Judges 7–8

7Then ^aJerubbaal, who is Gideon, and all the people that were with him, rose up early, and pitched beside ^bthe well of Harod: so that the host of the Midianites were on the north side of them, by the hill of ^cMoreh, ^bin the valley. ²And the Lord said unto Gideon, The people that are with thee are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel ^dvaunt themselves against me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me. ³Now therefore go to, proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, ^eWhosoever is fearful and ^bafraid, let him return and depart early from mount Gilead. And there returned of the people twenty and two thousand; and there remained ten thousand. ⁴And the Lord said unto Gideon, The people are yet too many; bring them down unto the water, and I ^fwill try them for thee there: and it shall be, that of whom I say unto thee, This shall go with thee, the same shall go with thee; and of whomsoever I say unto thee, This shall not go with thee, the same shall not go. ⁵So he brought down the people unto the water: and the Lord said unto Gideon, Every one that lappeth of the water with his tongue, as a dog lappeth, him shalt thou set by himself; likewise every one that boweth down upon his knees to drink. ⁶And the number of them that lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, were three hundred men: but all the rest of the people bowed down upon their knees to drink water. ⁷And the Lord said unto Gideon, ^gBy the three hundred men that lapped will I save you, and deliver the Midianites into thine hand: and let all the other people go every man unto his place. ⁸So the people took victuals in their hand, and their trumpets: and he sent all the rest of Israel every man unto his tent, and retained those three hundred men: and the host of Midian was beneath him ^hin the valley.

⁹And it came to pass the same ⁱnight, that the Lord said unto him, Arise, get thee down unto the host; for ^jI have delivered it into thine hand. ¹⁰But if thou fear to go down, go thou with Phurah thy servant down to the host: ¹¹And thou shalt ^khear what they say; and afterward shall thine hands be strengthened to go down unto the host. Then went he down with Phurah his servant unto the outside of the ^||armed men that were in the host. ¹²And the Midianites and the Amalekites and ^lall the children of the east lay along ^hin the valley ^llike grasshoppers for multitude; and their camels were without number, ^mas the sand by the sea side for multitude. ¹³And when Gideon was come, behold, there was a man that told a dream unto his fellow, and said, Behold, I dreamed a dream, and, lo, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the host of Midian, and came unto a tent, and smote it that it fell, and overturned it, that the tent lay along. ¹⁴And his fellow answered and said, This is nothing else save the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel: for into his hand hath God delivered Midian, and all the host. ¹⁵And it was so, when Gideon heard the telling of the dream, and ^†the interpretation thereof, that he worshipped, and returned into the host of Israel, and said, Arise; for the Lord hath delivered into your hand the host of Midian. ¹⁶And he divided the three hundred men into three companies, and he put ^†a trumpet in every man’s hand, with empty pitchers, and ^||lamps within the pitchers. ¹⁷And he said unto them, Look on me, and do likewise: and, behold, when I come to the outside of the camp, it shall be that, as I do, so shall ye do. ¹⁸When I blow with a trumpet, I and all that are with me, then blow ye the trumpets also on every side of all the camp, and say, ⁿThe sword of the Lord, and of Gideon. ¹⁹So Gideon, and ^othe hundred men that were with him, came unto the outside of the camp in the beginning of the middle watch; and they had but newly set the watch: and they blew the trumpets, and brake the pitchers that were in their hands. ²⁰And the three companies blew the trumpets, and brake the pitchers, and held the lamps in their left hands, and the trumpets in their right hands to blow withal: and they cried, The sword of the Lord, and of Gideon. ²¹And they ^pstood every man ^qin his place round about the camp: and ^rall the host ran, and cried, and fled. ²²And the three hundred ^sblew the trumpets, and ^tthe Lord set ^uevery man’s sword against his fellow, even throughout all the host: and the host fled to Beth-shittah ^||in ^wZererath, and to the ^†border of ^xAbel-meholah, unto Tabbath. ²³And the men of Israel ^ygathered themselves together ^zout of Naphtali, and out of Asher, and out of all Manasseh, and pursued after the Midianites.

²⁴And Gideon sent messengers throughout all ^amount Ephraim, saying, Come down against the Midianites, and take before them the waters unto Beth-barah and Jordan. Then all the men of Ephraim ^ygathered themselves together, and ^btook the waters unto ^cBeth-barah and Jordan. ²⁵And they took ^dtwo princes of the Midianites, Oreb and Zeeb; and they slew Oreb upon ^ethe rock Oreb, and Zeeb they slew at the winepress of Zeeb, and pursued Midian, and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon on the other side Jordan.

8And ^athe men of Ephraim said unto him, ^†Why hast thou served us thus, that thou calledst us not, when thou wentest to fight with the Midianites? And they did chide with him ^†sharply. ²And he said unto them, What have I done now in comparison of you? Is not ^bthe gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the vintage of Abiezer? ^3cGod hath delivered into your hands the princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb: and what was I able to do in comparison of you? Then their ^†danger was abated toward him, when he had said that.

⁴And Gideon came to Jordan, and passed over, he, and ^ethe three hundred men that were with him, faint, yet pursuing them. ⁵And he said unto the men of ^fSuccoth, Give, I pray you, loaves of bread unto the people ^gthat follow me; for they be faint, and I am pursuing after Zebah and Zalmunna, kings of Midian. ⁶And the princes of Succoth said, ^hAre the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in thine hand, that we should give bread unto thine army? ⁷And Gideon said, Therefore when the Lord hath delivered Zebah and Zalmunna into mine hand, ⁱthen I will ^†tear your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness and with briers. ⁸And he went up thence to ^jPenuel, and spake unto them likewise: and the men of Penuel answered him as the men of Succoth had answered him. ⁹And he spake also unto the men of Penuel, saying, ^kWhen I come again in peace, ^lI will break down this tower. ¹⁰Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor, and their hosts with them, about fifteen thousand men, all that were left of ^mall the hosts of ⁿthe children of the east: for there fell ^||an hundred and twenty thousand men that drew sword. ¹¹And Gideon went up by the way of them that dwelt in tents on the east of ^oNobah and Jogbehah, and smote the host: for the host was ^psecure. ¹²And when Zebah and Zalmunna fled, he pursued after them, and ^qtook the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and ^†discomfited all the host.

¹³And Gideon the son of Joash returned from battle before the sun was up, ¹⁴And caught a young man of the men of Succoth, and inquired of him: and he ^†described unto him the princes of Succoth, and the elders thereof, even threescore and seventeen men. ¹⁵And he came unto the men of Succoth, and said, Behold Zebah and Zalmunna, with whom ye did upbraid me, saying, ^rAre the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in thine hand, that we should give bread unto thy men that are weary? ^16rAnd he took the elders of the city, and thorns of the wilderness and briers, and with them he ^†taught the men of Succoth. ^17sAnd he beat down the tower of Penuel, and slew the men of the city. ¹⁸Then said he unto Zebah and Zalmunna, What manner of men were they whom ye slew at ^tTabor? And they answered, As thou art, so were they; each one ^†resembled the children of a king. ¹⁹And he said, They were my brethren, even the sons of my mother: ^uas the Lord liveth, if ye had saved them alive, I would not slay you. ²⁰And he said unto Jether his firstborn, Up, and slay them. But the youth drew not his sword: for he feared, because he was yet a youth. ²¹Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, Rise thou, and fall upon us: for as the man is, so is his strength. And Gideon arose, and ^vslew Zebah and Zalmunna, and took away the ^||ornaments that were on their camels’ necks.

²²Then the men of Israel said unto Gideon, Rule thou over us, both thou, and thy son, and thy son’s son also: for thou hast delivered us from the hand of Midian. ²³And Gideon said unto them, I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you: ^wthe Lord shall rule over you. ²⁴And Gideon said unto them, I would desire a request of you, that ye would give me every man the ^xearrings of his prey. (For they had golden earrings, ^ybecause they were Ishmaelites.) ²⁵And they answered, We will willingly give them. And they spread a garment, and did cast therein every man the earrings of his prey. ²⁶And the weight of the golden earrings that he requested was a thousand and seven hundred shekels of gold; beside ^zornaments, and ^||collars, and ^apurple raiment that was on the kings of Midian, and beside the ^bchains that were about their camels’ necks. ²⁷And Gideon made an ^cephod thereof, and put it in his city, even ^din Ophrah: and all Israel ^ewent thither a whoring after it: which thing became ^fa snare unto Gideon, and to his house. ²⁸Thus was Midian subdued before the children of Israel, so that they lifted up their heads no more. ^gAnd the country was in quietness forty years in the days of Gideon.

²⁹And Jerubbaal the son of Joash went and dwelt in his own house. ³⁰And Gideon had ^hthreescore and ten sons ^†of his body begotten: for he had many wives. ³¹And his concubine that was in ⁱShechem, she also bare him a son, whose name he ^†called Abimelech. ^32*And Gideon the son of Joash died ^jin a good old age, and was buried in the sepulchre of Joash his father, ^kin Ophrah of the…