So they turned and departed, and put the little ones and the cattle and the carriage before them. And Samson said unto them, Though ye have done this, yet will I be avenged of you, and after that I will cease. And the five men that went to spy out the land went up, and came in thither, and took the graven image, and the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image: and the priest stood in the entering of the gate with the six hundred men that were appointed with weapons of war. Then said he unto Zebah and Zalmunna, What manner of men were they whom ye slew at Tabor? And they answered, As thou art, so were they; each one resembled the children of a king. And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars upon which the house stood, and on which it was borne up, of the one with his right hand, and of the other with his left. And Gideon went up by the way of them that dwelt in tents on the east of Nobah and Jogbehah, and smote the host; for the host was secure.
And the LORD said unto him, Surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man. And he came unto the men of Succoth, and said, Behold Zebah and Zalmunna, with whom ye did upbraid me, saying, Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in thine hand, that we should give bread unto thy men that are weary? And he took the elders of the city, and thorns of the wilderness and briers, and with them he taught the men of Succoth. But the Spirit of the LORD came upon Gideon, and he blew a trumpet; and Abiezer was gathered after him. For the people were numbered, and, behold, there were none of the inhabitants of Jabeshgilead there.
And when he shewed them the entrance into the city, they smote the city with the edge of the sword; but they let go the man and all his family. And now art thou any thing better than Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab? did he ever strive against Israel, or did he ever fight against them, While Israel dwelt in Heshbon and her towns, and in Aroer and her towns, and in all the cities that be along by the coasts of Arnon, three hundred years? why therefore did ye not recover them within that time? Wherefore I have not sinned against thee, but thou doest me wrong to war against me: the LORD the Judge be judge this day between the children of Israel and the children of Ammon. So they turned and departed, and put the little ones and the cattle and the carriage before them.
Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah, and he passed over Gilead, and Manasseh, and passed over Mizpeh of Gilead, and from Mizpeh of Gilead he passed over unto the children of Ammon. And when the man rose up to depart, his father in law urged him: therefore he lodged there again. And he said unto his servant, Come, and let us draw near to one of these places to lodge all night, in Gibeah, or in Ramah.