| Chapter 7
|
| 1 | Then
Jerubbaal, who is Gideon, and all the people that were with him, rose up early,
and pitched beside the well of Harod: so that the host of the Midianites were
on the north side of them, by the hill of Moreh, in the valley. |
| 2 | And 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 vaunt themselves against me, saying, Mine own hand hath
saved me. |
| 3 | Now therefore
go to, proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, Whosoever is fearful and
afraid, let him return and depart early from mount Gilead. And there returned
of the people twenty and two thousand; and there remained ten thousand. |
| 4 | And the LORD said unto
Gideon, The people are yet too many; bring them down unto the water, and I will
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. |
| 5 | So 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. |
| 6 | And 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. |
| 7
| And the LORD said unto Gideon, By 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. |
| 8 | So 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 in the
valley. |
| 9 | And it came to
pass the same night, that the LORD said unto him, Arise, get thee down unto the
host; for I have delivered it into thine hand. |
|
10 | But if thou fear to go down, go thou with Phurah thy
servant down to the host: |
| 11 |
And thou shalt hear 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. |
| 12 | And the Midianites and the
Amalekites and all the children of the east lay along in the valley like
grasshoppers for multitude; and their camels were without number, as the sand
by the sea side for multitude. |
| 13
| And 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. |
| 14 | And 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. |
| 15 | And 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. |
|
16 | And 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. |
| 17 | And 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. |
| 18 | When 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, The sword of the LORD, and of Gideon. |
|
19 | So Gideon, and the 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. |
|
20 | And 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. |
| 21 | And they
stood every man in his place round about the camp; and all the host ran, and
cried, and fled. |
| 22 | And
the three hundred blew the trumpets, and the LORD set every man's sword against
his fellow, even throughout all the host: and the host fled to Bethshittah in
Zererath, and to the border of Abelmeholah, unto Tabbath. |
| 23 | And the men of Israel gathered
themselves together out of Naphtali, and out of Asher, and out of all Manasseh,
and pursued after the Midianites. |
|
24 | And Gideon sent messengers throughout all mount Ephraim, saying,
come down against the Midianites, and take before them the waters unto
Bethbarah and Jordan. Then all the men of Ephraim gathered themselves together,
and took the waters unto Bethbarah and Jordan. |
|
25 | And they took two princes of the Midianites, Oreb
and Zeeb; and they slew Oreb upon the 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. |
