The LORD spoke to Gideon again,“There are still too many men. Bring them down to the water and I will thin the ranks some more. When I say,‘This one should go with you,’ pick him to go; when I say,‘This one should not go with you,’ do not take him.”
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5So he brought the men 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.”
6Three hundred men lapped with their hands to their mouths; the rest of the men kneeled to drink water.
7The LORD said to Gideon,“With the three hundred men who lapped I will deliver the whole army and I will hand Midian over to you. The rest of the men should go home.”
8The men who were chosen took supplies and their trumpets. Gideon sent all the men of Israel back to their homes; he kept only three hundred men. Now the Midianites were camped down below in the valley.
9Gideon Reassured of Victory That night the LORD said to Gideon,“Get up! Attack the camp, for I am handing it over to you.
10But if you are afraid to attack, go down to the camp with Purah your servant
11and listen to what they are saying. Then you will be brave and attack the camp.” So he went down with Purah his servant to where the sentries were guarding the camp.
12Now the Midianites, Amalekites, and the people from the east covered the valley like a swarm of locusts. Their camels could not be counted; they were as innumerable as the sand on the seashore.
1Gideon Reduces the Ranks Jerub-Baal(that is, Gideon) and his men got up the next morning and camped near the spring of Harod. The Midianites were camped north of them near the hill of Moreh in the valley.
2The LORD said to Gideon,“You have too many men for me to hand Midian over to you. Israel might brag,‘Our own strength has delivered us.’
3Now, announce to the men,‘Whoever is shaking with fear may turn around and leave Mount Gilead.’” Twenty-two thousand men went home; ten thousand remained.
14The other man said,“Without a doubt this symbolizes the sword of Gideon son of Joash, the Israelite. God is handing Midian and all the army over to him.”
15Gideon Routs the Enemy When Gideon heard the report of the dream and its interpretation, he praised God. Then he went back to the Israelite camp and said,“Get up, for the LORD is handing the Midianite army over to you!”
16He divided the three hundred men into three units. He gave them all trumpets and empty jars with torches inside them.
17He said to them,“Watch me and do as I do. Watch closely! I am going to the edge of the camp. Do as I do!
18When 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!’”
19Gideon took a hundred men to the edge of the camp 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.
20All three units blew their trumpets and broke their jars. They held the torches in their left hand and the trumpets in their right. Then they yelled,“A sword for the LORD and for Gideon!”
21They stood in order all around the camp. The whole army ran away; they shouted as they scrambled away.
22When the three hundred men blew their trumpets, the LORD caused the Midianites to attack one another with their swords throughout the camp. The army fled to Beth Shittah on the way to Zererah. They went to the border of Abel Meholah near Tabbath.
23Israelites from Naphtali, Asher, and Manasseh answered the call and chased the Midianites.
24Gideon Appeases the Ephraimites Now Gideon sent messengers throughout the Ephraimite hill country who announced,“Go down and head off the Midianites. Take control of the fords of the streams all the way to Beth Barah and the Jordan River.” When all the Ephraimites had assembled, they took control of the fords all the way to Beth Barah and the Jordan River.
25They captured the two Midianite generals, Oreb and Zeeb. They executed Oreb on the rock of Oreb and Zeeb in the winepress of Zeeb. They chased the Midianites and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon, who was now on the other side of the Jordan River.
11Gideon Meets Some Visitors The LORD’s angel came and sat down under the oak tree in Ophrah owned by Joash the Abiezrite. He arrived while Joash’s son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress so he could hide it from the Midianites.
12The LORD’s angel appeared and said to him,“The LORD is with you, courageous warrior!”
13Gideon said to him,“Pardon me, but if the LORD is with us, why has such disaster overtaken us? Where are all his miraculous deeds our ancestors told us about? They said,‘Did the LORD not bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the LORD has abandoned us and handed us over to Midian.”
14Then the LORD himself turned to him and said,“You have the strength. Deliver Israel from the power of the Midianites! Have I not sent you?”
3It was to you that God handed over the Midianite generals, Oreb and Zeeb! What did I accomplish to rival that?” When he said this, they calmed down.
4Gideon Tracks Down the Midianite Kings Now Gideon and his three hundred men had crossed over the Jordan River, and even though they were exhausted, they were still chasing the Midianites.
33Gideon Summons an Army and Seeks Confirmation All the Midianites, Amalekites, and the people from the east assembled. They crossed the Jordan River and camped in the Jezreel Valley.
34The LORD’s Spirit took control of Gideon. He blew a trumpet, summoning the Abiezrites to follow him.
35He sent messengers throughout Manasseh and summoned them to follow him as well. He also sent messengers throughout Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, and they came up to meet him.
36Gideon said to God,“If you really intend to use me to deliver Israel, as you promised, then give me a sign as proof.
37Look, I am putting a wool fleece on the threshing floor. If there is dew only on the fleece, and the ground around it is dry, then I will be sure that you will use me to deliver Israel, as you promised.”
38The LORD did as he asked. When he got up the next morning, he squeezed the fleece, and enough dew dripped from it to fill a bowl.
39Gideon said to God,“Please do not get angry at me, when I ask for just one more sign. Please allow me one more test with the fleece. This time make only the fleece dry, while the ground around it is covered with dew.”
40That night God did as he asked. Only the fleece was dry and the ground around it was covered with dew.
16The LORD said to him,“Ah, but I will be with you! You will strike down the whole Midianite army.”
27So Gideon took ten of his servants and did just as the LORD had told him. He was too afraid of his father’s family and the men of the city to do it in broad daylight, so he waited until nighttime.
7I will bring Sisera, the general of Jabin’s army, to you at the Kishon River, along with his chariots and huge army. I will hand him over to you.”
22Gideon Rejects a Crown but Makes an Ephod The men of Israel said to Gideon,“Rule over us– you, your son, and your grandson. For you have delivered us from Midian’s power.”
23Gideon said to them,“I will not rule over you, nor will my son rule over you. The LORD will rule over you.”
14In the morning you must approach in tribal order. The tribe the LORD selects must approach by clans. The clan the LORD selects must approach by families. The family the LORD selects must approach man by man.
5The Gileadites captured the fords of the Jordan River opposite Ephraim. Whenever an Ephraimite fugitive said,“Let me cross over,” the men of Gilead asked him,“Are you an Ephraimite?” If he said,“No,”
7But a prophet visited him and said:“O king, the Israelite troops must not go with you, for the LORD is not with Israel or any of the Ephraimites.
7Gideon said,“Since you will not help, after the LORD hands Zebah and Zalmunna over to me, I will thresh your skin with desert thorns and briers.”
20He ordered Jether his firstborn son,“Come on! Kill them!” But Jether was too afraid to draw his sword, because he was still young.
11Gideon went up the road of the nomads east of Nobah and Jogbehah and ambushed the surprised army.
25Gideon Destroys the Altar That night the LORD said to him,“Take the bull from your father’s herd, as well as a second bull, one that is seven years old. Pull down your father’s Baal altar and cut down the nearby Asherah pole.
10We will take ten of every group of a hundred men from all the tribes of Israel(and a hundred of every group of a thousand, and a thousand of every group of ten thousand) to get supplies for the army. When they arrive in Gibeah of Benjamin they will punish them for the atrocity which they committed in Israel.”