Then Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) and all the people who were with
him rose early and encamped beside the spring of Harod. And the
camp of Midian was north of them, by the hill of Moreh, in the
valley.
The LORD said to Gideon, “The people with you are too many for me
to give the Midianites into their hand, lest Israel boast over me,
saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.’ Now therefore proclaim in the
ears of the people, saying, ‘Whoever is fearful and trembling, let
him return home and hurry away from Mount Gilead.’” Then 22,000 of
the people returned, and 10,000 remained.
And 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
anyone of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall go with you,’ shall go
with you, and anyone of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall not go
with you,’ shall not go.” So he brought the people down to the
water. And the LORD said to Gideon, “Every one who laps the water
with his tongue, as a dog laps, you shall set by himself. Likewise,
every one who kneels down to drink.” And the number of those who
lapped, putting their hands to their mouths, was 300 men, but all
the rest of the people knelt down to drink water. And the LORD said
to Gideon, “With the 300 men who lapped I will save you and give
the Midianites into your hand, and let all the others go every man
to his home.” So the people took provisions in their hands, and
their trumpets. And he sent all the rest of Israel every man to his
tent, but retained the 300 men. And the camp of Midian was below
him in the valley.
That same night the LORD said to him, “Arise, go down against the
camp, for I have given it into your hand. But if you are afraid to
go down, go down to the camp with Purah your servant. And 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 who were in the camp. And
the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the people of the East
lay along the valley like locusts in abundance, and their camels
were without number, as the sand that is on the seashore in
abundance. When Gideon came, behold, a man was telling a dream to
his comrade. And he said, “Behold, I dreamed a dream, and behold, a
cake of barley bread tumbled into the camp of Midian and came to
the tent and struck it so that it fell and turned it upside down,
so that the tent lay flat.” And his comrade answered, “This is no
other than the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel;
God has given into his hand Midian and all the camp.”
As soon as 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 Midian into
your hand.” And he divided the 300 men into three companies and put
trumpets into the hands of all of them and empty jars, with torches
inside the jars. And he said to them, “Look at me, and do likewise.
When I come to the outskirts of the camp, do as I do. When 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.’”
So 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. Then the three companies blew
the trumpets and broke the jars. They held in their left hands the
torches, and in their right hands the trumpets to blow. And they
cried out, “A sword for the LORD and for Gideon!” Every man stood
in his place around the camp, and all the army ran. They cried out
and fled. When they blew the 300 trumpets, the LORD set every man's
sword against his comrade and against all the army. And the army
fled as far as Beth-shittah toward Zererah, as far as the border of
Abel-meholah, by Tabbath. And the men of Israel were called out
from Naphtali and from Asher and from all Manasseh, and they
pursued after Midian.
Gideon sent messengers throughout all the hill country of
Ephraim, saying, “Come down against the Midianites and capture the
waters against them, as far as Beth-barah, and also the Jordan.” So
all the men of Ephraim were called out, and they captured the
waters as far as Beth-barah, and also the Jordan. And they captured
the two princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb. They killed Oreb at the
rock of Oreb, and Zeeb they killed at the winepress of Zeeb. Then
they pursued Midian, and they brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to
Gideon across the Jordan.
