desert thorns and briers.”
8. He went up from there to Peniel and spoke to them in the same way. The men of Peniel answered him just as the men of Sukkoth had.
9. So he also said to the men of Peniel, “When I return safely, I will tear down this tower.”
10. Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor with their armies, about fifteen thousand survivors; they were all who were left of all the army of the Kedemites, for one hundred twenty thousand arms-bearing men had fallen.
11. Gideon went up on the route of the tent dwellers east of Nobah and Jogbehah and attacked the camp while the army was off guard.
12. Zebah and Zalmunna fled, and Gideon chased after them. He captured Zebah and Zalmunna, the two kings of Midian, and the entire army was terrified.
13. Gideon son of Joash returned from battle by the Pass of Heres.