³ So then, please proclaim in the hearing^[a] of the troops, saying, ‘Whoever is fearful and trembling, let him return and depart from the Mount of Gilead.’” About twenty-two thousand troops returned, and ten thousand remained. ⁴ And Yahweh said to Gideon, “There are still too many troops; bring them down to the water, and I will sift through them^[b] for you there. For whomever I say to you, ‘This one will go with you,’ he will go with you; and for all whom I say to you, ‘This one will not go with you,’ he will not go.” ⁵ So he brought down the troops to the water, and Yahweh said to Gideon, “You must separate everyone who laps up the water to drink with his tongue like a dog from those who kneel.”^[c]