The Ephod and the Snare

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22Then the Israelites said to Gideon, “Rule over us—you and your son and grandson—for you have saved us from the hand of Midian.”

23But Gideon replied, “I will not rule over you, nor will my son. The LORD shall rule over you.”

24Then he added, “Let me make a request of you, that each of you give me an earring from his plunder.” (For the enemies had gold earrings because they were Ishmaelites.)

25“We will give them gladly,” they replied. So they spread out a garment, and each man threw an earring from his plunder onto it.

26The weight of the gold earrings he had requested was 1,700 shekels, in addition to the crescent ornaments, the pendants, the purple garments of the kings of Midian, and the chains from the necks of their camels.

27From all this Gideon made an ephod, which he placed in Ophrah, his hometown. But soon all Israel prostituted themselves by worshiping it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and his household.

28In this way Midian was subdued before the Israelites and did not raise its head again. So the land had rest for forty years in the days of Gideon,

29and he—Jerubbaal son of Joash—returned home and settled down.

30Gideon had seventy sons of his own, since he had many wives.

31His concubine, who dwelt in Shechem, also bore him a son, and he named him Abimelech.

32Later, Gideon son of Joash died at a ripe old age and was buried in the tomb of his father Joash in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

33And as soon as Gideon was dead, the Israelites turned and prostituted themselves with the Baals, and they set up Baal-berith as their god.

34The Israelites failed to remember the LORD their God who had delivered them from the hands of all their enemies on every side.

35They did not show kindness to the house of Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) for all the good things he had done for Israel.

Berean Standard Bible