1. And the men of Ephraim say unto him, `What [is] this thing thou hast done to us--not to call for us when thou didst go to fight with Midian?' and they strive with him severely;
2. and he saith unto them, `What have I done now like you? are not the gleanings of Ephraim better than the harvest of Abi-Ezer?
3. Into your hand hath God given the heads of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb; and what have I been able to do like you?' Then their temper desisted from off him in his speaking this thing.
4. And Gideon cometh in unto the Jordan, passing over, he and the three hundred men who [are] with him--wearied, and pursuing,
5. and he saith to the men of Succoth, `Give, I pray you, cakes of bread to the people who [are] at my feet, for they [are] wearied, and I am pursuing after Zebah and Zalmunna kings of Midian.'
6. And the heads of Succoth say, `Is the hand of Zebah and Zalmunna now in thy hand, that we give to thy host bread?'
7. And Gideon saith, `Therefore--in Jehovah's giving Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand-- I have threshed your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness, and with the threshing instruments.'
8. And he goeth up thence [to] Penuel, and speaketh unto them thus; and the men of Penuel answer him as the men of Succoth answered.