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¹ THEN Nedo-baal, who is Gideon, and all the people who were with him, rose up early, and encamped beside the spring of Hadar; and the camp of Midian was north of the hill of Gibath, in the valley.

² And the LORD said to Gideon, The people that are with you are too many for me to deliver the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel should glory in themselves, saying, My own hand has made me victorious.

³ Now therefore proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, Whoever is fearful and trembling, let him stay behind and return from mount Gilead. And there returned of the people twenty-two thousand; and there remained ten thousand.

⁴ And the LORD said to Gideon, The people are still too many; bring them down to the water, and I will try them for you there; and it shall be that he of whom I say to you, This one shall go with you, the same shall go with you; and of whomsoever I say to you, This one shall not go with you, the same shall not go.

⁵ So he brought down the people to the water; and the LORD said to Gideon, All who lap of the water with their tongues, as a dog laps, you shall make them stand together; likewise all who kneel down upon their knees to drink, you shall make them stand together.

⁶ And the number of those that lapped, putting the hand to the mouth, was three hundred men; but all the rest of the people knelt down upon their knees to drink water.

⁷ And the LORD said to Gideon, By the three hundred men that lapped I will save you and deliver the Midianites into your hands; and let all the other people go, every man to his place.

⁸ So the people took their provisions in their hands and their trumpets; and he dismissed all the children of Israel every man to his possession and to his tent, and he relied upon 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 to him, Arise, go down to the camp, for I have delivered it into your hands.

¹⁰ But if you fear to go down, go down with Pera your servant to the army camp;

¹¹ And you shall hear what they say; and afterwards your hands shall be strengthened. So he went down with Pera his servant to a detachment of the armed men that were in the army camp.

¹² And the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the Rakimites lay along the valley like locusts in multitude; and their camels were without number, as the sand by the seashore in multitude.

¹³ And when Gideon was come, behold, a man was relating a dream to his fellow, and he said to him, Behold, I dreamed a dream, and, lo, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the camp of Midian, and came as far as a tent, and struck it on the top, and the tent fell down.

¹⁴ And his fellow answered and said, This is nothing else but the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, the mighty man of Israel; for into his hand has God delivered the camp of Midian.

¹⁵ Now when Gideon heard the telling of the dream and its interpretation, he worshipped and returned to the camp of Israel, and said, Arise, for the LORD has delivered the camp of Midian into your hands.

¹⁶ And he divided the three hundred men into three companies, and he put a trumpet in every mans hand, with empty pitchers, and torches inside the pitchers.

¹⁷ And he said to them, Watch me and do as I do; and, behold, when I come to the outside of the camp, as I do, so shall you do.

¹⁸ When I blow a trumpet, I and all the people who are with me, then you blow with trumpets also on every side of the camp, and say, The sword of the LORD, and of Gideon.

¹⁹ So Gideon and the hundred men that were with him, came to the outside of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch; and they had but newly set the watch; and they blew the trumpets, and broke the pitchers.

²⁰ And the three companies blew their trumpets, and broke the pitchers, and held the torches in their left hands, and the trumpets in their right hands; and they cried, The sword of the LORD, and of Gideon.

²¹ And they stood every man in his place round about the camp; and all the host ran, and they blew a trumpet, and fled.

²² And when the three hundred blew the trumpets, the LORD set every mans sword against his fellow, even throughout all the army; and the whole army fled as far as Beth-shabtey and Zeddath, and as far as the border of Abel-meholah, which is by Jatbath.

²³ And the men of Israel gathered themselves together from Naphtali and from Asher and from all Manasseh, and pursued the Midianites.

²⁴ And Gideon sent messengers throughout all mount Ephraim, saying, Come down against the Midianites and seize the waters as far as Beth-barah, which is by the Jordan. Then all the men of Ephraim gathered themselves together and seized the waters as far as Beth-barah by the Jordan.

²⁵ And they captured two princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb; and they slew Oreb at Tyre, and Zeeb they slew at Beth-kabrab; and they pursued Midian, and they brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon on the other side of the Jordan.