Judges 8 Parallel Bible Translations

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1 And the men of Ephraim say to him, “What [is] this thing you have done to us—not to call for us when you went to fight with Midian?” And they strive with him severely; Then the men of Ephraim said to him, “What is this that you have done to us, not to call us when you went to fight against Midian?” And they accused him fiercely. Now the Ephraimites asked Gideon, “Why have you treated us like this? Why didn’t you call us when you went to fight Midian?” And they challenged him vigorously.
2 and he says to them, “What have I now done like you? Are the gleanings of Ephraim not better than the harvest of Abi-Ezer? And he said to them, “What have I done now in comparison with you? Is not the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the grape harvest of Abiezer? But he answered them, “What have I accomplished compared to you? Aren’t the gleanings of Ephraim’s grapes better than the full grape harvest of Abiezer?
3 God has given the heads of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb, into your hand; and what have I been able to do like you?” Then their temper desisted from off him in his speaking this thing. God has given into your hands the princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb. What have I been able to do in comparison with you?” Then their anger against him subsided when he said this. God gave Oreb and Zeeb, the Midianite leaders, into your hands. What was I able to do compared to you?” At this, their resentment against him subsided.
4 And Gideon comes to the Jordan, passing over, he and the three hundred men who [are] with him—wearied, yet pursuing— And Gideon came to the Jordan and crossed over, he and the 300 men who were with him, exhausted yet pursuing. Gideon and his three hundred men, exhausted yet keeping up the pursuit, came to the Jordan and crossed it.
5 and he says to the men of Succoth, “Please give 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.” So he said to the men of Succoth, “Please give loaves of bread to the people who follow me, for they are exhausted, and I am pursuing after Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian.” He said to the men of Sukkoth, “Give my troops some bread; they are worn out, and I am still pursuing Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian.”
6 And the heads of Succoth say, “Is the hand of Zebah and Zalmunna now in your hand, that we give bread to your host?” And the officials of Succoth said, “Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your hand, that we should give bread to your army?” But the officials of Sukkoth said, “Do you already have the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna in your possession? Why should we give bread to your troops?”
7 And Gideon says, “Therefore—in YHWH’s giving Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand—I have threshed your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness, and with the threshing instruments.” So Gideon said, “Well then, when the LORD has given Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, I will flail your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness and with briers.” Then Gideon replied, “Just for that, when the LORD has given Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, I will tear your flesh with desert thorns and briers.”
8 And he goes up there [to] Penuel, and speaks to them thus; and the men of Penuel answer him as the men of Succoth answered. And from there he went up to Penuel, and spoke to them in the same way, and the men of Penuel answered him as the men of Succoth had answered. From there he went up to Peniel and made the same request of them, but they answered as the men of Sukkoth had.
9 And he also speaks to the men of Penuel, saying, “In my turning back in peace, I break down this tower.” And he said to the men of Penuel, “When I come again in peace, I will break down this tower.” So he said to the men of Peniel, “When I return in triumph, I will tear down this tower.”
10 And Zebah and Zalmunna [are] in Karkor, and their camps with them, about fifteen thousand, all who are left of all the camp of the sons of the east; and those falling [are] one hundred and twenty thousand men, drawing sword. Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor with their army, about 15,000 men, all who were left of all the army of the people of the East, for there had fallen 120,000 men who drew the sword. Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor with a force of about fifteen thousand men, all that were left of the armies of the eastern peoples; a hundred and twenty thousand swordsmen had fallen.
11 And Gideon goes up the way of those who dwell in tents, on the east of Nobah and Jogbehah, and strikes the camp, and the camp was confident; And Gideon went up by the way of the tent dwellers east of Nobah and Jogbehah and attacked the army, for the army felt secure. Gideon went up by the route of the nomads east of Nobah and Jogbehah and attacked the unsuspecting army.
12 and Zebab and Zalmunna flee, and he pursues after them, and captures the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and he has caused all the camp to tremble. And Zebah and Zalmunna fled, and he pursued them and captured the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and he threw all the army into a panic. Zebah and Zalmunna, the two kings of Midian, fled, but he pursued them and captured them, routing their entire army.
13 And Gideon son of Joash turns back from the battle, at the going up of the sun, Then Gideon the son of Joash returned from the battle by the ascent of Heres. Gideon son of Joash then returned from the battle by the Pass of Heres.
14 and captures a young man of the men of Succoth, and asks him, and he describes to him the heads of Succoth, and its elderly—seventy-seven men. And he captured a young man of Succoth and questioned him. And he wrote down for him the officials and elders of Succoth, seventy-seven men. He caught a young man of Sukkoth and questioned him, and the young man wrote down for him the names of the seventy-seven officials of Sukkoth, the elders of the town.
15 And he comes to the men of Succoth and says, “Behold Zebah and Zalmunna, with whom you reproached me, saying, Is the hand of Zebah and Zalmunna now in your hand that we give bread to your men who [are] wearied?” And he came to the men of Succoth and said, “Behold Zebah and Zalmunna, about whom you taunted me, saying, ‘Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your hand, that we should give bread to your men who are exhausted?’” Then Gideon came and said to the men of Sukkoth, “Here are Zebah and Zalmunna, about whom you taunted me by saying, ‘Do you already have the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna in your possession? Why should we give bread to your exhausted men?’”
16 And he takes the elderly of the city, and [the] thorns of the wilderness, and the threshing instruments, and teaches the men of Succoth by them, And he took the elders of the city, and he took thorns of the wilderness and briers and with them taught the men of Succoth a lesson. He took the elders of the town and taught the men of Sukkoth a lesson by punishing them with desert thorns and briers.
17 and he has broken down the Tower of Penuel, and slays the men of the city. And he broke down the tower of Penuel and killed the men of the city. He also pulled down the tower of Peniel and killed the men of the town.
18 And he says to Zebah and to Zalmunna, “What manner of men [were they] whom you slew in Tabor?” And they say, “As you—so they, [each] one as the form of the king’s sons.” Then he said to Zebah and Zalmunna, “Where are the men whom you killed at Tabor?” They answered, “As you are, so were they. Every one of them resembled the son of a king.” Then he asked Zebah and Zalmunna, “What kind of men did you kill at Tabor?” “Men like you,” they answered, “each one with the bearing of a prince.”
19 And he says, “They [were] my brothers—sons of my mother; YHWH lives, if you had kept them alive—I would not kill you.” And he said, “They were my brothers, the sons of my mother. As the LORD lives, if you had saved them alive, I would not kill you.” Gideon replied, “Those were my brothers, the sons of my own mother. As surely as the LORD lives, if you had spared their lives, I would not kill you.”
20 And he says to his firstborn Jether, “Rise, slay them”; and the young man has not drawn his sword, for he has been afraid, for he [is] yet a youth. So he said to Jether his firstborn, “Rise and kill them!” But the young man did not draw his sword, for he was afraid, because he was still a young man. Turning to Jether, his oldest son, he said, “Kill them!” But Jether did not draw his sword, because he was only a boy and was afraid.
21 And Zebah and Zalmunna say, “Rise and fall on us; for as the man—his might”; and Gideon rises, and slays Zebah and Zalmunna, and takes the crescents which [are] on the necks of their camels. Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, “Rise yourself and fall upon us, for as the man is, so is his strength.” And Gideon arose and killed Zebah and Zalmunna, and he took the crescent ornaments that were on the necks of their camels. Zebah and Zalmunna said, “Come, do it yourself. ‘As is the man, so is his strength.’” So Gideon stepped forward and killed them, and took the ornaments off their camels’ necks.
22 And the men of Israel say to Gideon, “Rule over us, both you, and your son, and your son’s son, for you have saved us from the hand of Midian.” Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, “Rule over us, you and your son and your grandson also, for you have saved us from the hand of Midian.” The Israelites said to Gideon, “Rule over us—you, your son and your grandson—because you have saved us from the hand of Midian.”
23 And Gideon says to them, “I do not rule over you, nor does my son rule over you; YHWH rules over you.” Gideon said to them, “I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you; the LORD will rule over you.” But Gideon told them, “I will not rule over you, nor will my son rule over you. The LORD will rule over you.”
24 And Gideon says to them, “Let me ask a petition of you, and each give to me the ring of his prey, for they have rings of gold, for they [are] Ishmaelites.” And Gideon said to them, “Let me make a request of you: every one of you give me the earrings from his spoil.” (For they had golden earrings, because they were Ishmaelites.) And he said, “I do have one request, that each of you give me an earring from your share of the plunder.” (It was the custom of the Ishmaelites to wear gold earrings.)
25 And they say, “We certainly give”; and they spread out the garment, and each casts the ring of his prey there; And they answered, “We will willingly give them.” And they spread a cloak, and every man threw in it the earrings of his spoil. They answered, “We’ll be glad to give them.” So they spread out a garment, and each of them threw a ring from his plunder onto it.
26 and the weight of the rings of gold which he asked for is one thousand and seven hundred [shekels] of gold, apart from the crescents, and the pendants, and the purple garments, which [are] on the kings of Midian, and apart from the chains which [are] on the necks of their camels, And the weight of the golden earrings that he requested was 1,700 shekels of gold, besides the crescent ornaments and the pendants and the purple garments worn by the kings of Midian, and besides the collars that were around the necks of their camels. The weight of the gold rings he asked for came to seventeen hundred shekels, not counting the ornaments, the pendants and the purple garments worn by the kings of Midian or the chains that were on their camels’ necks.
27 and Gideon makes it into an ephod, and sets it up in his city, in Ophrah, and all Israel go whoring after it there, and it is for a snare to Gideon and to his house. And Gideon made an ephod of it and put it in his city, in Ophrah. And all Israel whored after it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and to his family. Gideon made the gold into an ephod, which he placed in Ophrah, his town. All Israel prostituted themselves by worshiping it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and his family.
28 And Midian is humbled before the sons of Israel, and have not added to lift up their head; and the land rests [for] forty years in the days of Gideon. So Midian was subdued before the people of Israel, and they raised their heads no more. And the land had rest forty years in the days of Gideon. Thus Midian was subdued before the Israelites and did not raise its head again. During Gideon’s lifetime, the land had peace forty years.
29 And Jerubba‘al son of Joash goes and dwells in his own house, Jerubbaal the son of Joash went and lived in his own house. Jerub-Baal son of Joash went back home to live.
30 and there have been seventy sons of Gideon, coming out of his loin, for he had many wives; Now Gideon had seventy sons, his own offspring, for he had many wives. He had seventy sons of his own, for he had many wives.
31 and his concubine, who [is] in Shechem, has borne to him—even she—a son, and he appoints his name Abimelech. And his concubine who was in Shechem also bore him a son, and he called his name Abimelech. His concubine, who lived in Shechem, also bore him a son, whom he named Abimelek.
32 And Gideon son of Joash dies, in a good old age, and is buried in the burying-place of his father Joash, in Ophrah of the Abi-Ezrite. And Gideon the son of Joash died in a good old age and was buried in the tomb of Joash his father, at Ophrah of the Abiezrites. Gideon son of Joash died at a good old age and was buried in the tomb of his father Joash in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
33 And it comes to pass, when Gideon [is] dead, that the sons of Israel turn back and go whoring after the Ba‘alim, and set Ba‘al-Berith over them for a god; As soon as Gideon died, the people of Israel turned again and whored after the Baals and made Baal-berith their god. No sooner had Gideon died than the Israelites again prostituted themselves to the Baals. They set up Baal-Berith as their god
34 and the sons of Israel have not remembered their God YHWH, who is delivering them out of the hand of all their surrounding enemies, And the people of Israel did not remember the LORD their God, who had delivered them from the hand of all their enemies on every side, and did not remember the LORD their God, who had rescued them from the hands of all their enemies on every side.
35 neither have they done kindness with the house of Jerubba‘al—Gideon—according to all the good which he did with Israel. and they did not show steadfast love to the family of Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) in return for all the good that he had done to Israel. They also failed to show any loyalty to the family of Jerub-Baal (that is, Gideon) in spite of all the good things he had done for them.
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