Judges 7
7
1And Jerubbaal, who is Gideon, arose early, and all the people that were with him, and they encamped beside the spring Harod; and he had the camp of Midian on the north by the hill of Moreh in the valley. 2And Jehovah said to Gideon, The people that are with thee are too many for me to give Midian into their hand, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me. 3And now proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, Whoever is timid and afraid, let him go back and turn from mount Gilead. And there went back of the people twenty-two thousand; and there remained ten thousand. 4And Jehovah said to Gideon, Still the people are many; bring them down to the water, and I will try them for thee there, and it shall be, that of whom I shall say unto thee, This shall go with thee, the same shall go with thee; and of whomsoever I shall say unto thee, This shall not go with thee, the same shall not go. 5And he brought down the people to the water; and Jehovah said to 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 on his knees to drink. 6And the number of them that lapped, with their hand to their mouth, were three hundred men; and all the rest of the people bowed down on their knees to drink water. 7And Jehovah said to Gideon, By the three hundred men that lapped will I save you, and give Midian into thy hand; and let all the people go every man to his place. 8And they took the victuals of the people in their hand, and their trumpets; and all the men of Israel he sent away, every man to his tent, but retained the three hundred men. Now the camp of Midian was beneath him in the valley.
9And it came to pass in that night, that Jehovah said to him, Arise, go down to the camp; for I have given it into thy hand. 10And if thou fear to go down, go thou with Phurah thy servant down to the camp; 11and thou shalt hear what they say; and afterwards shall thy hand be strengthened, and thou shalt go down unto the camp. And he went down with Phurah his servant to the outside of the armed men that were in the camp. 12And Midian and Amalek and all the children of the east lay along in the valley as locusts for multitude; and their camels were without number, as the sand upon the sea-shore for multitude. 13And Gideon came, and behold, a man was telling a dream to his fellow; and he said, Behold, I dreamed a dream, and lo, a cake of barley-bread tumbled into the camp of Midian, and came to the tent, and smote it that it fell, and overturned it; and the tent lay along. 14And his fellow answered and said, This is nothing else save the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, the man of Israel: God#GodHebrew: Elohim hath given into his hand Midian and all the host. 15And it came to pass when Gideon heard the telling of the dream and its interpretation, that he worshipped. And he returned into the camp of Israel, and said, Arise; for Jehovah hath given into your hand the camp of Midian.
16And he divided the three hundred men into three companies, and he put a trumpet in every man's hand, and empty pitchers, and torches within the pitchers. 17And he said to them, Look on me, and do likewise; behold, when I come to the extremity of the camp, it shall be that, as I do, so shall ye do. 18And when I blow with a trumpet, I and all that are with me, ye also shall blow the trumpets around the whole camp, and shall say, For Jehovah and for Gideon! 19And Gideon, and the hundred men that were with him, came to 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 broke the pitchers that were in their hands. 20And the three companies blew the trumpets, and broke in pieces the pitchers, and held the torches in their left hand, and the trumpets in their right hand for blowing, and cried, The sword of Jehovah and of Gideon! 21And they stood every man in his place round about the camp; and all the host ran, and cried out, and fled. 22And the three hundred blew the trumpets, and Jehovah set every man's sword against his fellow, even throughout the camp. And the host fled to Beth-shittah towards Zererah, to the border of Abel-meholah, by Tabbath.
23And the men of Israel were called together out of Naphtali, and out of Asher, and out of all Manasseh, and pursued after Midian. 24And Gideon sent messengers throughout mount Ephraim, saying, Come down against Midian, and take before them the waters unto Beth-barah, and the Jordan. And all the men of Ephraim were called together, and took the waters unto Beth-barah, and the Jordan. 25And they took two princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb; and they slew Oreb upon the rock Oreb, and Zeeb they slew at the winepress of Zeeb; and they pursued Midian, and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon beyond the Jordan.
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Judges 7: DARBY
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First published in 1890. This edition is maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society.
Judges 7
7
Gideon’s Three Hundred Men
1Then #ch. 6:32 Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) and all the people who were with him rose early and encamped beside #[1 Sam. 29:1] the spring of Harod. And the camp of Midian was north of them, #Gen. 12:6; Deut. 11:30by the hill of Moreh, in the valley.
2The Lord said to Gideon, “The people with you are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hand, #Deut. 8:17; [Isa. 10:13]lest Israel boast over me, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.’ 3Now therefore proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, #Deut. 20:8‘Whoever is fearful and trembling, let him return home and hurry away from Mount Gilead.’” Then 22,000 of the people returned, and 10,000 remained.
4And the Lord said to Gideon, “The people are still too many. Take them down to the water, and I will test them for you there, and anyone of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall go with you,’ shall go with you, and anyone of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ shall not go.” 5So he brought the people down to the water. And the Lord said to Gideon, “Every one who laps the water with his tongue, as a dog laps, you shall set by himself. Likewise, every one who kneels down to drink.” 6And the number of those who lapped, putting their hands to their mouths, was 300 men, but all the rest of the people knelt down to drink water. 7And the Lord said to Gideon, #[1 Sam. 14:6; 2 Chr. 14:11]“With the 300 men who lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hand, and let all the others go every man to his home.” 8So the people took provisions in their hands, and their trumpets. And he sent all the rest of Israel every man to his tent, but retained the 300 men. And the camp of Midian was below him #ver. 1in the valley.
9That same #Gen. 46:2, 3; 1 Kgs. 3:5 night the Lord said to him, “Arise, go down against the camp, #See ch. 3:28for I have given it into your hand. 10But if you are afraid to go down, go down to the camp with Purah your servant. 11#See ver. 13-15 And you shall hear what they say, and afterward your hands shall be strengthened to go down against the camp.” #[1 Sam. 14:9, 10]Then he went down with Purah his servant to the outposts of the armed men who were in the camp. 12And the Midianites and the Amalekites and #See ch. 6:3 all the people of the East lay along the valley like locusts in abundance, and their camels were without number, #Josh. 11:4as the sand that is on the seashore in abundance. 13When Gideon came, behold, a man was telling a dream to his comrade. And he said, “Behold, I dreamed a dream, and behold, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the camp of Midian and came to the tent and struck it so that it fell and turned it upside down, so that the tent lay flat.” 14And his comrade answered, “This is no other than the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel; God has given into his hand Midian and all the camp.”
15As soon as Gideon heard the telling of the dream and its interpretation, he worshiped. And he returned to the camp of Israel and said, “Arise, for the Lord has given the host of Midian into your hand.” 16And he divided the 300 men into three companies and put trumpets into the hands of all of them and empty jars, with #ch. 15:4; Gen. 15:17torches inside the jars. 17And he said to them, “Look at me, and do likewise. When I come to the outskirts of the camp, do as I do. 18When I blow the trumpet, I and all who are with me, then blow the trumpets also on every side of all the camp and shout, #[Ex. 14:13, 14; 2 Chr. 20:17]‘For the Lord and for Gideon.’”
Gideon Defeats Midian
19So Gideon and the hundred men who were with him came to the outskirts of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, when they had just set the watch. And they blew the trumpets and smashed the jars that were in their hands. 20Then the three companies blew the trumpets and broke the jars. They held in their left hands the torches, and in their right hands the trumpets to blow. #[See ver. 18 above]And they cried out, “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!” 21Every man stood in his place around the camp, #[2 Kgs. 7:7]and all the army ran. They cried out and fled. 22#[Josh. 6:4, 16, 20] When they blew the 300 trumpets, #[Ps. 83:9; Isa. 9:4] the Lord set #1 Sam. 14:20; [2 Chr. 20:23]every man’s sword against his comrade and against all the army. And the army fled as far as Beth-shittah toward Zererah,#7:22 Some Hebrew manuscripts Zeredah as far as the border of Abel-meholah, by Tabbath. 23And the men of Israel were called out from Naphtali and from Asher and from all Manasseh, and they pursued after Midian.
24 # ch. 6:35 Gideon sent messengers throughout #See Josh. 24:33 all the hill country of Ephraim, saying, “Come down against the Midianites and capture the waters against them, as far as #[ch. 3:28]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. 25And they captured #ch. 8:3; Ps. 83:11 the two princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb. They killed Oreb #Isa. 10:26 at the rock of Oreb, and Zeeb they killed at the winepress of Zeeb. Then they pursued Midian, and they brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon #ch. 8:4across the Jordan.
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The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
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