Gideon’s Valiant Three Hundred

7 Then ^(A)Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) and all the people who were with him rose early and encamped beside the well of Harod, so that the camp of the Midianites was on the north side of them by the hill of Moreh in the valley.

² And the Lord said to Gideon, “The people who are with you are too many for Me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel ^(B)claim glory for itself against Me, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.’ ³ Now therefore, proclaim in the hearing of the people, saying, ^(C)‘Whoever is fearful and afraid, let him turn and depart at once from Mount Gilead.’ ” And twenty-two thousand of the people returned, and ten thousand remained.

⁴ But the Lord said to Gideon, “The people are still too many; bring them down to the water, and I will test them for you there. Then it will be, that of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall go with you,’ the same shall go with you; and of whomever I say to you, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ the same shall not go.” ⁵ So 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 gets down on his knees to drink.” ⁶ And the number of those who lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, was three hundred men; but all the rest of the people got down on their knees to drink water. ⁷ Then the Lord said to Gideon, ^(D)“By the three hundred men who lapped I will save you, and deliver the Midianites into your hand. Let all the other people go, every man to his ^[a]place.” ⁸ So the people took provisions and their trumpets in their hands. And he sent away all the rest of Israel, every man to his tent, and retained those three hundred men. Now the camp of Midian was below him in the valley.

⁹ It happened on the same ^(E)night that the Lord said to him, “Arise, go down against the camp, for I have delivered it into your hand. ¹⁰ But if you are afraid to go down, go down to the camp with Purah your servant, ¹¹ and you shall ^(F)hear what they say; and afterward ^[b]your hands shall be strengthened to go down against the camp.” Then he went down with Purah his servant to the outpost of the armed men who were in the camp. ¹² Now the Midianites and Amalekites, ^(G)all the people of the East, were lying in the valley ^(H)as numerous as locusts; and their camels were ^[c]without number, as the sand by the seashore in multitude.

¹³ And when Gideon had come, there was a man telling a dream to his companion. He said, “I have had a dream: To my surprise, a loaf of barley bread tumbled into the camp of Midian; it came to a tent and struck it so that it fell and overturned, and the tent collapsed.”

¹⁴ Then his companion answered and said, “This is nothing else but the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel! Into his hand ^(I)God has delivered Midian and the whole camp.”

¹⁵ And so it was, when Gideon heard the telling of the dream and its interpretation, that he worshiped. He returned to the camp of Israel, and said, “Arise, for the Lord has delivered the camp of Midian into your hand.” ¹⁶ Then he divided the three hundred men into three companies, and he put a trumpet into every man’s hand, with empty pitchers, and torches inside the pitchers. ¹⁷ And he said to them, “Look at me and do likewise; watch, and when I come to the edge of the camp you shall do as I do: ¹⁸ When I blow the trumpet, I and all who are with me, then you also blow the trumpets on every side of the whole camp, and say, ‘The sword of the Lord and of Gideon!’ ”

¹⁹ So Gideon and the hundred men who were with him came to the outpost of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, just as they had posted the watch; and they blew the trumpets and broke the pitchers that were in their hands. ²⁰ Then the three companies blew the trumpets and broke the pitchers—they held the torches in their left hands and the trumpets in their right hands for blowing—and they cried, “The sword of the Lord and of Gideon!” ²¹ And ^(J)every man stood in his place all around the camp; ^(K)and the whole army ran and cried out and fled. ²² When the three hundred ^(L)blew the trumpets, ^(M)the Lord set ^(N)every man’s sword against his companion throughout the whole camp; and the army fled to ^[d]Beth Acacia, toward Zererah, as far as the border of ^(O)Abel Meholah, by Tabbath.

²³ And the men of Israel gathered together from ^(P)Naphtali, Asher, and all Manasseh, and pursued the Midianites.

²⁴ Then Gideon sent messengers throughout all the ^(Q)mountains of Ephraim, saying, “Come down against the Midianites, and seize from them the watering places as far as Beth Barah and the Jordan.” Then all the men of Ephraim gathered together and ^(R)seized the watering places as far as ^(S)Beth Barah and the Jordan. ²⁵ And they captured ^(T)two princes of the Midianites, ^(U)Oreb and Zeeb. They killed Oreb at the rock of Oreb, and Zeeb they killed at the winepress of Zeeb. They pursued Midian and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon on the ^(V)other side of the Jordan.

The Vision of Paradise

12 It is ^[a]doubtless not profitable for me to boast. I will come to ^(A)visions and ^(B)revelations of the Lord: ² I know a man ^(C)in Christ who fourteen years ago—whether in the body I do not know, or whether out of the body I do not know, God knows—such a one ^(D)was caught up to the third heaven. ³ And I know such a man—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows— ⁴ how he was caught up into ^(E)Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter. ⁵ Of such a one I will boast; yet of myself I will not ^(F)boast, except in my infirmities. ⁶ For though I might desire to boast, I will not be a fool; for I will speak the truth. But I refrain, lest anyone should think of me above what he sees me to be or hears from me.

The Thorn in the Flesh

⁷ And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a ^(G)thorn in the flesh was given to me, ^(H)a messenger of Satan to ^[b]buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. ^8 (I)Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. ⁹ And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly ^(J)I will rather boast in my infirmities, ^(K)that the power of Christ may rest upon me. ¹⁰ Therefore ^(L)I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. ^(M)For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Signs of an Apostle

¹¹ I have become ^(N)a fool ^[c]in boasting; you have compelled me. For I ought to have been commended by you; for ^(O)in nothing was I behind the most eminent apostles, though ^(P)I am nothing. ^12 (Q)Truly the signs of an apostle were accomplished among you with all perseverance, in signs and ^(R)wonders and mighty ^(S)deeds. ¹³ For what is it in which you were inferior to other churches, except that I myself was not burdensome to you? Forgive me this wrong!

Love for the Church

^14 (T)Now for the third time I am ready to come to you. And I will not be burdensome to you; for ^(U)I do not seek yours, but you. ^(V)For the children ought not to lay up for the parents, but the parents for the children. ¹⁵ And I will very gladly spend and be spent ^(W)for your souls; though ^(X)the more abundantly I love you, the less I am loved.

¹⁶ But be that as it may, ^(Y)I did not burden you. Nevertheless, being crafty, I caught you by cunning! ¹⁷ Did I take advantage of you by any of those whom I sent to you? ¹⁸ I urged Titus, and sent our ^(Z)brother with him. Did Titus take advantage of you? Did we not walk in the same spirit? Did we not walk in the same steps?

^19 (AA)Again, ^[d]do you think that we excuse ourselves to you? ^(AB)We speak before God in Christ. ^(AC)But we do all things, beloved, for your edification. ²⁰ For I fear lest, when I come, I shall not find you such as I wish, and that ^(AD)I shall be found by you such as you do not wish; lest there be contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, backbitings, whisperings, conceits, tumults; ²¹ lest, when I come again, my God ^(AE)will humble me among you, and I shall mourn for many ^(AF)who have sinned before and have not repented of the uncleanness, ^(AG)fornication, and lewdness which they have practiced.