6. The officials of Sukkoth said, “Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your hands that we should give bread to your army?”
7. So Gideon said, “Because of this, when the Lord gives Zebah and Zalmunna into my hands, I will tear your bodies with desert thorns and briers.”
8. He went up from there to Peniel and spoke to them in the same way. The men of Peniel answered him just as the men of Sukkoth had.
9. So he also said to the men of Peniel, “When I return safely, I will tear down this tower.”
10. Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor with their armies, about fifteen thousand survivors; they were all who were left of all the army of the Kedemites, for one hundred twenty thousand arms-bearing men had fallen.
11. Gideon went up on the route of the tent dwellers east of Nobah and Jogbehah and attacked the camp while the army was off guard.
12. Zebah and Zalmunna fled, and Gideon chased after them. He captured Zebah and Zalmunna, the two kings of Midian, and the entire army was terrified.
13. Gideon son of Joash returned from battle by the Pass of Heres.
14. He captured a young man from among the men of Sukkoth and asked him to write the names of the leaders and elders of Sukkoth, seventy-seven men.
15. Then he came to the men of Sukkoth and said, “Here are Zebah and Zalmunna, about whom you taunted me. You said, ‘Have you subjugated Zebah and Zalmunna that we should give bread to your weary army?’ ”
16. He took the city elders and disciplined the men of Sukkoth with thorns and briers of the wilderness.
17. He tore down the tower of Peniel and killed the men of the city.
18. Then he said to Zebah and Zalmunna, “What kind of men did you kill at Tabor?”They said, “They were like you. Each one looked like the son of a king.”
19. He said, “They were my brothers, the sons of my mother. As the Lord lives, if you had allowed them to live, I would not kill you.”
20. Gideon said to his firstborn Jether, “Rise and kill them!” Yet the young man did not draw his sword because he was afraid, for he was still a young man.
21. Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, “You get up and attack us, for a man is judged by his strength.” So Gideon got up and killed Zebah and Zalmunna and took the crescent-shaped ornaments that were on the necks of their camels.
22. Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, “Rule over us, you, and your son, and your grandson, for you have saved us from the hands of Midian.”
23. Gideon said to them, “I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you. The Lord will rule over you.”