7:1 Jerub-Baal (that is, Gideon) and his men 1 got up the next morning and camped near the spring of Harod. 2 The Midianites 3 were camped north of them near the hill of Moreh in the valley. 7:2 The Lord said to Gideon, “You have too many men for me to hand Midian over to you. 4 Israel might brag, 5 ‘Our own strength has delivered us.’ 6 7:3 Now, announce to the men, 7 ‘Whoever is shaking with fear 8 may turn around and leave Mount Gilead.’” 9 Twenty-two thousand men 10 went home; 11 ten thousand remained. 7:4 The Lord spoke to Gideon again, “There are still too many men. 12 Bring them down to the water and I will thin the ranks some more. 13 When I say, ‘This one should go with you,’ pick him to go; 14 when I say, 15 ‘This one should not go with you,’ do not take him.” 16 7:5 So he brought the men 17 down to the water. Then the Lord said to Gideon, “Separate those who lap the water as a dog laps from those who kneel to drink.” 18 7:6 Three hundred men lapped; 19 the rest of the men 20 kneeled to drink water. 7:7 The Lord said to Gideon, “With the three hundred men who lapped I will deliver the whole army 21 and I will hand Midian over to you. 22 The rest of the men should go home.” 23 7:8 The men 24 who were chosen 25 took supplies 26 and their trumpets. Gideon 27 sent all the men of Israel back to their homes; 28 he kept only three hundred men. Now the Midianites 29 were camped down below 30 in the valley.
7:9 That night the Lord said to Gideon, 31 “Get up! Attack 32 the camp, for I am handing it over to you. 33 7:10 But if you are afraid to attack, go down to the camp with Purah your servant 7:11 and listen to what they are saying. Then you will be brave 34 and attack the camp.” So he went down with Purah his servant to where the sentries were guarding the camp. 35 7:12 Now the Midianites, Amalekites, and the people from the east covered the valley like a swarm of locusts. 36 Their camels could not be counted; they were as innumerable as the sand on the seashore. 7:13 When Gideon arrived, he heard a man telling another man about a dream he had. 37 The man 38 said, “Look! I had a dream. I saw 39 a stale cake of barley bread rolling into the Midianite camp. It hit a tent so hard it knocked it over and turned it upside down. The tent just collapsed.” 40 7:14 The other man said, 41 “Without a doubt this symbolizes 42 the sword of Gideon son of Joash, the Israelite. God is handing Midian and all the army over to him.”
7:15 When Gideon heard the report of the dream and its interpretation, he praised God. 43 Then he went back to the Israelite camp and said, “Get up, for the Lord is handing the Midianite army over to you!” 7:16 He divided the three hundred men into three units. 44 He gave them all trumpets and empty jars with torches inside them. 45 7:17 He said to them, “Watch me and do as I do. Watch closely! 46 I am going to the edge of the camp. Do as I do! 7:18 When I and all who are with me blow our trumpets, you also blow your trumpets all around the camp. Then say, ‘For the Lord and for Gideon!’”
7:19 Gideon took a hundred men to the edge of the camp 47 at the beginning of the middle watch, just after they had changed the guards. They blew their trumpets and broke the jars they were carrying. 48 7:20 All three units blew their trumpets and broke their jars. They held the torches in their left hand and the trumpets in their right. 49 Then they yelled, “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!” 7:21 They stood in order 50 all around the camp. The whole army ran away; they shouted as they scrambled away. 51 7:22 When the three hundred men blew their trumpets, the Lord caused the Midianites to attack one another with their swords 52 throughout 53 the camp. The army fled to Beth Shittah on the way to Zererah. They went 54 to the border of Abel Meholah near Tabbath. 7:23 Israelites from Naphtali, Asher, and Manasseh answered the call and chased the Midianites. 55
7:24 Now Gideon sent messengers throughout the Ephraimite hill country who announced, “Go down and head off the Midianites. 56 Take control of the fords of the streams 57 all the way to Beth Barah and the Jordan River.” 58 When all the Ephraimites had assembled, 59 they took control of the fords 60 all the way to Beth Barah and the Jordan River. 7:25 They captured the two Midianite generals, Oreb and Zeeb. 61 They executed Oreb on the rock of Oreb and Zeeb 62 in the winepress of Zeeb. They chased the Midianites 63 and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon, who was now on the other side of the Jordan River. 64
8:1 The Ephraimites said to him, “Why have you done such a thing to us? You did not summon us 65 when you went to fight the Midianites!” They argued vehemently with him. 8:2 He said to them, “Now what have I accomplished compared to you? Even Ephraim’s leftover grapes 66 are better quality than Abiezer’s harvest! 67 8:3 It was to you that God handed over the Midianite generals, Oreb and Zeeb! What did I accomplish to rival that?” 68 When he said this, they calmed down. 69
8:4 Now Gideon and his three hundred men had crossed over the Jordan River, and even though they were exhausted, they were still chasing the Midianites. 70 8:5 He said to the men of Succoth, “Give 71 some loaves of bread to the men 72 who are following me, 73 because they are exhausted. I am chasing Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian.” 8:6 The officials of Succoth said, “You have not yet overpowered Zebah and Zalmunna. So why should we give 74 bread to your army?” 75 8:7 Gideon said, “Since you will not help, 76 after the Lord hands Zebah and Zalmunna over to me, I will thresh 77 your skin 78 with 79 desert thorns and briers.” 8:8 He went up from there to Penuel and made the same request. 80 The men of Penuel responded the same way the men of Succoth had. 81 8:9 He also threatened 82 the men of Penuel, warning, 83 “When I return victoriously, 84 I will tear down this tower.”
8:10 Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor with their armies. There were about fifteen thousand survivors from the army of the eastern peoples; a hundred and twenty thousand sword-wielding soldiers had been killed. 85 8:11 Gideon went up the road of the nomads 86 east of Nobah and Jogbehah and ambushed the surprised army. 87 8:12 When Zebah and Zalmunna ran away, Gideon 88 chased them and captured the two Midianite kings, Zebah and Zalmunna. He had surprised 89 their entire army.
8:13 Gideon son of Joash returned from the battle by the pass 90 of Heres. 8:14 He captured a young man from Succoth 91 and interrogated him. The young man wrote down for him the names of Succoth’s officials and city leaders – seventy-seven men in all. 92 8:15 He approached the men of Succoth and said, “Look what I have! 93 Zebah and Zalmunna! You insulted me, saying, ‘You have not yet overpowered Zebah and Zalmunna. So why should we give bread to your exhausted men?’” 94 8:16 He seized the leaders 95 of the city, along with some desert thorns and briers; he then “threshed” the men of Succoth with them. 96 8:17 He also tore down the tower of Penuel and executed the city’s men.
8:18 He said to Zebah and Zalmunna, “Describe for me 97 the men you killed at Tabor.” They said, “They were like you. Each one looked like a king’s son.” 98 8:19 He said, “They were my brothers, the sons of my mother. I swear, 99 as surely as the Lord is alive, if you had let them live, I would not kill you.” 8:20 He ordered Jether his firstborn son, “Come on! 100 Kill them!” But Jether was too afraid to draw his sword, 101 because he was still young. 8:21 Zebah and Zalmunna said to Gideon, 102 “Come on, 103 you strike us, for a man is judged by his strength.” 104 So Gideon killed 105 Zebah and Zalmunna, and he took the crescent-shaped ornaments which were on the necks of their camels.
8:22 The men of Israel said to Gideon, “Rule over us – you, your son, and your grandson. For you have delivered us from Midian’s power.” 106 8:23 Gideon said to them, “I will not rule over you, nor will my son rule over you. The Lord will rule over you.” 8:24 Gideon continued, 107 “I would like to make one request. Each of you give me an earring from the plunder you have taken.” 108 (The Midianites 109 had gold earrings because they were Ishmaelites.) 8:25 They said, “We are happy to give you earrings.” 110 So they 111 spread out a garment, and each one threw an earring from his plunder onto it. 8:26 The total weight of the gold earrings he requested came to seventeen hundred gold shekels. 112 This was in addition to the crescent-shaped ornaments, jewelry, 113 purple clothing worn by the Midianite kings, and the necklaces on the camels. 114 8:27 Gideon used all this to make 115 an ephod, 116 which he put in his hometown of Ophrah. All the Israelites 117 prostituted themselves to it by worshiping it 118 there. It became a snare to Gideon and his family.
8:28 The Israelites humiliated Midian; the Midianites’ fighting spirit was broken. 119 The land had rest for forty years during Gideon’s time. 120 8:29 Then Jerub-Baal son of Joash went home and settled down. 121 8:30 Gideon fathered seventy sons through his many wives. 122 8:31 His concubine, 123 who lived in Shechem, also gave him a son, whom he named Abimelech. 124 8:32 Gideon son of Joash died at a very 125 old age and was buried in the tomb of his father Joash located in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
8:33 After Gideon died, the Israelites again prostituted themselves to the Baals. They made Baal-Berith 126 their god. 8:34 The Israelites did not remain true 127 to the Lord their God, who had delivered them from all the enemies who lived around them. 8:35 They did not treat 128 the family of Jerub-Baal (that is, Gideon) fairly in return for all the good he had done for Israel.