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.

Gideon Subdues the Midianites

8 Now ^(W)the men of Ephraim said to him, “Why have you done this to us by not calling us when you went to fight with the Midianites?” And they reprimanded him sharply.

² So he said to them, “What have I done now in comparison with you? Is not the ^[e]gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than ^[f]the vintage of ^(X)Abiezer? ^3 (Y)God has delivered into your hands the princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb. And what was I able to do in comparison with you?” Then their ^(Z)anger toward him subsided when he said that.

⁴ When Gideon came ^(AA)to the Jordan, he and ^(AB)the three hundred men who were with him crossed over, exhausted but still in pursuit. ⁵ Then he said to the men of ^(AC)Succoth, “Please give loaves of bread to the people who follow me, for they are exhausted, and I am pursuing Zebah and Zalmunna, kings of Midian.”

⁶ And the leaders of Succoth said, ^(AD)“Are^[g] the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in your hand, that ^(AE)we should give bread to your army?”

⁷ So Gideon said, “For this cause, when the Lord has delivered Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, ^(AF)then I will tear your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness and with briers!” ⁸ Then he went up from there ^(AG)to Penuel and spoke to them in the same way. And the men of Penuel answered him as the men of Succoth had answered. ⁹ So he also spoke to the men of Penuel, saying, “When I ^(AH)come back in peace, ^(AI)I will tear down this tower!”

¹⁰ Now Zebah and Zalmunna were at Karkor, and their armies with them, about fifteen thousand, all who were left of ^(AJ)all the army of the people of the East; for ^(AK)one hundred and twenty thousand men who drew the sword had fallen. ¹¹ Then Gideon went up by the road of those who dwell in tents on the east of ^(AL)Nobah and Jogbehah; and he ^[h]attacked the army while the camp felt ^(AM)secure. ¹² When Zebah and Zalmunna fled, he pursued them; and he ^(AN)took the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and routed the whole army.

¹³ Then Gideon the son of Joash returned from battle, from the Ascent of Heres. ¹⁴ And he caught a young man of the men of Succoth and interrogated him; and he wrote down for him the leaders of Succoth and its elders, seventy-seven men. ¹⁵ Then he came to the men of Succoth and said, “Here are Zebah and Zalmunna, about whom you ^(AO)ridiculed me, saying, ‘Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in your hand, that we should give bread to your weary men?’ ” ^16 (AP)And he took the elders of the city, and thorns of the wilderness and briers, and with them he ^[i]taught the men of Succoth. ^17 (AQ)Then he tore down the tower of ^(AR)Penuel and killed the men of the city.

Taking the Place of Barabbas^(A)

^13 (B)Then Pilate, when he had called together the chief priests, the rulers, and the people, ¹⁴ said to them, ^(C)“You have brought this Man to me, as one who misleads the people. And indeed, ^(D)having examined Him in your presence, I have found no fault in this Man concerning those things of which you accuse Him; ¹⁵ no, neither did Herod, for ^[a]I sent you back to him; and indeed nothing deserving of death has been done by Him. ^16 (E)I will therefore chastise Him and release Him” ^17 (F)(for^[b] it was necessary for him to release one to them at the feast).

¹⁸ And ^(G)they all cried out at once, saying, “Away with this Man, and release to us Barabbas”— ¹⁹ who had been thrown into prison for a certain rebellion made in the city, and for murder.

²⁰ Pilate, therefore, wishing to release Jesus, again called out to them. ²¹ But they shouted, saying, “Crucify Him, crucify Him!”

²² Then he said to them the third time, “Why, what evil has He done? I have found no reason for death in Him. I will therefore chastise Him and let Him go.”

²³ But they were insistent, demanding with loud voices that He be crucified. And the voices of these men ^[c]and of the chief priests prevailed. ²⁴ So ^(H)Pilate gave sentence that it should be as they requested. ^25 (I)And he released ^[d]to them the one they requested, who for rebellion and murder had been thrown into prison; but he delivered Jesus to their will.

The King on a Cross^(J)

^26 (K)Now as they led Him away, they laid hold of a certain man, Simon a Cyrenian, who was coming from the country, and on him they laid the cross that he might bear it after Jesus.

²⁷ And a great multitude of the people followed Him, and women who also mourned and lamented Him. ²⁸ But Jesus, turning to them, said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. ^29 (L)For indeed the days are coming in which they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, wombs that never bore, and breasts which never nursed!’ ³⁰ Then they will begin ^(M)‘to say to the mountains, “Fall on us!” and to the hills, “Cover us!” ’ ^31 (N)For if they do these things in the green wood, what will be done in the dry?”

^32 (O)There were also two others, criminals, led with Him to be put to death. ³³ And ^(P)when they had come to the place called Calvary, there they crucified Him, and the criminals, one on the right hand and the other on the left. ^34 [e]Then Jesus said, “Father, ^(Q)forgive them, for ^(R)they do not know what they do.”

And ^(S)they divided His garments and cast lots. ³⁵ And ^(T)the people stood looking on. But even the ^(U)rulers with them sneered, saying, “He saved others; let Him save Himself if He is the Christ, the chosen of God.”

³⁶ The soldiers also mocked Him, coming and offering Him ^(V)sour wine, ³⁷ and saying, “If You are the King of the Jews, save Yourself.”

^38 (W)And an inscription also was ^[f]written over Him in letters of Greek, Latin, and Hebrew:

THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.

^39 (X)Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, ^[g]“If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us.”

⁴⁰ But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, “Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? ⁴¹ And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done ^(Y)nothing wrong.” ⁴² Then he said ^[h]to Jesus, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.”

⁴³ And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in ^(Z)Paradise.”

A Song of Praise to the Sovereign Lord

A Song of Praise to the Lord for His Salvation and Judgment

A Psalm.