Chapter 5

The Song of Deborah and Barak

1 aThen Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam sang on that day, saying,

2 “aThat 1the leaders led in Israel,

That bthe people volunteered,

Bless the Lord!

3 “Hear, O kings; give ear, O rulers!

aI—to the Lord, I will sing,

I will sing praise to the Lord, the God of Israel.

4 “aLord, when You went out from Seir,

When You marched from the field of Edom,

bThe earth quaked, the heavens also dripped,

Even the clouds dripped water.

5 “aThe mountains 1quaked at the presence of the Lord,

bThis Sinai, at the presence of the Lord, the God of Israel.

6 “In the days of aShamgar the son of Anath,

In the days of bJael, the highways 1were deserted,

And travelers 2went by 3roundabout ways.

7 “The peasantry ceased, they ceased in Israel,

Until I, Deborah, arose,

Until I arose, a mother in Israel.

8 “aNew gods were chosen;

Then war was in the gates.

Not a shield or a spear was seen

Among forty thousand in Israel.

9 “My heart goes out to athe commanders of Israel,

The volunteers among the people;

Bless the Lord!

10 “aYou who ride on 1white donkeys,

You who sit on rich carpets,

And you who travel on the road—2sing!

11 “At the sound of those who divide flocks among athe watering places,

There they shall recount bthe righteous deeds of the Lord,

The righteous deeds for His 1peasantry in Israel.

Then the people of the Lord went down cto the gates.

12 “aAwake, awake, Deborah;

Awake, awake, 1sing a song!

Arise, Barak, and btake away your captives, O son of Abinoam.

13 “Then survivors came down to the nobles;

The people of the Lord came down to me as warriors.

14 “From Ephraim those whose root is ain Amalek came down,

Following you, Benjamin, with your peoples;

From Machir commanders came down,

And from Zebulun those who wield the staff of 1office.

15 “And the 1princes of Issachar were with Deborah;

As was Issachar, so was Barak;

Into the valley they rushed aat his 2heels;

Among the divisions of Reuben

There were great resolves of heart.

16 “Why did you sit among athe 1sheepfolds,

To hear the piping for the flocks?

Among the divisions of Reuben

There were great searchings of heart.

17 “aGilead 1remained across the Jordan;

And why did Dan stay in ships?

Asher sat at the seashore,

And 1remained by its landings.

18 “aZebulun was a people who despised their lives even to death,

And Naphtali also, on the high places of the field.

19 “aThe kings came and fought;

Then fought the kings of Canaan

bAt Taanach near the waters of Megiddo;

cThey took no plunder in silver.

20 “aThe stars fought from heaven,

From their courses they fought against Sisera.

21 “The torrent of Kishon swept them away,

The ancient torrent, the torrent Kishon.

aO my soul, march on with strength.

22 “aThen the horses’ hoofs beat

From the dashing, the dashing of his 1valiant steeds.

23 ‘Curse Meroz,’ said the angel of the Lord,

‘Utterly curse its inhabitants;

aBecause they did not come to the help of the Lord,

To the help of the Lord against the warriors.’

24 “aMost blessed of women is Jael,

The wife of Heber the Kenite;

Most blessed is she of women in the tent.

25 “He asked for water and she gave him milk;

In a magnificent bowl she brought him curds.

26 “She reached out her hand for the tent peg,

And her right hand for the workmen’s hammer.

Then she struck Sisera, she smashed his head;

And she shattered and pierced his temple.

27 “Between her feet he bowed, he fell, he lay;

Between her feet he bowed, he fell;

Where he bowed, there he fell 1dead.

28 “Out of the window she looked and lamented,

The mother of Sisera through the 1lattice,

‘Why does his chariot delay in coming?

Why do the 2hoofbeats of his chariots tarry?’

29 “Her wise princesses would answer her,

Indeed she repeats her words to herself,

30 ‘aAre they not finding, are they not dividing the spoil?

A maiden, two maidens for every warrior;

To Sisera a spoil of dyed work,

A spoil of dyed work embroidered,

Dyed work of double embroidery on the 1neck of the spoiler?’

31 “aThus let all Your enemies perish, O Lord;

bBut let those who love Him be like the rising of the sun in its might.”

And the land was undisturbed for forty years.

Chapter 6

Israel Oppressed by Midian

1 Then the sons of Israel adid what was evil in the sight of the Lord; and the Lord gave them into the hands of bMidian seven years.

2 The 1power of Midian prevailed against Israel. Because of Midian the sons of Israel made for themselves athe dens which were in the mountains and the caves and the strongholds.

3 For it was when Israel had sown, that the Midianites would come up with the Amalekites and the sons of the east and 1go against them.

4 So they would camp against them and adestroy the produce of the earth 1as far as Gaza, and bleave no sustenance in Israel as well as no sheep, ox, or donkey.

5 For they would come up with their livestock and their tents, they would come in alike locusts for number, both they and their camels were innumerable; and they came into the land to devastate it.

6 So Israel was brought avery low because of Midian, and the sons of Israel cried to the Lord.

7 Now it came about when the sons of Israel cried to the Lord on account of Midian,

8 that the Lord sent a prophet to the sons of Israel, and ahe said to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘It was I who brought you up from Egypt and brought you out from the house of 1slavery.

9 ‘I delivered you from the hands of the Egyptians and from the hands of all your oppressors, and dispossessed them before you and gave you their land,

10 and I said to you, “I am the Lord your God; you ashall not fear the gods of the Amorites in whose land you live. But you have not 1obeyed Me.” ’ ”

Gideon Is Visited

11 Then athe angel of the Lord came and sat under the 1oak that was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the bAbiezrite as his son cGideon was beating out wheat in the wine press in order to save it from the Midianites.

12 The angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, “The Lord is with you, O valiant warrior.”

13 Then Gideon said to him, “O my lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ But anow the Lord has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.”

14 The Lord 1looked at him and said, “aGo in this your strength and deliver Israel from the hand of Midian. Have I not sent you?”

15 aHe said to Him, “O Lord, 1how shall I deliver Israel? Behold, my family is the least in bManasseh, and I am the youngest in my father’s house.”

16 aBut the Lord said to him, “Surely I will be with you, and you shall 1defeat Midian as one man.”

17 So 1Gideon said to Him, “If now I have found favor in Your sight, then show me aa sign that it is You who speak with me.

18 “Please do not depart from here, until I come back to You, and bring out my offering and lay it before You.” And He said, “I will remain until you return.”

19 Then Gideon went in and aprepared a young goat and unleavened bread from an 1ephah of flour; he put the meat in a basket 2and the broth in a pot, and brought them out to him under the 3oak and presented them.

20 The angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened bread and lay them on this rock, and pour out the broth.” And he did so.

21 Then the angel of the Lord put out the end of the staff that was in his hand and touched the meat and the unleavened bread; and afire sprang up from the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened bread. Then the angel of the Lord 1vanished from his sight.

22 aWhen Gideon saw that he was the angel of the Lord, 1he said, “Alas, O Lord 2God! For now I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face.”

23 The Lord said to him, “Peace to you, do not fear; you shall not die.”

24 Then Gideon built an altar there to the Lord and named it 1The Lord is Peace. To this day it is still ain Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

25 Now on the same night the Lord said to him, “Take your father’s bull 1and a second bull seven years old, and pull down the altar of Baal which belongs to your father, and cut down the 2aAsherah that is beside it;

26 and build an altar to the Lord your God on the top of this stronghold in an orderly manner, and take a second bull and offer a burnt offering with the wood of the Asherah which you shall cut down.”

27 Then Gideon took ten men of his servants and did as the Lord had spoken to him; and because he was too afraid of his father’s household and the men of the city to do it by day, he did it by night.

The Altar of Baal Destroyed

28 When the men of the city arose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was torn down, and the Asherah which was beside it was cut down, and the second bull was offered on the altar which had been built.

29 They said to one another, “Who did this thing?” And when they searched about and inquired, they said, “Gideon the son of Joash did this thing.”

30 Then the men of the city said to Joash, “Bring out your son, that he may die, for he has torn down the altar of Baal, and indeed, he has cut down the Asherah which was beside it.”

31 But Joash said to all who stood against him, “Will you contend for Baal, or will you deliver him? Whoever will 1plead for him shall be put to death by morning. If he is a god, let him contend for himself, because someone has torn down his altar.”

32 Therefore on that day he named him aJerubbaal, that is to say, “Let Baal contend against him,” because he had torn down his altar.

33 Then all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the sons of the east assembled themselves; and they crossed over and camped in athe valley of Jezreel.

34 So athe Spirit of the Lord 1came upon Gideon; and he bblew a trumpet, and the Abiezrites were called together to follow him.

35 He sent messengers throughout Manasseh, and they also were called together to follow him; and he sent messengers to Asher, aZebulun, and Naphtali, and bthey came up to meet them.

Sign of the Fleece

36 Then Gideon said to God, “aIf You will deliver Israel 1through me, as You have spoken,

37 behold, I will put a fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If there is dew on the fleece only, and it is dry on all the ground, then I will know that You will deliver Israel 1through me, as You have spoken.”

38 And it was so. When he arose early the next morning and squeezed the fleece, he drained the dew from the fleece, a bowl full of water.

39 Then Gideon said to God, “aDo not let Your anger burn against me that I may speak once more; please let me make a test once more with the fleece, let it now be dry only on the fleece, and let there be dew on all the ground.”

40 God did so that night; for it was dry only on the fleece, and dew was on all the ground.

Chapter 7

Gideon’s 300 Chosen Men

1 Then aJerubbaal (that is, Gideon) and all the people who were with him, rose early and camped beside 1the spring of Harod; and the camp of Midian was on the north side of 2them by the hill of bMoreh in the valley.

2 The Lord said to Gideon, “The people who are with you are too many for Me to give Midian into their hands, afor Israel 1would become boastful, saying, ‘My own 2power has delivered me.’

3 “Now therefore 1come, proclaim in the hearing of the people, saying, ‘aWhoever is afraid and trembling, let him return and depart from Mount Gilead.’ ” So 22,000 people returned, but 10,000 remained.

4 aThen the Lord said to Gideon, “The people are still too many; bring them down to the water and I will test them for you there. Therefore it shall be that he of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall go with you,’ he shall go with you; but everyone of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ he shall not go.”

5 So he brought the people down to the water. And the Lord said to Gideon, “You shall separate everyone who laps the water with his tongue as a dog laps, as well as everyone who kneels to drink.”

6 Now the number of those who lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, was 300 men; but all the rest of the people kneeled to drink water.

7 The Lord said to Gideon, “I will deliver you awith the 300 men who lapped and will give the Midianites into your hands; so let all the other people go, each man to his 1home.”

8 So 1the 300 men took the people’s provisions and their trumpets into their hands. And 2Gideon sent all the other men of Israel, each to his tent, but retained the 300 men; and the camp of Midian was below him in the valley.

9 Now the same night it came about that the Lord said to him, “Arise, go down against the camp, afor I have given it into your hands.

10 “But if you are afraid to go down, go with Purah your servant down to the camp,

11 and you will hear what they say; and aafterward your hands will be strengthened that you may go down against the camp.” So he went with Purah his servant down to the 1outposts of the army that was in the camp.

12 Now the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the sons of the east were lying in the valley aas numerous as locusts; and their camels were without number, bas numerous as the sand on the seashore.

13 When Gideon came, behold, a man was relating a dream to his friend. And he said, “Behold, I 1had a dream; 2a loaf of barley bread was tumbling into the camp of Midian, and it came to the tent and struck it so that it fell, and turned it 3upside down so that the tent lay flat.”

14 His friend replied, “This is nothing less than the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel; God has given Midian and all the camp ainto his hand.”

15 When Gideon heard the account of the dream and its interpretation, he bowed in worship. He returned to the camp of Israel and said, “Arise, for the Lord has given the camp of Midian into your hands.”

16 He divided the 300 men into three 1companies, and he put trumpets and empty pitchers into the hands of all of them, with torches inside the pitchers.

17 He said to them, “Look at me and do likewise. And behold, when I come to the outskirts of the camp, 1do as I do.

18 “When I and all who are with me blow the trumpet, then you also blow the trumpets all around the camp and say, ‘For the Lord and for Gideon.’ ”

Confusion of the Enemy

19 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 posted the watch; and they blew the trumpets and smashed the pitchers that were in their hands.

20 When the three 1companies blew the trumpets and broke the pitchers, they held the torches in their left hands and the trumpets in their right hands for blowing, and cried, “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!”

21 Each stood in his place around the camp; and aall the 1army ran, crying out as they fled.

22 When they blew 300 trumpets, the aLord set the sword of one against another even throughout the whole 1army; and the 1army fled as far as Beth-shittah toward Zererah, as far as the edge of bAbel-meholah, by Tabbath.

23 The men of Israel were summoned from aNaphtali and Asher and all Manasseh, and they pursued Midian.

24 Gideon sent messengers throughout all the hill country of Ephraim, saying, “Come down 1against Midian and atake the waters before them, as far as Beth-barah and the Jordan.” So all the men of Ephraim were summoned and they took the waters as far as Beth-barah and the Jordan.

25 They captured the two leaders of Midian, aOreb and Zeeb, and they killed Oreb at the rock of Oreb, and they killed Zeeb at the wine press of Zeeb, while they pursued Midian; and they brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon bfrom across the Jordan.