Judges 7–8

Gideon’s Three Hundred Men

7Then ^aJerubbaal (that is, Gideon) and all the people who were with him rose early and encamped beside ^bthe spring of Harod. And the camp of Midian was north of them, ^cby the hill of Moreh, in the valley.

²The Lord said to Gideon, “The people with you are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hand, ^dlest Israel boast over me, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.’ ³Now therefore proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, ^e‘Whoever is fearful and trembling, let him return home and hurry away from Mount Gilead.’ ” Then 22,000 of the people returned, and 10,000 remained.

⁴And the Lord said to Gideon, “The people are still too many. Take them down to the water, and I will test them for you there, and anyone of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall go with you,’ shall go with you, and anyone of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ shall not go.” ⁵So he brought the people down to the water. And the Lord said to Gideon, “Every one who laps the water with his tongue, as a dog laps, you shall set by himself. Likewise, every one who kneels down to drink.” ⁶And the number of those who lapped, putting their hands to their mouths, was 300 men, but all the rest of the people knelt down to drink water. ⁷And the Lord said to Gideon, ^f“With the 300 men who lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hand, and let all the others go every man to his home.” ⁸So the people took provisions in their hands, and their trumpets. And he sent all the rest of Israel every man to his tent, but retained the 300 men. And the camp of Midian was below him ^gin the valley.

⁹That same ^hnight the Lord said to him, “Arise, go down against the camp, ⁱfor I have given it into your hand. ¹⁰But if you are afraid to go down, go down to the camp with Purah your servant. ^11jAnd you shall hear what they say, and afterward your hands shall be strengthened to go down against the camp.” ^kThen he went down with Purah his servant to the outposts of the armed men who were in the camp. ¹²And the Midianites and the Amalekites and ^lall the people of the East lay along the valley like locusts in abundance, and their camels were without number, ^mas the sand that is on the seashore in abundance. ¹³When Gideon came, behold, a man was telling a dream to his comrade. And he said, “Behold, I dreamed a dream, and behold, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the camp of Midian and came to the tent and struck it so that it fell and turned it upside down, so that the tent lay flat.” ¹⁴And his comrade answered, “This is no other than the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel; God has given into his hand Midian and all the camp.”

¹⁵As soon as Gideon heard the telling of the dream and its interpretation, he worshiped. And he returned to the camp of Israel and said, “Arise, for the Lord has given the host of Midian into your hand.” ¹⁶And he divided the 300 men into three companies and put trumpets into the hands of all of them and empty jars, with ⁿtorches inside the jars. ¹⁷And he said to them, “Look at me, and do likewise. When I come to the outskirts of the camp, do as I do. ¹⁸When I blow the trumpet, I and all who are with me, then blow the trumpets also on every side of all the camp and shout, ^o‘For the Lord and for Gideon.’ ”

Gideon Defeats Midian

¹⁹So 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 set the watch. And they blew the trumpets and smashed the jars that were in their hands. ²⁰Then the three companies blew the trumpets and broke the jars. They held in their left hands the torches, and in their right hands the trumpets to blow. ^oAnd they cried out, “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!” ²¹Every man stood in his place around the camp, ^pand all the army ran. They cried out and fled. ^22qWhen they blew the 300 trumpets, ^rthe Lord set ^severy man’s sword against his comrade and against all the army. And the army fled as far as Beth-shittah toward Zererah,¹ as far as the border of Abel-meholah, by Tabbath. ²³And the men of Israel were called out from Naphtali and from Asher and from all Manasseh, and they pursued after Midian.

^24tGideon sent messengers throughout ^uall the hill country of Ephraim, saying, “Come down against the Midianites and capture the waters against them, as far as ^vBeth-barah, and also the Jordan.” So all the men of Ephraim were called out, and they captured the waters as far as Beth-barah, and also the Jordan. ²⁵And they captured ^wthe two princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb. They killed Oreb ^xat the rock of Oreb, and Zeeb they killed at the winepress of Zeeb. Then they pursued Midian, and they brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon ^yacross the Jordan.

Gideon Defeats Zebah and Zalmunna

8^zThen the men of Ephraim said to him, “What is this that you have done to us, not to call us when you went to fight against Midian?” And they accused him fiercely. ²And he said to them, “What have I done now in comparison with you? Is not ^athe gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the grape harvest of Abiezer? ^3bGod has given into your hands the princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb. What have I been able to do in comparison with you?” ^cThen their anger¹ against him subsided when he said this.

⁴And Gideon came to the Jordan and crossed over, he and ^dthe 300 men who were with him, exhausted yet pursuing. ⁵So he said to the men of ^eSuccoth, “Please give loaves of bread to the people who follow me, for they are exhausted, and I am pursuing after Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian.” ⁶And the officials of Succoth said, ^f“Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your hand, ^gthat we should give bread to your army?” ⁷So Gideon said, “Well then, when the Lord has given Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, ^hI will flail your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness and with briers.” ⁸And from there he went up to ⁱPenuel, and spoke to them in the same way, and the men of Penuel answered him as the men of Succoth had answered. ⁹And he said to the men of Penuel, ^j“When I come again in peace, ^kI will break down this tower.”

¹⁰Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor with their army, about 15,000 men, all who were left of all the army of ^lthe people of the East, for there had fallen 120,000 men ^mwho drew the sword. ¹¹And Gideon went up by the way of the tent dwellers east of ⁿNobah and Jogbehah and attacked the army, for the army felt ^osecure. ¹²And Zebah and Zalmunna fled, and he pursued them ^pand captured the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and he threw all the army into a panic.

¹³Then Gideon the son of Joash returned from the battle by the ascent of Heres. ¹⁴And he captured a young man of Succoth and questioned him. And he wrote down for him the officials and elders of Succoth, seventy-seven men. ¹⁵And he came to the men of Succoth and said, “Behold Zebah and Zalmunna, about whom you taunted me, saying, ^q‘Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your hand, that we should give bread to your men who are exhausted?’ ” ¹⁶And he took the elders of the city, and he took thorns of the wilderness and briers and with them taught the men of Succoth a lesson. ^17rAnd he broke down the tower of Penuel and killed the men of the city.

¹⁸Then he said to Zebah and Zalmunna, “Where are the men whom you killed at ^sTabor?” They answered, “As you are, so were they. Every one of them resembled the son of a king.” ¹⁹And he said, “They were my brothers, the sons of my mother. ^tAs the Lord lives, if you had saved them alive, I would not kill you.” ²⁰So he said to Jether his firstborn, “Rise and kill them!” But the young man did not draw his sword, for he was afraid, because he was still a young man. ²¹Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, “Rise yourself and fall upon us, for as the man is, so is his strength.” And Gideon arose and ^ukilled Zebah and Zalmunna, and he took ^vthe crescent ornaments that were on the necks of their camels.

Gideon’s Ephod

²²Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, “Rule over us, you and your son and your grandson also, for you have saved us from the hand of Midian.” ²³Gideon said to them, “I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you; ^wthe Lord will rule over you.” ²⁴And Gideon said to them, “Let me make a request of you: every one of you give me the earrings from his spoil.” (For they had golden earrings, ^xbecause they were Ishmaelites.) ²⁵And they answered, “We will willingly give them.” And they spread a cloak, and every man threw in it the earrings of his spoil. ²⁶And the weight of the golden earrings that he requested was 1,700 shekels² of gold, besides ^ythe crescent ornaments and ^zthe pendants and the purple garments worn by the kings of Midian, and besides the collars that were around the necks of their camels. ²⁷And Gideon ^amade an ephod of it and put it in his city, ^bin Ophrah. And all Israel ^cwhored after it there, and it became a ^dsnare to Gideon and to his family. ²⁸So Midian was subdued before the people of Israel, and they raised their heads no more. ^eAnd the land had rest for forty years in the days of Gideon.

The Death of Gideon

^29fJerubbaal the son of Joash went and lived in his own house. ³⁰Now Gideon had ^gseventy sons, his own offspring,³ for he had many wives. ³¹And his concubine ^hwho was in Shechem also bore him a son, and he called his name Abimelech. ³²And Gideon the son of Joash died ⁱin a good old age and was buried in the tomb of Joash his father, ^jat Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

^33kAs soon as Gideon died, the people of Israel turned again and ^lwhored after the Baals and made ^mBaal-berith their god. ³⁴And the people of Israel ⁿdid not remember the Lord their God, who had delivered them from the hand of all their enemies on every side, ^35oand they did not show steadfast love to the family of Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) in return for all the good that he had done to Israel.