Gideon’s Army of Three Hundred 2 UST Yahweh said to Gideon,“You have too many soldiers with you. Suppose I allow all of you to fight the army of Midian and your army defeats them. Then the Israelites will boast that they defeated their enemies by themselves, without my help. BSB BSB: Then the LORD said to Gideon, “You have too many men for Me to deliver Midian into their hands, lest Israel glorify themselves over Me, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.’
3 UST So I want you to make an announcement to the soldiers. Tell them,‘Any one of you who is too afraid to fight may leave this army camp and go home by way of Mount Gilead.’” When Gideon made that announcement, 22, 000 of the soldiers went home. Only 10, 000 of them stayed in the camp. BSB BSB: Now, therefore, proclaim in the hearing of the men: ‘Whoever is fearful and trembling may turn back and leave Mount Gilead.’” So twenty-two thousand of them turned back, but ten thousand remained.
4 UST But Yahweh told Gideon,“You still have too many soldiers! Take them down to the spring, and there I will show you which ones to bring. I will tell you which ones to take with you and which ones not to take with you.” BSB BSB: Then the LORD said to Gideon, “There are still too many men. Take them down to the water, and I will sift them for you there. If I say to you, ‘This one shall go with you,’ he shall go. But if I say, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ he shall not go.”
5 UST When Gideon took the men down to the spring, Yahweh told him,“Watch how the men drink. Put in one group the men who scoop up the water with their hands and lick it with their tongues the way dogs do.{ Put in another group} the men who kneel down and put their faces in the water to drink.” BSB BSB: So Gideon brought the men down to the water, and the LORD said to him, “Separate those who lap the water with their tongues like a dog from those who kneel to drink.”
6 UST Now when the soldiers drank, only 300 of them used their hands to bring water to their mouths. All the others drank by kneeling down and putting their faces in the water. BSB BSB: And the number of those who lapped the water with their hands to their mouths was three hundred men; all the others knelt to drink.
7 UST Then Yahweh told Gideon,“I will use the 300 men who lapped the water from their hands to rescue Israel! I will enable you to defeat the Midianites. All the others may return to their homes.” BSB BSB: Then the LORD said to Gideon, “With the three hundred men who lapped the water I will save you and deliver the Midianites into your hand. But all the others are to go home.”
8 UST So the 300 soldiers who were staying with Gideon collected the food that the other men had brought. They also collected the ram’ s horns they had brought. Then Gideon sent those other men home, but he kept the 300 soldiers with him. The army of Midian was camping in the valley below Gideon and his army. BSB BSB: So Gideon sent the rest of the Israelites to their tents but kept the three hundred men, who took charge of the provisions and rams’ horns of the others. And the camp of Midian lay below him in the valley.
The Sword of Gideon 9 UST The night after all the other soldiers left, Yahweh said to Gideon,“Now is the time for you to attack the Midianites in the valley! You can be confident that I will enable you and your men to defeat them. BSB BSB: That night the LORD said to Gideon, “Get up and go down against the camp, for I have delivered it into your hand.
10 UST But if you are afraid to attack the Midiantes, then go secretly to their camp with Purah, your armor- bearer. BSB BSB: But if you are afraid to do so, then go down to the camp with your servant Purah
11 UST Listen to what some of the Midianite soldiers are saying. Then you will be very encouraged, and you will be ready to attack their army.” So Gideon took Purah with him and they went secretly to where sentries were guarding the enemy camp. BSB BSB: and listen to what they are saying. Then your hands will be strengthened to attack the camp.” So he went with Purah his servant to the outposts where armed men were guarding the camp.
12 UST The armies of the people of Midian and Amalek and the desert tribes that were their allies had set up their tents in the valley. They seemed to have as many soldiers as there are locusts in a swarm. It seemed that their camels were too many to count, like the number of grains of sand on the seashore. BSB BSB: Now the Midianites, Amalekites, and all the other people of the east had settled in the valley like a swarm of locusts, and their camels were as countless as the sand on the seashore.
13 UST But Gideon and Purah crept close to the edge of the camp. There they heard one man telling a friend about a dream. The man said,“I just had a dream, and in it I saw a round loaf of barley bread rolling down into our Midianite camp. When it reached a tent, it hit it so hard that the tent turned upside down and collapsed!” BSB BSB: And as Gideon arrived, a man was telling his friend about a dream. “Behold, I had a dream,” he said, “and I saw a loaf of barley bread come tumbling into the Midianite camp. It struck the tent so hard that the tent overturned and collapsed.”
14 UST His friend replied,“Your dream can mean only one thing. It means that God is going to enable Gideon son of Joash, that Israelite man, to lead his soldiers to defeat our combined armies from Midian and its allies.” BSB BSB: His friend replied: “This is nothing less than the sword of Gideon son of Joash, the Israelite. God has delivered Midian and the whole camp into his hand.”
Gideon Defeats Midian 15 UST When Gideon heard the man tell about his dream and his friend say what it meant, he thanked God{ for the victory that the Israelites were going to win}. Then he and Purah returned to the Israelite camp. Gideon shouted to the men,“Now is the time to attack! Yahweh is going to enable us to defeat the Midianite army!” BSB BSB: When Gideon heard the dream and its interpretation, he bowed in worship. He returned to the camp of Israel and said, “Get up, for the LORD has delivered the camp of Midian into your hand.”
16 UST Gideon then divided his 300 soldiers into three groups. He gave each soldier a ram’ s horn{ to blow as a trumpet}. He also gave each one a torch and an empty clay jar to cover the torch and hide its light. BSB BSB: And he divided the three hundred men into three companies and gave each man a ram’s horn in one hand and a large jar in the other, containing a torch.
17 UST Then he said to them,“Watch me! When we come close to the enemy camp,{ spread out to surround the camp. Then} do exactly what I do. BSB BSB: “Watch me and do as I do,” Gideon said. “When I come to the outskirts of the camp, do exactly as I do.
18 UST I will be leading one group of soldiers. As soon as we blow our ram’ s horns, you men in the other two groups surrounding the camp must blow your horns too. Then shout,‘We are Yahweh’ s army! We are Gideon’ s army!’” BSB BSB: When I and all who are with me blow our horns, then you are also to blow your horns from all around the camp and shout, ‘For the LORD and for Gideon!’”
19 UST A new group of guards was just replacing the guards who had been watching the camp since the start of the night. That was when Gideon and the 100 men with him arrived at the edge of the Midianite camp. They suddenly blew their horns and broke the jars they were carrying.{ The torches that had been inside the jars shone brightly.} BSB BSB: Gideon and the hundred men with him reached the outskirts of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, just after the changing of the guard. They blew their horns and broke the jars that were in their hands.
20 UST Then the men in all three groups blew their horns and smashed their jars. They held the torches high with their left hands{ so that the light would awaken and frighten the Midianites}. They held up the horns with their right hands and alternately blew them and shouted,“We are Yahweh’ s army! We are Gideon’ s army!” BSB BSB: The three companies blew their horns and shattered their jars. Holding the torches in their left hands and the horns in their right hands, they shouted, “A sword for the LORD and for Gideon!”
21 UST Each of Gideon’ s men stayed in position all around the enemy camp. All of the enemy soldiers started running around and sounding the alarm and trying to escape. BSB BSB: Each Israelite took his position around the camp, and the entire Midianite army fled, crying out as they ran.
22 UST While the 300 Israelite men kept blowing their horns, Yahweh caused the Midianites to start fighting each other with their swords. Some of them killed each other. The others ran away. Some fled south to the town of Beth Shittah. Some fled to the town of Zererah. Others ran away as far as the outskirts of the town of Abel Meholah, near the town of Tabbath. BSB BSB: And when the three hundred rams’ horns sounded, the LORD set all the men in the camp against one another with their swords. The army fled to Beth-shittah toward Zererah as far as the border of Abel-meholah near Tabbath.
23 UST Then Gideon sent messengers to the Israelite men who lived in the territories of the tribes of Naphtali, Asher, and Manasseh. The messengers got them to come and help finish defeating the army of Midian. BSB BSB: Then the men of Israel were called out from Naphtali, Asher, and all Manasseh, and they pursued the Midianites.
24 UST Gideon sent messengers throughout the hilly area where the tribe of Ephraim lived. The messengers told the men there,“Go down and attack the fleeing Midianite soldiers. So that those soldiers do not escape, put guards at the shallow places where people can wade across rivers and streams. Put guards at the crossings of the streams in the area of Beth Barah and the crossings of the Jordan River.” So the men of Ephraim came and put guards in those places. BSB BSB: Gideon sent messengers throughout the hill country of Ephraim to say, “Come down against the Midianites and seize the waters of the Jordan ahead of them as far as Beth-barah.” So all the men of Ephraim were called out, and they captured the waters of the Jordan as far as Beth-barah.
25 UST They also captured Oreb and Zeeb, the two rulers who were commanding the Midianite army. They found Oreb hiding in a cave in a big rock. They killed him there, and that is why people now call it the Rock of Oreb. They found Zeeb hiding in a pit where people press grapes to make wine. They killed him there, and that is why people now call it the Winepress of Zeeb. The Israelites cut off the heads of Oreb and Zeeb so they could bring them to Gideon. They pursued the Midianites across the Jordan River, and they met Gideon there. BSB BSB: They also captured Oreb and Zeeb, the two princes of Midian; and they killed Oreb at the rock of Oreb and Zeeb at the winepress of Zeeb. So they pursued the Midianites and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon on the other side of the Jordan.
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