8 So Gideon sent the rest of the Israelites home but kept the three hundred, who took over the provisions and trumpets of the others.

Now the camp of Midian lay below him in the valley. 9 During that night the Lord said to Gideon, “Get up, go down against the camp, because I am going to give it into your hands.e 10 If you are afraid to attack, go down to the camp with your servant Purah 11 and listen to what they are saying. Afterward, you will be encouraged to attack the camp.” So he and Purah his servant went down to the outposts of the camp. 12 The Midianites, the Amalekitesf and all the other eastern peoples had settled in the valley, thick as locusts.g Their camelsh could no more be counted than the sand on the seashore.i

13 Gideon arrived just as a man was telling a friend his dream. “I had a dream,” he was saying. “A round loaf of barley bread came tumbling into the Midianite camp. It struck the tent with such force that the tent overturned and collapsed.”

14 His friend responded, “This can be nothing other than the sword of Gideon son of Joash,j the Israelite. God has given the Midianites and the whole camp into his hands.”

15 When Gideon heard the dream and its interpretation, he bowed down and worshiped.k He returned to the camp of Israel and called out, “Get up! The Lord has given the Midianite camp into your hands.”l 16 Dividing the three hundred menm into three companies,n he placed trumpetso and empty jarsp in the hands of all of them, with torchesq inside.

17 “Watch me,” he told them. “Follow my lead. When I get to the edge of the camp, do exactly as I do. 18 When I and all who are with me blow our trumpets,r then from all around the camp blow yours and shout, ‘For the Lord and for Gideon.’ ”

19 Gideon and the hundred men with him reached the edge of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, just after they had changed the guard. They blew their trumpets and broke the jarss that were in their hands. 20 The three companies blew the trumpets and smashed the jars. Grasping the torchest in their left hands and holding in their right hands the trumpets they were to blow, they shouted, “A swordu for the Lord and for Gideon!” 21 While each man held his position around the camp, all the Midianites ran, crying out as they fled.v

22 When the three hundred trumpets sounded,w the Lord caused the men throughout the camp to turn on each otherx with their swords.y The army fled to Beth Shittah toward Zererah as far as the border of Abel Meholahz near Tabbath.