JudgesChapter 7

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¹Early in the morning, Jerubbaal (which is Gideon) and all his men set up camp by the spring of Harod. The camp of Midian was north of them, in the valley near the hill of Moreh. ²Then the LORD said to Gideon, "You have too many men for me to hand Midian over to them. If I did, Israel might brag against me and say, 'We saved ourselves by our own strength.' ³So now, announce this so the men can hear: 'Anyone who is afraid and shaking may turn back and leave Mount Gilead.'" So twenty-two thousand of them went back home. But ten thousand stayed. ⁴Then the LORD said to Gideon, "There are still too many men. Take them down to the water. I will sort them out for you there. If I tell you, 'This one will go with you,' he will go. But if I say, 'This one will not go with you,' he will not go." ⁵So Gideon took the men down to the water. The LORD said to him, "Some will lap up the water with their tongues, like a dog. Put them in one group. Put those who kneel down to drink in another group." ⁶Three hundred men lapped the water from their hands to their mouths. All the others knelt down to drink. ⁷Then the LORD said to Gideon, "I will save you with the three hundred men who lapped the water. I will hand the Midianites over to you. Send all the others home." ⁸So Gideon sent the rest of the Israelites to their tents. But he kept the three hundred men. They took over the food and the rams' horns of the others. The camp of Midian was below him in the valley. ⁹That night the LORD said to Gideon, "Get up and go down against the camp, because I have handed it over to you. ¹⁰But if you are afraid to attack, go down to the camp with your servant Purah. ¹¹Listen to what they are saying. Then you will feel brave enough to attack the camp." So Gideon went with his servant Purah to the edge of the camp, where armed men stood guard. ¹²The Midianites, the Amalekites, and all the other people from the east had settled in the valley. They were like a swarm of locusts. Their camels were as many as the grains of sand on the seashore. No one could count them. ¹³Gideon got there just as a man was telling his friend about a dream. "Listen, I had a dream," he said. "I saw a loaf of barley bread come rolling into the Midianite camp. It hit the tent so hard that the tent turned over and fell flat." ¹⁴His friend answered, "This can only be the sword of Gideon son of Joash, the Israelite. God has handed Midian and the whole camp over to him." ¹⁵Gideon heard the dream and what it meant. Then he bowed down and worshiped. He went back to the camp of Israel. He said, "Get up! The LORD has handed the camp of Midian over to you." ¹⁶He split the three hundred men into three groups. He gave each man a ram's horn and a large empty jar. Inside each jar was a torch. ¹⁷"Watch me, and do what I do," Gideon said. "When I get to the edge of the camp, do just what I do. ¹⁸When I and all the men with me blow our horns, then you blow your horns too, from all around the camp. And shout, 'For the LORD and for Gideon!'" ¹⁹Gideon and the hundred men with him reached the edge of the camp. It was the middle of the night. The guards had just changed. Gideon's men blew their horns and broke the jars in their hands.a ²⁰All three groups blew their horns and smashed their jars. They held the torches in their left hands and the horns in their right hands. They shouted, "A sword for the LORD and for Gideon!" ²¹Each Israelite stayed in his place around the camp. And the whole Midianite army ran away, crying out as they ran. ²²The three hundred rams' horns blew. Then the LORD made all the men in the camp turn on each other with their swords. The army ran away to Beth-shittah, toward Zererah. They ran as far as the border of Abel-meholah, near Tabbath. ²³Then the men of Israel were called out from Naphtali, Asher, and all of Manasseh. They chased the Midianites. ²⁴Gideon sent messengers all through the hill country of Ephraim. They said, "Come down and fight the Midianites. Get to the waters of the Jordan before they do. Take control of them as far as Beth-barah." So all the men of Ephraim were called out. They took control of the waters of the Jordan as far as Beth-barah. ²⁵They also captured Oreb and Zeeb, the two princes of Midian. They killed Oreb at the rock of Oreb. They killed Zeeb at the winepress of Zeeb. They kept chasing the Midianites. They brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon, who was across the Jordan.