^6:3Whenever the Israelites planted their crops,⁶ the Midianites, Amalekites, and the people from the east would attack them.⁷^6:4They invaded the land⁸ and devoured⁹ its crops¹⁰ all the way to Gaza. They left nothing for the Israelites to eat,¹¹ and they took away¹² the sheep, oxen, and donkeys. ^6:5When they invaded¹³ with their cattle and tents, they were as thick¹⁴ as locusts. Neither they nor their camels could be counted.¹⁵ They came to devour¹⁶ the land. ^6:6Israel was so severely weakened by Midian that the Israelites cried out to the Lord for help.

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Footnotes

6 Heb “Whenever Israel sowed seed.”
7 Heb “Midian, Amalek, and the sons of the east would go up, they would go up against him.” The translation assumes that וְעָלוּ (vé’alu) is dittographic (note the following עָלָיו, ’alayv).
8 Heb “They encamped against them.”
9 Heb “destroyed.”
10 Heb “the crops of the land.”
11 Heb “They left no sustenance in Israel.”
12 The words “they took away” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
13 Heb “came up.”
14 Heb “numerous.”
15 Heb “To them and to their camels there was no number.”
16 Heb “destroy.” The translation “devour” carries through the imagery of a locust plague earlier in this verse.

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

For whenever the Israelites planted crops, the Midianites and the Amalekites and the people of the East would come up against them. They would encamp against them and devour the produce of the land, as far as Gaza, and leave no sustenance in Israel and no sheep or ox or donkey. For they would come up with their livestock and their tents; they would come like locusts in number—both they and their camels could not be counted—so that they laid waste the land as they came in. And Israel was brought very low because of Midian. And the people of Israel cried out for help to the Lord.

NIVNew International Version (2011)

Whenever the Israelites planted their crops, the Midianites, Amalekites and other eastern peoples invaded the country. They camped on the land and ruined the crops all the way to Gaza and did not spare a living thing for Israel, neither sheep nor cattle nor donkeys. They came up with their livestock and their tents like swarms of locusts. It was impossible to count them or their camels; they invaded the land to ravage it. Midian so impoverished the Israelites that they cried out to the Lord for help.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

Whenever the Israelites planted crops, the Midianites, Amalekites, and the people of the east came and attacked them. They encamped against them and destroyed the produce of the land, even as far as Gaza. They left nothing for Israel to eat, as well as no sheep, ox, or donkey. For the Midianites came with their cattle and their tents like a great swarm of locusts. They and their camels were without number, and they entered the land to lay waste to it. So Israel became poverty-stricken because of Midian, and the Israelites cried out to the Lord.

NLTNew Living Translation

Whenever the Israelites planted their crops, marauders from Midian, Amalek, and the people of the east would attack Israel, camping in the land and destroying crops as far away as Gaza. They left the Israelites with nothing to eat, taking all the sheep, goats, cattle, and donkeys. These enemy hordes, coming with their livestock and tents, were as thick as locusts; they arrived on droves of camels too numerous to count. And they stayed until the land was stripped bare. So Israel was reduced to starvation by the Midianites. Then the Israelites cried out to the Lord for help.

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

And whenever Israel sowed seed, the Midianites, Amalekites, and the people of the east would come up against them. They would camp against them and destroy the produce of the land as far as Gaza; they left no produce in Israel, or sheep, ox, or donkey. For they, their livestock, and their tents would come up like a great number of locusts; they and their camels could not be counted; they came into the land and devoured it. Israel was very poor because of the presence of the Midianites, and the Israelites cried out to Yahweh.

KJV 1900King James Version

And so it was, when Israel had sown, that the Midianites came up, and the Amalekites, and the children of the east, even they came up against them; And they encamped against them, and destroyed the increase of the earth, till thou come unto Gaza, and left no sustenance for Israel, neither sheep, nor ox, nor ass. For they came up with their cattle and their tents, and they came as grasshoppers for multitude; for both they and their camels were without number: and they entered into the land to destroy it. And Israel was greatly impoverished because of the Midianites; and the children of Israel cried unto the Lord.

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