16. Gideon took the elders of the city of Succoth and beat them with thorns and briers from the desert.
17. Gideon also pulled down the tower in the city of Penuel and killed the men living in that city.
18. Then Gideon said to Zebah and Zalmunna, “You killed some men on Mount Tabor. What were the men like?” Zebah and Zalmunna answered, “They were like you. Each one of them seemed like a prince.”
19. Gideon said, “Those men were my brothers, my mother’s sons! As the Lord lives, if you had not killed them, I would not kill you now.”
20. Then Gideon turned to Jether, his oldest son, and said, “Kill these kings.” But Jether was only a boy and was afraid, so he would not take out his sword.
21. Then Zebah and Zalmunna said to Gideon, “Come on, kill us yourself. You are a man and strong enough to do the job.” So Gideon got up and killed Zebah and Zalmunna. Then Gideon took the decorations shaped like the moon off their camels’ necks.
22. The Israelites said to Gideon, “You saved us from the Midianites. So now rule over us. We want you, your son, and your grandson to rule over us.”
23. But Gideon told the Israelites, “The Lord will be your ruler. I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you.”
24. Some of the people who the men of Israel defeated were Ishmaelites. And the Ishmaelite men wore gold earrings. So Gideon said to the Israelites, “I want you to do this one thing for me. I want each of you to give me a gold earring from the things you took in the battle.”
25. The Israelites said to Gideon, “We will gladly give you what you want.” So they put a coat down on the ground, and each man threw an earring onto the coat.
26. When the earrings were gathered up, they weighed about 43 pounds. This did not include the other gifts the Israelites gave to Gideon. They also gave him jewelry shaped like the moon and jewelry shaped like teardrops. And they gave him purple robes. The kings of the Midianites had worn these things. They also gave him the chains from the camels of the Midianite kings.
27. Gideon used the gold to make an ephod, which he put in his hometown, the town called Ophrah. All the Israelites worshiped the ephod. In this way the Israelites were not faithful to God—they worshiped the ephod. The ephod became a trap that caused Gideon and his family to sin.
28. The Midianites were forced to be under the rule of the Israelites. The Midianites did not cause trouble anymore. And the land was at peace for 40 years, as long as Gideon was alive.
29. Gideon son of Joash went home.
30. Gideon had 70 sons of his own. He had so many sons because he had many wives.
31. He had a slave woman who lived in the city of Shechem. He had a son by her. He named that son Abimelech.