The Holy Bible. The Bible

Then the men of Israel said unto Gideon, Rule thou over us, both thou, and thy son, and thy son's son also; for thou hast saved us out of the hand of Midian.

      ²³ And Gideon said unto them, I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you: Jehovah shall rule over you.

      ²⁴ And Gideon said unto them, I would make a request of you, that ye would give me every man the ear-rings of his spoil. (For they had golden ear-rings, because they were Ishmaelites.)

      ²⁵ And they answered, We will willingly give them. And they spread a garment, and did cast therein every man the ear-rings of his spoil.

      ²⁶ And the weight of the golden ear-rings that he requested was a thousand and seven hundred [shekels] of gold, besides the crescents, and the pendants, and the purple raiment that was on the kings of Midian, and besides the chains that were about their camels' necks.

      ²⁷ And Gideon made an ephod thereof, and put it in his city, even in Ophrah: and all Israel played the harlot after it there; and it became a snare unto Gideon, and to his house.

      ²⁸ So Midian was subdued before the children of Israel, and they lifted up their heads no more. And the land had rest forty years in the days of Gideon.

      ²⁹ And Jerubbaal the son of Joash went and dwelt in his own house.

      ³⁰ And Gideon had threescore and ten sons of his body begotten; for he had many wives.

      ³¹ And his concubine that was in Shechem, she also bare him a son, and he called his name Abimelech.

      ³² And Gideon the son of Joash died in a good old age, and was buried in the sepulchre of Joash his father, in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

      ³³ And it came to pass, as soon as Gideon was dead, that the children of Israel turned again, and played the harlot after the Baalim, and made Baal-berith their god.

      ³⁴ And the children of Israel remembered not Jehovah their God, who had delivered them out of the hand of all their enemies on every side;

      ³⁵ neither showed they kindness to the house of Jerubbaal, [who is] Gideon, according to all the goodness which he had showed unto Israel.