Gideon's Three Hundred Men

7 Then ^(A)Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) and all the people who were with him rose early and encamped beside ^(B)the spring of Harod. And the camp of Midian was north of them, ^(C)by the hill of Moreh, in the valley.

² The Lord said to Gideon, “The people with you are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hand, ^(D)lest Israel boast over me, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.’ ³ Now therefore proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, ^(E)‘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.

⁴ And 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.” ⁵ So 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.” ⁶ And 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. ⁷ And the Lord said to Gideon, ^(F)“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.” ⁸ So 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 ^(G)in the valley.

⁹ That same ^(H)night the Lord said to him, “Arise, go down against the camp, ^(I)for I have given it into your hand. ¹⁰ But if you are afraid to go down, go down to the camp with Purah your servant. ^11 (J)And you shall hear what they say, and afterward your hands shall be strengthened to go down against the camp.” ^(K)Then he went down with Purah his servant to the outposts of the armed men who were in the camp. ¹² And the Midianites and the Amalekites and ^(L)all the people of the East lay along the valley like locusts in abundance, and their camels were without number, ^(M)as the sand that is on the seashore in abundance. ¹³ When 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.” ¹⁴ And 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.”

¹⁵ As 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.” ¹⁶ And he divided the 300 men into three companies and put trumpets into the hands of all of them and empty jars, with ^(N)torches inside the jars. ¹⁷ And he said to them, “Look at me, and do likewise. When I come to the outskirts of the camp, do as I do. ¹⁸ When 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, ^(O)‘For the Lord and for Gideon.’”

Gideon Defeats Midian

¹⁹ So 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. ²⁰ Then 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. ^(P)And they cried out, “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!” ²¹ Every man stood in his place around the camp, ^(Q)and all the army ran. They cried out and fled. ^22 (R)When they blew the 300 trumpets, ^(S)the Lord set ^(T)every man's sword against his comrade and against all the army. And the army fled as far as Beth-shittah toward Zererah,^[a] as far as the border of Abel-meholah, by Tabbath. ²³ And the men of Israel were called out from Naphtali and from Asher and from all Manasseh, and they pursued after Midian.

^24 (U)Gideon sent messengers throughout ^(V)all the hill country of Ephraim, saying, “Come down against the Midianites and capture the waters against them, as far as ^(W)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. ²⁵ And they captured ^(X)the two princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb. They killed Oreb ^(Y)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 ^(Z)across the Jordan.

Gideon Defeats Zebah and Zalmunna

8 ^(AA)Then the men of Ephraim said to him, “What is this that you have done to us, not to call us when you went to fight against Midian?” And they accused him fiercely. ² And he said to them, “What have I done now in comparison with you? Is not ^(AB)the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the grape harvest of Abiezer? ^3 (AC)God has given into your hands the princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb. What have I been able to do in comparison with you?” ^(AD)Then their anger^[b] against him subsided when he said this.

⁴ And Gideon came to the Jordan and crossed over, he and ^(AE)the 300 men who were with him, exhausted yet pursuing. ⁵ So he said to the men of ^(AF)Succoth, “Please give loaves of bread to the people who follow me, for they are exhausted, and I am pursuing after Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian.” ⁶ And the officials of Succoth said, ^(AG)“Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your hand, ^(AH)that we should give bread to your army?” ⁷ So Gideon said, “Well then, when the Lord has given Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, ^(AI)I will flail your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness and with briers.” ⁸ And from there he went up to ^(AJ)Penuel, and spoke to them in the same way, and the men of Penuel answered him as the men of Succoth had answered. ⁹ And he said to the men of Penuel, ^(AK)“When I come again in peace, ^(AL)I will break down this tower.”

¹⁰ Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor with their army, about 15,000 men, all who were left of all the army of ^(AM)the people of the East, for there had fallen 120,000 men ^(AN)who drew the sword. ¹¹ And Gideon went up by the way of the tent dwellers east of ^(AO)Nobah and Jogbehah and attacked the army, for the army felt ^(AP)secure. ¹² And Zebah and Zalmunna fled, and he pursued them ^(AQ)and captured the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and he threw all the army into a panic.

¹³ Then Gideon the son of Joash returned from the battle by the ascent of Heres. ¹⁴ And he captured a young man of Succoth and questioned him. And he wrote down for him the officials and elders of Succoth, seventy-seven men. ¹⁵ And he came to the men of Succoth and said, “Behold Zebah and Zalmunna, about whom you taunted me, saying, ^(AR)‘Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your hand, that we should give bread to your men who are exhausted?’” ¹⁶ And he took the elders of the city, and he took thorns of the wilderness and briers and with them taught the men of Succoth a lesson. ^17 (AS)And he broke down the tower of Penuel and killed the men of the city.

¹⁸ Then he said to Zebah and Zalmunna, “Where are the men whom you killed at ^(AT)Tabor?” They answered, “As you are, so were they. Every one of them resembled the son of a king.” ¹⁹ And he said, “They were my brothers, the sons of my mother. ^(AU)As the Lord lives, if you had saved them alive, I would not kill you.” ²⁰ So he said to Jether his firstborn, “Rise and kill them!” But the young man did not draw his sword, for he was afraid, because he was still a young man. ²¹ Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, “Rise yourself and fall upon us, for as the man is, so is his strength.” And Gideon arose and ^(AV)killed Zebah and Zalmunna, and he took ^(AW)the crescent ornaments that were on the necks of their camels.

O Lord My God, You Are Very Great

Abraham Justified by Faith

4 What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, ^(A)our forefather according to the flesh? ² For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but ^(B)not before God. ³ For what does the Scripture say? ^(C)“Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” ⁴ Now ^(D)to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. ⁵ And to the one who does not work but ^(E)believes in^[a] him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, ⁶ just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works:

⁹ Is this blessing then only for ^(H)the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? ^(I)For we say that faith was counted to Abraham as righteousness. ¹⁰ How then was it counted to him? Was it before or after he had been circumcised? It was not after, but before he was circumcised. ^11 (J)He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was ^(K)to make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised, so that righteousness would be counted to them as well, ¹² and to make him the father of the circumcised who are not merely circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.

The Promise Realized Through Faith

¹³ For ^(L)the promise to Abraham and his offspring ^(M)that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith. ^14 (N)For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. ¹⁵ For ^(O)the law brings wrath, but ^(P)where there is no law ^(Q)there is no transgression.

¹⁶ That is why it depends on faith, ^(R)in order that the promise may rest on grace and ^(S)be guaranteed to all his offspring—not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, ^(T)who is the father of us all, ¹⁷ as it is written, ^(U)“I have made you the father of many nations”—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, ^(V)who gives life to the dead and calls into existence ^(W)the things that do not exist. ¹⁸ In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, ^(X)“So shall your offspring be.” ¹⁹ He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was ^(Y)as good as dead (^(Z)since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered ^(AA)the barrenness^[b] of Sarah's womb. ²⁰ No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, ²¹ fully convinced that ^(AB)God was able to do what he had promised. ²² That is why his faith was “counted to him as righteousness.” ²³ But ^(AC)the words “it was counted to him” were not written for his sake alone, ²⁴ but for ours also. It will be counted to us ^(AD)who believe in ^(AE)him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, ^25 (AF)who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised ^(AG)for our justification.

Peace with God Through Faith

5 ^(AH)Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, ^(AI)we^[c] have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. ² Through him we have also ^(AJ)obtained access by faith^[d] into this grace ^(AK)in which we stand, and ^(AL)we^[e] rejoice^[f] in hope of the glory of God. ³ Not only that, but we ^(AM)rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering ^(AN)produces endurance, ⁴ and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, ⁵ and ^(AO)hope does not put us to shame, because God's love ^(AP)has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

⁶ For ^(AQ)while we were still weak, at the right time ^(AR)Christ died for the ungodly. ⁷ For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— ⁸ but ^(AS)God shows his love for us in that ^(AT)while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. ⁹ Since, therefore, ^(AU)we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from ^(AV)the wrath of God. ¹⁰ For if ^(AW)while we were enemies ^(AX)we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by ^(AY)his life. ¹¹ More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received ^(AZ)reconciliation.

Death in Adam, Life in Christ

¹² Therefore, just as ^(BA)sin came into the world through one man, and ^(BB)death through sin, and ^(BC)so death spread to all men^[g] because ^(BD)all sinned— ¹³ for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but ^(BE)sin is not counted where there is no law. ¹⁴ Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not ^(BF)like the transgression of Adam, ^(BG)who was a type of ^(BH)the one who was to come.

¹⁵ But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man's trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for ^(BI)many. ¹⁶ And the free gift is not like the result of that one man's sin. For ^(BJ)the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought ^(BK)justification. ¹⁷ For if, because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness ^(BL)reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.

¹⁸ Therefore, as one trespass^[h] led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness^[i] leads to justification and life for ^(BM)all men. ¹⁹ For as by the one man's ^(BN)disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's ^(BO)obedience the many will be made righteous. ²⁰ Now ^(BP)the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, ^(BQ)grace abounded all the more, ²¹ so that, ^(BR)as sin reigned in death, ^(BS)grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Dead to Sin, Alive to God

6 What shall we say then? ^(BT)Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? ² By no means! How can ^(BU)we who died to sin still live in it? ³ Do you not know that all of us ^(BV)who have been baptized ^(BW)into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? ⁴ We were ^(BX)buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as ^(BY)Christ was raised from the dead by ^(BZ)the glory of the Father, we too might walk in ^(CA)newness of life.

⁵ For ^(CB)if we have been united with him in ^(CC)a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. ⁶ We know that ^(CD)our old self^{[j] (CE)}was crucified with him in order that ^(CF)the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. ⁷ For ^(CG)one who has died ^(CH)has been set free^[k] from sin. ⁸ Now ^(CI)if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. ⁹ We know that ^(CJ)Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; ^(CK)death no longer has dominion over him. ¹⁰ For the death he died he died to sin, ^(CL)once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. ¹¹ So you also must consider yourselves ^(CM)dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

¹² Let not ^(CN)sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. ^13 (CO)Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but ^(CP)present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. ¹⁴ For ^(CQ)sin ^(CR)will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.

Slaves to Righteousness

¹⁵ What then? ^(CS)Are we to sin ^(CT)because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! ¹⁶ Do you not know that if you present yourselves ^(CU)to anyone as obedient slaves,^[l] you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? ¹⁷ But ^(CV)thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the ^(CW)standard of teaching to which you were committed, ¹⁸ and, ^(CX)having been set free from sin, ^(CY)have become slaves of righteousness. ^19 (CZ)I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For ^(DA)just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members ^(DB)as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.

^20 (DC)For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. ^21 (DD)But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things ^(DE)of which you are now ashamed? ^(DF)For the end of those things is death. ²² But now that you ^(DG)have been set free from sin and ^(DH)have become slaves of God, ^(DI)the fruit you get leads to sanctification and ^(DJ)its end, eternal life. ^23 (DK)For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.