15. When Gideon came to Succoth, he said to the people of that city, “Here are Zebah and Zalmunna. You made fun of me by saying, ‘Why should we give bread to your tired men? You have not caught Zebah and Zalmunna yet.’ ”
16. So Gideon took the elders of the city and punished them with thorns and briers from the desert.
17. He also pulled down the tower of Peniel and killed the people in that city.
18. Gideon asked Zebah and Zalmunna, “What were the men like that you killed on Mount Tabor?”They answered, “They were like you. Each one of them looked like a prince.”
19. Gideon said, “Those were my brothers, my mother’s sons. As surely as the Lord lives, I would not kill you if you had spared them.”
20. Then Gideon said to Jether, his oldest son, “Kill them.” But Jether was only a boy and was afraid, so he did not take out his sword.
21. Then Zebah and Zalmunna said to Gideon, “Come on. Kill us yourself. As the saying goes, ‘It takes a man to do a man’s job.’ ” So Gideon got up and killed Zebah and Zalmunna and took the decorations off their camels’ necks.
22. The people of Israel said to Gideon, “You saved us from the Midianites. Now, we want you and your son and your grandson to rule over us.”
23. But Gideon told them, “The Lord will be your ruler. I will not rule over you, nor will my son rule over you.”
24. He said, “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 fighting.” (The Ishmaelites wore gold earrings.)
25. They said, “We will gladly give you what you want.” So they spread out a coat, and everyone threw down an earring from what he had taken.
26. The gold earrings weighed about forty-three pounds. This did not count the decorations, necklaces, and purple robes worn by the kings of Midian, nor the chains from the camels’ necks.
27. Gideon used the gold to make a holy vest, which he put in his hometown of Ophrah. But all the Israelites were unfaithful to God and worshiped it, so it became a trap for Gideon and his family.
28. So Midian was under the rule of Israel; they did not cause trouble anymore. And the land had peace for forty years, as long as Gideon was alive.
29. Gideon son of Joash went to his home to live.
30. He had seventy sons of his own, because he had many wives.
31. He had a slave woman who lived in Shechem, and he had a son by her, whom he named Abimelech.