Afterward, the brothers sat down to eat their food. When they looked up, they saw a caravan of Ishmaelite merchants coming from Gilead on their way to Egypt. They had many camels loaded with myrrh, spices, and perfumes.
Babylon will never rise again, nor will she be inhabited for many generations. Bedouins will not even pitch their tents there, and shepherds will refuse to rest their flocks there.
All the flocks of Kedar will be gathered to you, and the rams of Nebaioth will be yours as acceptable sacrifices on my altar, and I will adorn with more glory my glorious temple.
But my tent has been torn down, and all my cords are severed. I’ll never see my children again, for they have left me. There is no one left to stretch out my tent and no one who can hang my curtains.
But Yahweh asks, “What do I see? The army breaking ranks and retreating? Their heroes flee for their lives, beaten, defeated, and terrified, not once looking back.
The people of Damascus are in a panic. They have lost their courage and have turned to run. Anguish and travail have taken hold of them, like a woman in labor.
Look, I will bring terror upon you,” says Lord Yahweh, Commander of Angel Armies. “Terror will come from every side; everyone will run away, and no one will be there to bring them back together.
Even after we came into the province of Macedonia, we found no relief. We were restless and exhausted; troubles met us at every turn. Outwardly I faced conflicts and inwardly emotional turmoil.
The Midianites, the Amalekites, and the desert tribesmen were spread out in the valley like a swarm of locusts. They had as many camels as there were grains of sand on the seashore.
Then Zebah and Zalmunna taunted Gideon, “Come on, kill us yourself. It takes a man to do a man’s job.” So Gideon executed them and plundered the crescent ornaments that hung on the necks of their camels.
Gideon received gold earrings that weighed seventeen hundred shekels, not including the crescent ornaments, necklaces, and fine purple robes of the kings of Midian, nor the ornamental collars taken from the necks of their camels.