Judges 7
1 And Jerobaal rose early, the same is Gedeon, and all the people with him, and encamped at the fountain of Arad; and the camp of Madiam was to the north of him, [reaching] from Gabaathamorai, in the valley.
And so Jerubbaal, who is also Gideon, rising in the night, and all the people with him, went to the fountain which is called Harod. Now the camp of Midian was in the valley, to the northern region of the high hill.
2 And the Lord said to Gedeon, The people with you [are] many, so that I may not deliver Madiam into their hand, lest at any time Israel boast against me, saying, My hand has saved me.
And the Lord said to Gideon: “The people with you are many, but Midian shall not be delivered into their hands, for then Israel might glory against me, and say, ‘I was freed by my own power.’
3 And now speak in the ears of the people, saying, Who [is] afraid and fearful? let him turn and depart from mount Galaad: and there returned of the people twenty-two thousand, and ten thousand were left.
Speak to the people, and proclaim in the hearing of all, ‘Whoever has dread or fear, let him return.’ And twenty-two thousand of the men from the people withdrew from Mount Gilead and returned, and only ten thousand remained.
4 And the Lord said to Gedeon, The people is yet numerous; bring them down to the water, and I will purge them there for you: and it shall come to pass that of whoever I shall say to you, This one shall go with you, [even] he shall go with you; and of whoever I shall say to you, This one shall not go with you, [even] he shall not go with you.
And the Lord said to Gideon: “The people are still too many. Lead them to the waters, and there I will test them. And those about whom I tell you that he may go with you, let him go; he whom I shall forbid to go, let him return.”
5 And he brought the people down to the water; and the Lord said to Gedeon, Whosoever shall lap of the water with his tongue as if a dog should lap, you shall set him apart, and [also] whoever shall bow down upon his knees to drink.
And when the people had descended to the waters, the Lord said to Gideon: “Whoever will lap the water with the tongue, as dogs usually lap, you shall separate them by themselves. Then those who will drink by bending their knees shall be on the other side.”
6 And the number of those that lapped with their hand to their mouth was three hundred men; and all the rest of the people bowed upon their knees to drink water.
And so the number of those who had lapped the water, by bringing it with the hand to the mouth, was three hundred men. And all the remainder of the multitude drank by bending the knee.
7 And the Lord said to Gedeon, I will save you by the three hundred men that lapped, and I will give Madiam into your hand; and all the [rest of the] people shall go every one to his place.
And the Lord said to Gideon: “By the three hundred men who lapped the water, I will free you, and I will deliver Midian into your hand. But let all the remainder of the multitude return to their place.”
8 And they took the provision of the people in their hand, and their horns; and he sent away every man of Israel each to his tent, and he strengthened the three hundred; and the army of Madiam were beneath him in the valley.
And so, taking food and trumpets in accord with their number, he instructed all the rest of the multitude to go back to their tents. And with the three hundred men, he gave himself to the conflict. Now the camp of Midian was below, in the valley.
9 And it came to pass in that night that the Lord said to him, Arise, go down into the camp, for I have delivered it into your hand.
In the same night, the Lord said to him: “Rise up, and descend into the camp. For I have delivered them into your hand.
10 And if you are afraid to go down, go down you and your servant Phara into the camp.
But if you dread to go alone, let your servant Purah descend with you.
11 And you shall hear what they shall say, and afterwards your hands shall be strong, and you shall go down into the camp: and he went down and Phara his servant to the extremity of the [companies of] fifty, which were in the camp.
And when you will hear what they are saying, then your hands will be strengthened, and you will descend more confidently to the camp of the enemy.” Therefore, he descended with his servant Purah into a portion of the camp, where there was a watch of armed men.
12 And Madiam and Amalec and all the children of the east [were] scattered in the valley, as the locust for multitude; and there was no number to their camels, but they were as the sand on the seashore for multitude.
But Midian, and Amalek, and all the eastern peoples lay spread out in the valley, like a multitude of locusts. Their camels, too, were innumerable, like the sand that lies on the shore of the sea.
13 And Gedeon came, and behold a man [was] relating to his neighbour a dream, and he said, Behold, I have dreamt a dream, and behold, a cake of barley bread rolling into the camp of Madiam, and it came as far as a tent, and struck it, and it fell, and it turned it up, and the tent fell.
And when Gideon had arrived, someone told his neighbor a dream. And he related what he had seen, in this way: “I saw a dream, and it seemed to me as if bread, baked under ashes from rolled barley, descended into the camp of Midian. And whenever it arrived at a tent, it struck it, and overturned it, and utterly leveled it to the ground.”
14 And his neighbour answered and said, This is none other than the sword of Gedeon, son of Joas, a man of Israel: God has delivered Madiam and all the host into his hand.
He to whom he spoke, responded: “This is nothing else but the sword of Gideon, the son of Joash, a man of Israel. For the Lord has delivered Midian into his hands, with their entire camp.”
15 And it came to pass when Gedeon heard the account of the dream and the interpretation of it, that he worshipped the Lord, and returned to the camp of Israel, and said, Rise, for the Lord has delivered the camp of Madiam into our hand.
And when Gideon had heard the dream and its interpretation, he worshipped. And he returned to the camp of Israel, and he said: “Rise up! For the Lord has delivered the camp of Midian into our hands.”
16 And he divided the three hundred men into three companies, and put horns in the hands of all, and empty pitchers, and torches in the pitchers:
And he divided the three hundred men into three parts. And he gave trumpets, and empty pitchers, and lamps for the middle of the pitchers, into their hands.
17 and he said to them, You shall look at me, and so shall you do; and behold, I will go into the beginning of the host, and it shall come to pass [that] as I do, so shall you do.
And he said to them: “What you will see me do, do the same. I will enter a portion of the camp, and what I do, you shall follow.
18 And I will sound with the horn, and all you with me shall sound with the horn round about the whole camp, and you shall say, For the Lord and Gedeon.
When the trumpet in my hand blares out, you also shall sound the trumpets, on every side of the camp, and shout together to the Lord and to Gideon.”
19 And Gedeon and the hundred men that were with him came to the extremity of the army in the beginning of the middle watch; and they completely roused the guards, and sounded with the horns, and they broke the pitchers that were in their hands,
And Gideon, and the three hundred men who were with him, entered a portion of the camp, at the beginning of the watch in the middle of the night. And when the guards were alerted, they began to sound the trumpets and to clap the pitchers against one another.
20 and the three companies sounded with the horns, and broke the pitchers, and held the torches in their left hands, and in their right hands their horns to sound with; and they cried out, A sword for the Lord and for Gedeon.
And when they had sounded their trumpets in three places around the camp, and had broken their water pitchers, they held the lamps in their left hands, and sounded the trumpets in their right hands. And they cried out, “The sword of the Lord and of Gideon!”
21 And [every] man stood in his place round about the host; and all the host ran, and sounded [an alarm], and fled.
And each one was standing in his place throughout the camp of the enemies. And so the entire camp was in confusion; and they fled away, wailing and crying out.
22 And they sounded with the three hundred horns; and the Lord set [every] man's sword in all the host against his neighbour.
And the three hundred men nevertheless continued sounding the trumpets. And the Lord sent the sword into the entire camp, and they maimed and cut down one another,
23 And the host fled as far as Bethseed Tagaragatha Abel-meula to Tabath; and the men of Israel from Nephthali, and from Aser, and from all Manasse, came to help, and followed after Madiam.
fleeing as far as Bethshittah, and the base of Abelmeholah in Tabbath. But the men of Israel pursued Midian, shouting from Naphtali and Asher, and from all of Manasseh.
24 And Gedeon sent messengers into all mount Ephraim, saying, Come down to meet Madiam, and take to yourselves the water as far as Baethera and Jordan: and every man of Ephraim cried out, and they took the water before hand to Baethera and Jordan.
And Gideon sent messengers throughout all of Mount Ephraim, saying, “Descend to meet Midian, and occupy the waters ahead of them as far as Bethbarah and the Jordan.” And all of Ephraim cried out, and they occupied the waters ahead of them, from the Jordan even to Bethbarah.
25 And they took the princess of Madiam, even Oreb and Zeb; and they killed Oreb in Sur Oreb, and they killed Zeb in Jakephzeph; and they pursued Madiam, and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeb to Gedeon from beyond Jordan.
And having apprehended two men of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb, they put Oreb to death at the Rock of Oreb, and truly, Zeeb, at the Winepress of Zeeb. And they pursued Midian, carrying the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon, across the waters of the Jordan.
