A reading from the book of judges.

Then the men of Ephraim said to him,

What is this that you have done to us?

Not to call us when you went to fight against Midian.

And they accused him fiercely.

And he said to them,

What have I done now in comparison with you?

Is not the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the grape harvest

of Abiazer? God is given into your hands the princes of Midian, Orib and Zeab. What have I been

able to do in comparison with you? Then their anger against him subsided when he said this.

And Gideon came to the Jordan and crossed over he and the

three hundred men who were with him, exhausted yet pursuing. So he said to the men of Sukkoth,

please give loaves of bread to the people who follow me, for they are exhausted, and I am pursuing after Ziba and Zalmuna,

the kings of Midian. And the officials of Sukhoth said,

Are the hands of Ziba and Zalmuna already in your hand, that we should give bread to your army?

So Gideon said, Well then, when the Lord has given Zeba and Zalmuna into my hand,

I will flail your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness and with briars.

And from there he went up to Penu-Ail and spoke to them in the same way,

and the men of Pen-Awale answered him as the men of Sukoth had answered.

And he said to the men of Penuel,

When I come again in peace, I will break down this tower.

Now Ziba and Zalmuna were in Carcourt with their army, about 15,000 men,

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