Judges 7

Gideon Reduces the Ranks

1 Jerub-Baal (that is, Gideon) and his ment got up the next morning and camped near the spring of Harod.s The Midianitest were camped north of them near the hill of Moreh in the valley.2 The Lord said to Gideon, “You have too many men for me to hand Midian over to you.t Israel might brag,t ‘Our own strength has delivered us.’t3 Now, announce to the men,t ‘Whoever is shaking with feart may turn around and leave Mount Gilead.’”s Twenty-two thousand ment went home;t ten thousand remained.4 The Lord spoke to Gideon again, “There are still too many men.t Bring them down to the water and I will thin the ranks some more.t When I say, ‘This one should go with you,’ pick him to go;t when I say,t ‘This one should not go with you,’ do not take him.”t5 So he brought the ment down to the water. Then the Lord said to Gideon, “Separate those who lap the water as a dog laps from those who kneel to drink.”t6 Three hundred men lapped;s the rest of the ment kneeled to drink water.7 The Lord said to Gideon, “With the three hundred men who lapped I will deliver the whole armyt and I will hand Midian over to you.t The rest of the men should go home.”t

8 The ment who were chosent took suppliest and their trumpets. Gideont sent all the men of Israel back to their homes;t he kept only three hundred men. Now the Midianitest were camped down belowt in the valley.

Gideon Reassured of Victory

9 That night the Lord said to Gideon,t “Get up! Attackt the camp, for I am handing it over to you.t10 But if you are afraid to attack, go down to the camp with Purah your servant11 and listen to what they are saying. Then you will be bravet and attack the camp.” So he went down with Purah his servant to where the sentries were guarding the camp.t12 Now the Midianites, Amalekites, and the people from the east covered the valley like a swarm of locusts.t Their camels could not be counted; they were as innumerable as the sand on the seashore.13 When Gideon arrived, he heard a man telling another man about a dream he had.t The mant said, “Look! I had a dream. I sawt a stale cake of barley bread rolling into the Midianite camp. It hit a tent so hard it knocked it over and turned it upside down. The tent just collapsed.”t

14 The other man said,t “Without a doubt this symbolizest the sword of Gideon son of Joash, the Israelite. God is handing Midian and all the army over to him.”

Gideon Routs the Enemy

15 When Gideon heard the report of the dream and its interpretation, he praised God.t Then he went back to the Israelite camp and said, “Get up, for the Lord is handing the Midianite army over to you!”16 He divided the three hundred men into three units.t He gave them all trumpets and empty jars with torches inside them.ts17 He said to them, “Watch me and do as I do. Watch closely!t I am going to the edge of the camp. Do as I do!

18 When I and all who are with me blow our trumpets, you also blow your trumpets all around the camp. Then say, ‘For the Lord and for Gideon!’”
19 Gideon took a hundred men to the edge of the campt at the beginning of the middle watch, just after they had changed the guards. They blew their trumpets and broke the jars they were carrying.t20 All three units blew their trumpets and broke their jars. They held the torches in their left hand and the trumpets in their right.t Then they yelled, “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!”21 They stood in ordert all around the camp. The whole army ran away; they shouted as they scrambled away.t22 When the three hundred men blew their trumpets, the Lord caused the Midianites to attack one another with their swordst throughouts the camp. The army fled to Beth Shittah on the way to Zererah. They wentt to the border of Abel Meholah near Tabbath.

23 Israelites from Naphtali, Asher, and Manasseh answered the call and chased the Midianites.t

Gideon Appeases the Ephraimites

24 Now Gideon sent messengers throughout the Ephraimite hill country who announced, “Go down and head off the Midianites.t Take control of the fords of the streamst all the way to Beth Barah and the Jordan River.”t When all the Ephraimites had assembled,t they took control of the fordst all the way to Beth Barah and the Jordan River.

25 They captured the two Midianite generals, Oreb and Zeeb.s They executed Oreb on the rock of Oreb and Zeebt in the winepress of Zeeb. They chased the Midianitest and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon, who was now on the other side of the Jordan River.t

JUDGES 7

1 Early the next morning, Gideon and his army got up and moved their camp to Fear Spring.t The Midianite camp was to the north, in the valley at the foot of Moreh Hill.t
2 The [Lord] said, “Gideon, your army is too big. I can't let you win with this many soldiers. The Israelites would think that they had won the battle all by themselves and that I didn't have anything to do with it.

3 t So call your troops together and tell them that anyone who is really afraid can leave Mount Gileadt and go home.”
Twenty-two thousand men returned home, leaving Gideon with only 10,000 soldiers.

4 “Gideon,” the [Lord] said, “you still have too many soldiers. Take them down to the spring and I'll test them. I'll tell you which ones can go along with you and which ones must go back home.”

5 When Gideon led his army down to the spring, the [Lord] told him, “Watch how each man gets a drink of water. Then divide them into two groups—those who lap the water like a dog and those who kneel down to drink.”
6 Three hundred men scooped up water in their hands and lapped it, and the rest knelt to get a drink.

7 The [Lord] said, “Gideon, your army will be made up of everyone who lapped the water from their hands. Send the others home. I'm going to rescue Israel by helping you and your army of 300 defeat the Midianites.”

8 Then Gideon gave these orders, “You 300 men stay here. The rest of you may go home, but leave your food and trumpets with us.”
Gideon's army camp was on top of a hill overlooking the Midianite camp in the valley.
9 That night, the [Lord] said to Gideon. “Get up! Attack the Midianite camp. I am going to let you defeat them, 10 but if you're still afraid, you and your servant Purah should sneak down to their camp.

11 When you hear what the Midianites are saying, you'll be brave enough to attack.”
Gideon and Purah worked their way to the edge of the enemy camp, where soldiers were on guard duty. 12 The camp was huge. The Midianites, Amalekites, and other eastern nations covered the valley like a swarm of locusts.t And it would be easier to count the grains of sand on a beach than to count their camels.

13 Gideon overheard one enemy guard telling another, “I had a dream about a flatt loaf of barley bread that came tumbling into our camp. It hit the headquarters tent, t and the tent flipped over and fell to the ground.”

14 The other soldier answered, “Your dream must have been about Gideon, the Israelite commander. It means God will let him and his army defeat the Midianite army and everyone else in our camp.”

15 As soon as Gideon heard about the dream and what it meant, he bowed down to praise God. Then he went back to the Israelite camp and shouted, “Let's go! The [Lord] is going to let us defeat the Midianite army.”
16 Gideon divided his little army into three groups of 100 men, and he gave each soldier a trumpet and a large clay jar with a burning torch inside.

17-18 Gideon said, “When we get to the enemy camp, spread out and surround it. Then wait for me to blow a signal on my trumpet. As soon as you hear it, blow your trumpets and shout, ‘Fight for the [Lord]! Fight for Gideon!’ ”
19 Gideon and his group reached the edge of the enemy camp a few hours after dark, just after the new guards had come on duty.t Gideon and his soldiers blew their trumpets and smashed the clay jars that were hiding the torches.

20 The rest of Gideon's soldiers blew the trumpets they were holding in their right hands. Then they smashed the jars and held the burning torches in their left hands. Everyone shouted, “Fight with your swords for the [Lord] and for Gideon!”
21 The enemy soldiers started yelling and tried to run away. Gideon's troops stayed in their positions surrounding the camp

22 and blew their trumpets again. As they did, the [Lord] made the enemy soldiers pull out their swords and start fighting each other.
The enemy army tried to escape from the camp. They ran to Acacia Tree Town, toward Zeredah, t and as far as the edge of the land that belonged to the town of Abel-Meholah near Tabbath.t
23 Gideon sent word for more Israelite soldiers to come from the tribes of Naphtali, Asher, and both halves of Manasseht to help fight the Midianites.

24 He also sent messengers to tell all the men who lived in the hill country of Ephraim, “Come and help us fight the Midianites! Put guards at every spring, stream, and well, as far as Beth-Barah before the Midianites can get to them. And guard the Jordan River.”
Troops from Ephraim did exactly what Gideon had asked,

25 and they even helped chase the Midianites on the east side of the Jordan River. These troops captured Raven and Wolf, t the two Midianite leaders. They killed Raven at a large rock that has come to be known as Raven Rock, and they killed Wolf near a wine-pit that has come to be called Wolf Wine-Pit.t
The men of Ephraim brought the heads of the two Midianite leaders to Gideon.