1 Men of Ephraim were mad at Gideon. They said, “Why did you not call us to fight?” ️ 2 Gideon said, “You did big work. What I did was small. Your part was better.” 3 Gideon said, “God let you catch Oreb and Zeeb. That was big!” Then they were not mad. ️ 4 Gideon and 300 men crossed the river. They were tired and hungry, but they kept going. ♂️ 5 Gideon asked the town Succoth, “Please give bread. We chase the bad kings, Zebah and Zalmunna.” 6 Leaders of Succoth said, “Do you have the kings yet? No. We will not give bread.” 7 Gideon said, “When God lets me catch them, I will come back. I will hit you with sharp thorns.” ⚠️ 8 Gideon went to Penuel and asked the same. They said no too. ️ 9 Gideon said to Penuel, “I will come back safe. I will break your big tower.” 10 Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor with 15,000 men left. Many had died before. ️⚔️ 11 Gideon took a side road by tents. The camp felt safe. He hit the camp. ️⛺⚔️ 12 The two kings ran. Gideon ran after them. He caught them. The army ran away. ♂️ 13 Gideon came back from the fight by a hill called Heres, before the sun was up. ️ 14 He caught a young man from Succoth. The boy told the names of 77 leaders. ✍️ 15 Gideon went to Succoth and said, “Here are the kings you asked about. You did not give bread to my tired men.” 16 He took the leaders. He used sharp thorns. He hit them to teach them. ⚠️ 17 He broke the tower in Penuel. He killed the men there. ⚔️ 18 Gideon asked the kings, “Who were the men you killed at Tabor?” They said, “They looked like you. Like sons of a king.” ❓ 19 Gideon said, “They were my brothers. If you let them live, I would not kill you.” 20 Gideon told his first son, Jether, “Get up. Kill them.” But the boy was afraid and did not use the sword. ️ 21 The kings said, “You do it.” Gideon killed them. He took the gold from the camels’ necks. ➡️️ 22 The people of Israel said, “Be our ruler. You, your son, and his son. You saved us from Midian.” 23 Gideon said, “No. I will not rule. My son will not rule. God will rule you.” ✋ 24 Gideon said, “Please give me the gold rings you took.” The enemies had gold rings. 25 They said, “We will give.” They put a cloth down. Each one put gold rings on it. 26 The gold was very, very much. There were rings, pretty things, purple cloth, and camel chains too. ⚖️ 27 Gideon made a special vest called an ephod. He put it in his town, Ophrah. The people went to it like it was a god. This made big trouble for Gideon and his home. 28 Midian lost. Israel was safe. The land was quiet for 40 years in Gideon’s time. ️4️⃣0️⃣ 29 Gideon, also named Jerubbaal, went home and lived there. 30 Gideon had 70 sons. He had many wives. 31 A woman in Shechem also had a son by him. His name was Abimelech. 32 Gideon grew old and died. He was put in his father’s tomb in Ophrah. ️⚰️ 33 After Gideon died, Israel forgot God. They went to Baal. They made Baal-berith their god. 34 Israel did not remember God. God had saved them from all their enemies. ❌ 35 They were not kind to Gideon’s family. He had done much good for Israel.