Judges 7

¹Then Jerubbaʹal (that is, Gideon) and all the people who were with him rose early and encamped beside the spring of Harod; and the camp of Midʹian was north of them, by the hill of Moreh, in the valley.

²The Lord said to Gideon, “The people with you are too many for me to give the Midʹianites into their hand, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, ‘My own hand has delivered me.’ ³Now therefore proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, ‘Whoever is fearful and trembling, let him return home.’ ” And Gideon tested them; twenty-two thousand returned, and ten thousand remained.

⁴And the Lord said to Gideon, “The people are still too many; take them down to the water and I will test them for you there; and he of whom I say to you, ‘This man shall go with you,’ shall go with you; and any of whom I say to you, ‘This man shall not go with you,’ shall not go.” ⁵So he brought the people down to the water; and the Lord said to Gideon, “Every one that laps the water with his tongue, as a dog laps, you shall set by himself; likewise every one that kneels down to drink.” ⁶And the number of those that lapped, putting their hands to their mouths, was three hundred men; but all the rest of the people knelt down to drink water. ⁷And the Lord said to Gideon, “With the three hundred men that lapped I will deliver you, and give the Midʹianites into your hand; and let all the others go every man to his home.” ⁸So he took the jars of the people from their hands, and their trumpets; and he sent all the rest of Israel every man to his tent, but retained the three hundred men; and the camp of Midʹian was below him in the valley.

⁹That same night the Lord said to him, “Arise, go down against the camp; for I have given it into your hand. ¹⁰But if you fear to go down, go down to the camp with Purah your servant; ¹¹and you shall hear what they say, and afterward your hands shall be strengthened to go down against the camp.” Then he went down with Purah his servant to the outposts of the armed men that were in the camp. ¹²And the Midʹianites and the Amalʹekites and all the people of the East lay along the valley like locusts for multitude; and their camels were without number, as the sand which is upon the seashore for multitude. ¹³When Gideon came, behold, a man was telling a dream to his comrade; and he said, “Behold, I dreamed a dream; and lo, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the camp of Midʹian, and came to the tent, and struck it so that it fell, and turned it upside down, so that the tent lay flat.” ¹⁴And his comrade answered, “This is no other than the sword of Gideon the son of Joʹash, a man of Israel; into his hand God has given Midʹian and all the host.”

¹⁵When Gideon heard the telling of the dream and its interpretation, he worshiped; and he returned to the camp of Israel, and said, “Arise; for the Lord has given the host of Midʹian into your hand.” ¹⁶And he divided the three hundred men into three companies, and put trumpets into the hands of all of them and empty jars, with torches inside the jars. ¹⁷And he said to them, “Look at me, and do likewise; when I come to the outskirts of the camp, do as I do. ¹⁸When I blow the trumpet, I and all who are with me, then blow the trumpets also on every side of all the camp, and shout, ‘For the Lord and for Gideon.’ ”

¹⁹So Gideon and the hundred men who were with him came to the outskirts of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, when they had just set the watch; and they blew the trumpets and smashed the jars that were in their hands. ²⁰And the three companies blew the trumpets and broke the jars, holding in their left hands the torches, and in their right hands the trumpets to blow; and they cried, “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!” ²¹They stood every man in his place round about the camp, and all the army ran; they cried out and fled. ²²When they blew the three hundred trumpets, the Lord set every man’s sword against his fellow and against all the army; and the army fled as far as Beth-shitʹtah toward Zerʹerah, as far as the border of Aʹbel-mehoʹlah, by Tabbath. ²³And the men of Israel were called out from Naphʹtali and from Asher and from all Manasʹseh, and they pursued after Midʹian.

²⁴And Gideon sent messengers throughout all the hill country of Eʹphraim, saying, “Come down against the Midʹianites and seize the waters against them, as far as Beth-barʹah, and also the Jordan.” So all the men of Eʹphraim were called out, and they seized the waters as far as Beth-barʹah, and also the Jordan. ²⁵And they took the two princes of Midʹian, Oreb and Zeeb; they killed Oreb at the rock of Oreb, and Zeeb they killed at the wine press of Zeeb, as they pursued Midʹian; and they brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon beyond the Jordan.