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Judges 7:1-25 — Gideon Defeats the Midianites

Judg.7.1-25

¹Then Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) and all the people who were with him rose early and camped by the spring of Harod . And the camp of Midian was north of them, by the hill of Moreh, in the valley. ²The LORD said to Gideon, "The people who are with you are too many for me to give Midian into their hand, lest Israel boast against me, saying, 'My own hand has saved me.' ³Now therefore, proclaim in the hearing of the people, saying, 'Whoever is fearful and trembling, let him return and depart from Mount Gilead.'" So twenty-two thousand of the people returned, and ten thousand remained. ⁴The LORD said to Gideon, “The people are still too many. Bring them down to the water, and I will test them for you there. And it shall be, that of whom I say to you, 'This one shall go with you,' he shall go with you; and of whomever I say to you, 'This one shall not go with you,' he shall not go.” ⁵So he brought the people down to the water, and the LORD said to Gideon, “Everyone who laps from the water with his tongue, as a dog laps, you shall set apart by himself; likewise everyone who kneels down on his knees to drink.” ⁶And the number of those who lapped, putting their hands to their mouths, was three hundred men, but all the rest of the people knelt down on their knees to drink water. ⁷The LORD said to Gideon, “By the three hundred men who lapped I will save you, and I will give Midian into your hand. Let all the other people go, each to his own place.” ⁸So they took the provisions of the people in their hands, and their ram's horns. And he sent all the men of Israel away, each to his tent, but he retained the three hundred men. Now the camp of Midian was below him in the valley. ⁹That same night, the LORD said to him, "Arise, go down against the camp, for I have given it into your hand. ¹⁰But if you are afraid to go down, go down to the camp with Purah your servant. ¹¹And you will hear what they say, and afterward your hands will be strengthened to go down against the camp." So he went down with Purah his servant to the edge of the armed men who were in the camp. ¹²Now Midian and Amalek and all the people of the East were lying in the valley like locusts in multitude, and their camels were without number, like the sand that is on the seashore in multitude. ¹³When Gideon arrived, behold, a man was telling a dream to his companion. He said, “Behold, I had a dream, and behold, a loaf of barley bread was tumbling into the camp of Midian. It came to the tent and struck it so that it fell, and turned it upside down, so that the tent collapsed.” ¹⁴His companion answered and said, “This is nothing else but the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel. God has given Midian and the whole camp into his hand.” ¹⁵When Gideon heard the telling of the dream and its interpretation, he bowed in worship. Then he returned to the camp of Israel and said, “Arise, for the LORD has given the camp of Midian into your hand.” ¹⁶He divided the three hundred men into three companies, and he put ram's horns into the hands of all of them, and empty jars, with torches inside the jars. ¹⁷He said to them, "Look at me, and do likewise. Behold, when I come to the edge of the camp, it shall be that as I do, so you shall do. ¹⁸When I blow the ram's horn, I and all who are with me, then you also blow the ram's horns all around the camp, and say, 'For the LORD and for Gideon!' ¹⁹So Gideon and the hundred men who were with him came to the edge of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, when they had just posted the guards. And they blew the ram's horns and smashed the jars that were in their hands. ²⁰The three companies blew the ram's horns and broke the jars. They held the torches in their left hands and the ram's horns in their right hands to blow, and they cried out, “A sword for the LORD and for Gideon!” ²¹Each man stood in his place all around the camp, and the entire camp ran; they cried out and fled. ²²When they blew the three hundred ram's horns, the LORD set every man's sword against his companion and against the entire camp. And the camp fled as far as Beth-shittah toward Zererah, as far as the border of Abel-meholah, by Tabbath. ²³The men of Israel were called out from Naphtali, from Asher, and from all Manasseh, and they pursued Midian. ²⁴Gideon sent messengers throughout all the hill country of Ephraim, saying, “Come down against Midian and capture the waters ahead of them, as far as Beth-barah, and also the Jordan.” So all the men of Ephraim were called out, and they captured the waters as far as Beth-barah, and also the Jordan. ²⁵They captured the two princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb . They killed Oreb at the rock of Oreb, and Zeeb they killed at the winepress of Zeeb, and they pursued Midian. And they brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon from beyond the Jordan.

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4/11/2026

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