Judges 7:9-8:27

New American Standard Bible

⁹ Now on the same night it came about that the Lord said to him, “Arise, go down against the camp, ^(A)for I have handed it over to you. ¹⁰ But if you are afraid to go down, go with Purah your servant down to the camp, ¹¹ so that you will hear what they say; and ^(B)afterward ^[a]you will have the courage to go down against the camp.” So he went down with Purah his servant to the ^[b]outposts of the army that was in the camp. ¹² Now the Midianites, the Amalekites, and all the ^[c]people of the east were lying in the valley ^(C)as numerous as locusts; and their camels were without number, ^(D)as numerous as the sand on the seashore. ¹³ When Gideon came, behold, a man was relating a dream to his friend. And he said, “Behold, I ^[d]had a dream; ^[e]a loaf of barley bread was tumbling into the camp of Midian, and it came to the tent and struck it so that it fell, and turned it ^[f]upside down so that the tent collapsed.” ¹⁴ And his friend replied, “This is nothing other than the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel; God has ^(E)handed over to him Midian and all the camp.”

¹⁵ When Gideon heard the account of the dream and its interpretation, he bowed in worship. Then he returned to the camp of Israel and said, “Arise, for the Lord has handed over to you the camp of Midian!” ¹⁶ And he divided the three hundred men into three ^[g]units, and he put trumpets and empty pitchers into the hands of all of them, with torches inside the pitchers. ¹⁷ Then he said to them, “Look at me and do likewise. And behold, when I come to the outskirts of the camp, ^[h]do as I do. ¹⁸ When I and all who are with me blow the trumpet, then you also blow the trumpets around the entire camp and say, ‘For the Lord and for Gideon!’”

Confusion of the Enemy

¹⁹ So Gideon and the hundred men who were with him came to the outskirts of the camp at the beginning of the middle night watch, when they had just posted the watch; and they blew the trumpets and smashed the pitchers that were in their hands. ²⁰ When the three ^[i]units 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 shouted, “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!” ²¹ And each stood in his place around the camp; and ^(F)all the ^[j]army ran, crying out as they fled. ²² And when they blew the three hundred trumpets, the ^(G)Lord set the sword of one against another even throughout the entire ^[k]army; and the ^[l]army fled as far as Beth-shittah toward Zererah, as far as the edge of ^(H)Abel-meholah, by Tabbath. ²³ And the men of Israel were summoned from ^(I)Naphtali, Asher, and all Manasseh, and they pursued Midian.

²⁴ Then Gideon sent messengers throughout the hill country of Ephraim, saying, “Come down ^[m]against Midian and ^(J)take control of the waters ahead of them, as far as Beth-barah and the Jordan.” So all the men of Ephraim were summoned, and they took control of the waters as far as Beth-barah and the Jordan. ²⁵ And they captured the two leaders of Midian, ^(K)Oreb and Zeeb, and they killed Oreb at the rock of Oreb, and they killed Zeeb at the wine press of Zeeb, while they pursued Midian; and they brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon ^(L)from across the Jordan.

Zebah and Zalmunna Routed

8 Then the men of Ephraim said to ^[n]Gideon, “^(M)What is this thing that you have done to us, not calling upon us when you went to fight against Midian?” And they quarreled with him vehemently. ² But he said to them, “What have I done now in comparison with you? Is the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim not better than the vintage of Abiezer? ³ God has handed over to you the leaders of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb; and what was I able to do in comparison with you?” Then their ^[o]anger toward him subsided when he said ^[p]that.

⁴ Then Gideon and the three hundred men who were with him came ^(N)to the Jordan and crossed over, exhausted yet still pursuing. ⁵ And he said to the men of ^(O)Succoth, “Please give loaves of bread to the people who are ^[q]following me, for they are exhausted, and I am pursuing Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian.” ⁶ But the leaders of Succoth said, “^[r](P)Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your hand, that we should give bread to your army?” ⁷ So Gideon said, “For this answer, ^(Q)when the Lord has handed over to me Zebah and Zalmunna, I will ^[s]thrash your ^[t]bodies with the thorns of the wilderness and with briers.” ⁸ Then he went up from there to ^[u](R)Penuel and spoke similarly to them; and the men of Penuel answered him just as the men of Succoth had answered. ⁹ So he said also to the men of ^[v]Penuel, “When I return safely, ^(S)I will tear down this tower.”

¹⁰ Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor, and their ^[w]armies with them, about fifteen thousand men, all who were left of the entire ^[x]army of the ^[y]people of the east; ^(T)for the fallen were 120,000 ^[z]swordsmen. ¹¹ Gideon went up by the way of those who lived in tents to the east of Nobah and Jogbehah, and he ^[aa]attacked the camp when the camp was unsuspecting. ¹² When Zebah and Zalmunna fled, he pursued them and captured the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and routed the entire ^[ab]army.

¹³ Then Gideon the son of Joash returned from the battle ^[ac]by the ascent of Heres. ¹⁴ And he captured a youth from ^[ad]Succoth and questioned him. Then the youth wrote down for him the leaders of Succoth and its elders, seventy-seven men. ¹⁵ And he came to the men of Succoth and said, “Behold Zebah and Zalmunna, about whom you taunted me, saying, ‘^[ae](U)Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your hand, that we should give bread to your men who are weary?’” ¹⁶ Then he took the elders of the city, and thorns of the wilderness and briers, and he ^[af]disciplined the men of Succoth with them. ^17 (V)And he tore down the tower of Penuel and killed the men of the city.

¹⁸ Then he said to Zebah and Zalmunna, “Where were the men whom you killed at Tabor?” But they said, “You and they were alike, each one ^[ag]resembling the son of a king.” ¹⁹ And he said, “They were my brothers, the sons of my mother. As the Lord lives, if only you had let them live, I would not kill you.” ²⁰ So he said to Jether his firstborn, “Rise, kill them.” But the youth did not draw his sword, for he was afraid, because he was still a youth. ²¹ Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, “Rise up yourself, and attack us; for as the man, so is his strength.” ^(W)So Gideon arose and killed Zebah and Zalmunna, and ^(X)took the crescent amulets which were on their camels’ necks.

²² Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, “Rule over us, both you and your son, your son’s son as well, for you have saved us from the hand of Midian!” ²³ But Gideon said to them, “I will not rule over you, nor shall my son rule over you; ^(Y)the Lord shall rule over you.” ²⁴ Yet Gideon said to them, “I would ^[ah]request of you, that each of you give me ^[ai]an earring from his plunder.” (For they had gold earrings, because they were ^(Z)Ishmaelites.) ²⁵ And they said, “We will certainly give them to you.” So they spread out a garment, and every one of them tossed an earring there from his plunder. ²⁶ The weight of the gold earrings that he requested was 1,700 shekels of gold, apart from the crescent amulets, the ear pendants, and the purple robes which were on the kings of Midian, and apart from the neck chains that were on their camels’ necks. ²⁷ Gideon made it into ^(AA)an ephod, and placed it in his city, Ophrah; but all Israel ^[aj]committed infidelity with it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and his household.