Judges 7

Gideon's Three Hundred Men

1 Then Jerubbaal, who is Gideon, and all the people that were with him rose up early and pitched camp beside the well of Harod so that the camp of the Midianites was on the north, on the other side of the hill of Moreh, in the valley.

2 And the LORD said unto Gideon, The people that are with thee are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hand lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, My own hand has saved me. 3 Now, therefore, cause it to be proclaimed in the ears of the people, saying, Whoever is fearful and trembling, let him return and depart early from Mount Gilead. And twenty-two thousand of the people returned, and ten thousand remained.

4 And the LORD said unto Gideon, The people are yet too many; bring them down unto the water, and I will try them for thee there; and it shall be that of whom I say unto thee, This one shall go with thee, the same shall go with thee; and of whoever I say unto thee, This one shall not go with thee, the same shall not go. 5 So he brought the people down unto the water, and the LORD said unto Gideon, Every one that laps of the water with his tongue as a dog laps, him shalt thou set by himself; likewise every one that bows down upon his knees to drink. 6 And the number of those that lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, were three hundred men; but all the rest of the people bowed down upon their knees to drink the water. 7 Then the LORD said unto Gideon, With the three hundred men that lapped I will save you and deliver the Midianites into thy hand; and let all the other people go each one to his place. 8 And having taken provision for the people in his hands with their shofarot; he sent all the other Israelites each one to his tent and retained those three hundred men, and the camp of Midian was beneath him in the valley.

9 And it came to pass the same night, that the LORD said unto him, Arise and descend to the camp, for I have delivered it in thy hands. 10 But if thou art afraid to go down, go with Phurah thy servant down to the camp, 11 and thou shalt hear what they say; and then thy hands shall be strengthened, and thou shalt go down to the camp. Then he went down with Phurah his servant unto the outside of the armed men that were in the camp. 12 And Midian and Amalek and all the sons of the east lay along in the valley like locusts in multitude, and their camels were not numbered as the sand by the sea side for multitude. 13 And when Gideon arrived, behold, a man was telling a dream to his fellow, saying, Behold, I dreamed a dream that I saw a cake of barley bread tumbled into the camp of Midian and come unto the tents, and it smote them so that they fell and overturned them, and the tents fell. 14 And his fellow answered and said, This is nothing else but the sword of Gideon, the son of Joash, a man of Israel, for God has delivered the Midianites with all the camp into his hand.

15 And when Gideon heard the telling of the dream and its interpretation, he worshipped; and when he had returned into the camp of Israel, he said, Arise, for the LORD has delivered the camp of Midian into your hands. 16 And dividing the three hundred men into three companies, he put a shofar in each man’s hand with empty pitchers and torches burning within the pitchers. 17 And he said unto them, Look at me and do as I do; and, behold, when I come to the outside of the camp, as I do, so shall ye do. 18 I shall blow the shofar, I and all that are with me, then ye shall blow the shofarot on every side of all the camp, and say, I AM The Hewer! {YHWH-Gideon}

Gideon Defeats Midian

19 So Gideon and the hundred men that were with him came unto the outside of the camp in the beginning of the middle watch when only the guards were awake, and they blew the shofarot and broke the pitchers that were in their hands. 20 And the three companies blew the shofarot; and breaking the pitchers, they held the torches in their left hands and the shofarot in their right hands to blow with; and they cried, The sword of I AM The Hewer! {YHWH-Gideon} 21 And they stood in their places round about the camp; and all the camp was routed, and they fled crying out. 22 But the three hundred blew the shofarot, and the LORD set each man’s sword against his fellow, even throughout all the camp; and the host fled to Bethshittah in Zererath and to the border of Abelmeholah unto Tabbath. 23 And the men of Israel gathered themselves together out of Naphtali and out of Asher and out of all Manasseh and pursued after the Midianites.

24 Gideon also sent messengers throughout all Mount Ephraim, saying, Come down against the Midianites and take before them the waters unto Bethbarah and the Jordan. Then all the men of Ephraim gathered themselves together and took the waters unto Bethbarah and the Jordan. 25 And they took two princes of the Midianites, Oreb and Zeeb; and they slew Oreb upon the rock Oreb, and Zeeb they slew at the winepress of Zeeb; and after they pursued Midian, they brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon on the other side of the Jordan.

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