Judges 7
Gideon’s Army of Three Hundred
1Early in the morning Jerubbaala (that is, Gideon) and all the men with him camped beside the spring of Harod. And the camp of Midian was north of them in the valley near the hill of Moreh.
1And Jerubbaal (he is Gideon) rose early, and all the people who were with him, and they encamped beside the well of Harod, so that the camp of the Midianite was on the north side of them by the hill of Moreh in the valley.
2Then the LORD said to Gideon, “You have too many men for Me to deliver Midian into their hands, lest Israel glorify themselves over Me, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.’
2And YHWH said to Gideon, “The people are too many who are with you for My giving the Midianite into their hands, lest Israel glorify itself against Me, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.’
3Now, therefore, proclaim in the hearing of the men: ‘Whoever is fearful and trembling may turn back and leave Mount Gilead.’”
So twenty-two thousand of them turned back, but ten thousand remained.
3And now proclaim, please, in the ears of the people, saying, ‘Who is fearful and afraid, let him turn and depart at once from Mount Gilead.’” And returned of the people twenty-two thousand; and ten thousand remained.
4Then the LORD said to Gideon, “There are still too many men. Take them down to the water, and I will sift them for you there. If I say to you, ‘This one shall go with you,’ he shall go. But if I say, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ he shall not go.”
4And YHWH said to Gideon, “Still the people are too many; bring them down to the water, and I will refine it for you there. And it will be that of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall go with you,’ he shall go with you; and of whomever I say to you, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ he shall not go.”
5So Gideon brought the men down to the water, and the LORD said to him, “Separate those who lap the water with their tongues like a dog from those who kneel to drink.”
5And he brought down the people to the water. And YHWH said to Gideon, “Everyone who laps with his tongue from the water as a dog laps, you shall set apart by himself, and likewise everyone who gets down on his knees to drink.”
7Then the LORD said to Gideon, “With the three hundred men who lapped the water I will save you and deliver the Midianites into your hand. But all the others are to go home.”
7And YHWH said to Gideon, “By the three hundred men who are lapping I will save you and deliver the Midianite into your hand; and let all the people go, every man to his place.”
8So Gideon sent the rest of the Israelites to their tents but kept the three hundred men, who took charge of the provisions and rams’ horns of the others. And the camp of Midian lay below him in the valley.
8And the people took provisions in their hands, and their shofars, and every man of Israel he sent away, every man to his tent, and on the three hundred men he kept hold, and the camp of Midian was below him in the valley.
The Sword of Gideon
11and listen to what they are saying. Then your hands will be strengthened to attack the camp.” So he went with Purah his servant to the outposts where armed men were guarding the camp.
11and you shall hear what they say, and afterward your hand shall be strengthened to go down against the camp.” And he went down, and Purah his young man, to the outpost of the armed men who were in the camp.
12Now the Midianites, Amalekites, and all the other people of the east had settled in the valley like a swarm of locusts, and their camels were as countless as the sand on the seashore.
12And the Midianite and Amalekite and all the sons of the East were lying in the valley as the locust in multitude, and their camels were without number, as the sand by the shore of the sea in multitude.
13And as Gideon arrived, a man was telling his friend about a dream. “Behold, I had a dream,” he said, “and I saw a loaf of barley bread come tumbling into the Midianite camp. It struck the tent so hard that the tent overturned and collapsed.”
13And Gideon had come, and there was a man telling to his companion a dream, and He said, “Behold, I have had a dream. And behold, a loaf of barley bread tumbled into the camp of Midian, and it came to a tent and struck it so that it fell, and it overturned upwards, and the tent collapsed.”
14His friend replied: “This is nothing less than the sword of Gideon son of Joash, the Israelite. God has delivered Midian and the whole camp into his hand.”
14And his companion answered and said, “This is nothing except but the sword of Gideon son of Joash, a man of Israel. God has delivered into his hand Midian and all the camp.”
Gideon Defeats Midian
15When Gideon heard the dream and its interpretation, he bowed in worship. He returned to the camp of Israel and said, “Get up, for the LORD has delivered the camp of Midian into your hand.”
15And it came to pass, when Gideon heard the telling of the dream and its interpretation, that he bowed in worship, and he returned to the camp of Israel and said, “Arise, for YHWH has delivered into your hands the camp of Midian.”
16And he divided the three hundred men into three companies and gave each man a ram’s horn in one hand and a large jar in the other, containing a torch.a
16And he divided the three hundred men into three companies, and he put shofars into the hand of every man, and empty pitchers, and torches in the midst of the pitchers.
18When I and all who are with me blow our horns, then you are also to blow your horns from all around the camp and shout, ‘For the LORD and for Gideon!’”
18And I will blow on the shofar, I and all who are with me, and you shall blow on the shofars—even you—on every side of all the camp; and you shall say, ‘For YHWH and for Gideon.’”
19Gideon and the hundred men with him reached the outskirts of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, just after the changing of the guard. They blew their horns and broke the jars that were in their hands.
19And Gideon came, and the hundred men who were with him, to the outpost of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, just after the complete stationing of the guard. And they blew on the shofars and shattered the pitchers that were in their hands.
20The three companies blew their horns and shattered their jars. Holding the torches in their left hands and the horns in their right hands, they shouted, “A sword for the LORD and for Gideon!”
20And the three companies blew on the shofars and broke the pitchers, and they held in their left hand the torches and in their right hand the shofars for blowing, and they cried out, “A sword for YHWH, and for Gideon.”
22And when the three hundred rams’ horns sounded, the LORD set all the men in the camp against one another with their swords. The army fled to Beth-shittah toward Zereraha as far as the border of Abel-meholah near Tabbath.
22And the three hundred blew the shofars, and YHWH set the sword of every man against his companion and against all the camp, and the camp fled to Beth-shittah toward Zererah, as far as the border of Abel-meholah by Tabbath.
24Gideon sent messengers throughout the hill country of Ephraim to say, “Come down against the Midianites and seize the waters of the Jordan ahead of them as far as Beth-barah.” So all the men of Ephraim were called out, and they captured the waters of the Jordan as far as Beth-barah.
24And Gideon sent messengers throughout all the hill country of Ephraim, saying, “Come down against the Midianite and seize from them the watering places as far as Beth-barah and the Jordan.” And gathered together all the men of Ephraim and seized the watering places as far as Beth-barah and the Jordan.
25They also captured Oreb and Zeeb, the two princes of Midian; and they killed Oreb at the rock of Oreb and Zeeb at the winepress of Zeeb. So they pursued the Midianites and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon on the other side of the Jordan.
25And they captured two princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb; and they killed Oreb at the rock of Oreb, and Zeeb they killed at the winepress of Zeeb. And pursuing the Midianite and the heads of Oreb and Zeeb, they brought them to Gideon on the other side of the Jordan.