Judges 7
1 And Jerubba‘al (he [is] Gideon) rises early, and all the people who [are] with him, and they encamp by the well of Harod, and the camp of Midian has been on the south of him, on the height of Moreh, in the valley.
Jerub-baal (Gideon) and those who were with him got up early and went and camped by the Harod spring. The Midianite camp was to the north in the valley near the Moreh hill.
2 And YHWH says to Gideon, “The people who [are] with you [are] too many for My giving Midian into their hand, lest Israel beautify itself against Me, saying, My hand has given salvation to me;
The Lord told Gideon, “There are too many soldiers with you for me to hand over the Midianites to them, otherwise Israel will brag to me, saying, ‘I saved myself by my own strength.’
3 and now, please call in the ears of the people, saying, Whoever [is] afraid and trembling, let him turn back and go early from Mount Gilead”; and there return twenty-two thousand of the people, and ten thousand have been left.
So tell the soldiers, ‘Anyone who is worried or afraid can leave Mount Gilead and go back home.’” Twenty-two thousand of them went back home, but ten thousand stayed.
4 And YHWH says to Gideon, “The people [are] yet too many; bring them down to the water, and I refine him for you there; and it has been, he of whom I say to you, This goes with you—he goes with you; and any of whom I say to you, This does not go with you—he does not go.”
Then the Lord told Gideon, “There are still too many soldiers. Take them down to the water and I will reduce them for you. Whoever I tell you, ‘He shall go with you,’ he shall go. But anyone that I say, ‘He shall not go with you,’ he shall not go.”
5 And he brings the people down to the water, and YHWH says to Gideon, “Everyone who laps of the water with his tongue as the dog laps—you set him apart; also everyone who bows on his knees to drink.”
Gideon took the soldiers down to the water. The Lord told Gideon, “Set to one side those who lap the water with their tongues, like a dog does, and on the other side those who kneel down to drink.”
6 And the number of those lapping with their hand to their mouth is three hundred men, and all the rest of the people have bowed down on their knees to drink water.
Three hundred lapped water from their hands to their mouths. All the rest knelt down to drink the water.
7 And YHWH says to Gideon, “I save you by the three hundred men who are lapping, and have given Midian into your hand, and all the people go, each to his place.”
The Lord told Gideon, “With these three hundred men that lapped I will save you and hand over the Midianites to you. Let all the rest of the soldiers go home.”
8 And the people take the provision in their hand, and their horns, and he has sent every man of Israel away, each to his tents; and he has kept hold on the three hundred men, and the camp of Midian has been by him at the lower part of the valley.
The three hundred took over the supplies and trumpets of the others. Gideon sent all the rest home, but held onto the three hundred men. The Midianite camp was below him in the valley.
9 And it comes to pass, on that night, that YHWH says to him, “Rise, go down into the camp, for I have given it into your hand;
That night the Lord spoke to Gideon, “Get up, go down and attack the camp, for I have handed it over to you.
10 and if you are afraid to go down—go down, you and your young man Phurah, to the camp,
But if you are afraid to go down, go with your servant Purah to the camp.
11 and you have heard what they speak, and afterward your hands are strengthened, and you have gone down against the camp.” And he goes down, he and his young man Phurah, to the extremity of the fifties who [are] in the camp;
You'll hear what they're talking about and then you'll have the courage to attack the camp.” So he took his servant Purah with him and went to the edge of the camp where armed men were on guard.
12 and Midian, and Amalek, and all the sons of the east are lying in the valley, as the locust for multitude, and of their camels there is no number, as sand which [is] on the seashore for multitude.
The Midianites, Amalekites, and all the peoples of the East filled the valley like a swarm of locusts, and as for their camels, they were as uncountable as the sand on the seashore.
13 And Gideon comes in, and behold, a man is recounting a dream to his companion, and says, “Behold, I have dreamed a dream, and behold, a cake of barley-bread is turning itself over into the camp of Midian, and it comes to the tent, and strikes it, and it falls, and turns it upwards, and the tent has fallen.”
Just as Gideon arrived, a man was telling his friend about a dream he'd had. He was saying, “I had this dream. I dreamed I saw a round loaf of barley bread come rolling into the Midianite camp. It hit a tent, knocking it upside-down, flat on the ground!”
14 And his companion answers and says, “This is nothing except the sword of Gideon son of Joash, a man of Israel; God has given Midian and all the camp into his hand.”
“This can only represent the victory by the sword of Gideon, son of Joash, a man of Israel,” his friend answered. “God has handed over to him the Midianites and everyone else camped here.”
15 And it comes to pass, when Gideon hears the narration of the dream and its interpretation, that he bows himself, and turns back to the camp of Israel, and says, “Rise, for YHWH has given the camp of Midian into your hand.”
When Gideon heard the dream and what it meant, he bowed in thanks to God. He went back to the Israelite camp and announced, “On your feet! For the Lord has handed over the Midianite camp to you!”
16 And he divides the three hundred men [into] three detachments, and puts horns into the hand of all of them, and empty pitchers, and lamps within the pitchers.
He divided the three hundred men into three companies. He handed them all trumpets, and empty jars with torches inside them.
17 And he says to them, “Look at me, and thus do; and behold, I am coming into the extremity of the camp—and it has been—as I do so you do;
“Watch me and follow my example,” he told them. “So when I get to the edge of the camp, do exactly what I do.
18 and I have blown with a horn—I and all who [are] with me, and you have blown with horns, even you, around all the camp, and have said, For YHWH and for Gideon!”
Immediately I and those with me blow the trumpets, then you blow your trumpets from all around the camp, and shout, ‘For the Lord and for Gideon!’”
19 And Gideon comes—and the hundred men who [are] with him—into the extremity of the camp, [at] the beginning of the middle watch (they had just posted watchmen), and they blow with horns—also dashing in pieces the pitchers which [are] in their hand;
Gideon and the hundred men who with him arrived at the edge of the camp around midnight, after the guards were changed. They blew their trumpets and smashed the jars they were holding.
20 and the three detachments blow with horns, and break the pitchers, and keep hold with their left hand on the lamps, and with their right hand on the horns to blow, and they cry, “The sword of YHWH and of Gideon!”
All three companies blew their trumpets and smashed their jars. They held the torches in their left hands and the trumpets in their right hands, and they shouted, “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!”
21 And they each stand in his place, around the camp, and all the camp runs, and they shout, and flee;
Each man stood in his place encircling the camp, and all the enemy soldiers ran around shouting—then they fled.
22 and the three hundred blow the horns, and YHWH sets the sword of each against his companion, even through all the camp; and the camp flees to Beth-Shittah, at Zererath, to the border of Abel-Meholah, by Tabbath.
When they blew the three hundred trumpets, the Lord made all the men in the camp attack one other with their swords. The enemy army fled to Beth-shittah near Zererah, all the way to the border of Abel Meholah near Tabbath.
23 And the men of Israel are called from Naphtali, and from Asher, and from all Manasseh, and pursue after Midian.
The Israelite soldiers were summoned from Naphtali, Asher, and all of Manasseh, and they chased after the Midianites.
24 And Gideon has sent messengers into all the hill-country of Ephraim, saying, “Come down to meet Midian, and capture the waters from them as far as Beth-Barah, and the Jordan”; and every man of Ephraim is called, and they capture the waters as far as Beth-Barah, and the Jordan,
Gideon sent messengers through all the hill country of Ephraim saying, “Come and attack the Midianites, and take control of the Jordan fords ahead of them as far as Beth-barah.” So all the men of Ephraim were summoned, and they took control of the Jordan fords as far as Beth-barah.
25 and they capture two of the heads of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb, and slay Oreb at the rock of Oreb, and they have slain Zeeb at the wine-vat of Zeeb, and they pursue into Midian; and they have brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon beyond the Jordan.
They also captured Oreb and Zeeb, two of the Midianite commanders. They killed Oreb at the rock of Oreb, and Zeeb at the winepress of Zeeb. They continued chasing down the Midianites and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb back to Gideon who was on the other side of the Jordan.
