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Gideon Surprises and Routs the Midianites

Then Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) and all the troops who were with him rose early and encamped beside the spring of Harod, and the camp of Midian was north of them, below[a] the hill of Moreh, in the valley.(A)

The Lord said to Gideon, “The troops with you are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hand. Israel would only take the credit away from me, saying, ‘My own hand has delivered me.’(B) Now, therefore, proclaim this in the hearing of the troops, ‘Whoever is fearful and trembling, let him return home.’ ” Thus Gideon sifted them out;[b] twenty-two thousand returned, and ten thousand remained.(C)

Then the Lord said to Gideon, “The troops are still too many; take them down to the water, and I will sift them out for you there. When I say, ‘This one shall go with you,’ he shall go with you, and when I say, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ he shall not go.”(D) So he brought the troops down to the water, and the Lord said to Gideon, “All those who lap the water with their tongues, as a dog laps, you shall put to one side; all those who kneel down to drink, putting their hands to their mouths,[c] you shall put to the other side.” The number of those who lapped was three hundred, but all the rest of the troops knelt down to drink water. Then the Lord said to Gideon, “With the three hundred who lapped I will deliver you and give the Midianites into your hand. Let all the others go to their homes.”(E) So the people took provisions in their hands and their trumpets, and he sent all the rest of Israel back to their own tents but retained the three hundred. The camp of Midian was below him in the valley.

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Footnotes

  1. 7.1 Heb from
  2. 7.3 Cn: Heb home, and depart from Mount Gilead’ ”
  3. 7.5 Heb places putting their hands to their mouths after lapped in 7.6

God Chooses Gideon’s 300 Soldiers

Then Jerubbaal, also known as Gideon, got up early along with all of his soldiers. They encamped near the Harod Spring. The Midian encampment lay in the valley to their north, near the hill of Moreh. The Lord told Gideon, “You have too many soldiers with you for me to drop Midian into their hands, because Israel would become arrogant and say, ‘It was my own abilities that delivered me.’ That’s why you’re to ask in full view of the soldiers, “Whoever is afraid or is trembling may go back from Mount Gilead and return home.”[a] So 22,000 soldiers left and 10,000 remained.

“There are still too many soldiers,” the Lord told Gideon. “Bring them down to the water and I’ll refine them for you there. Therefore when I say to you, ‘This one will be going with you,’ he’ll go with you, but no one may go about whom I tell you, ‘This one won’t be going with you.’”

So he brought his soldiers down to the water, and the Lord told Gideon, “You are to cull out everyone who laps up water with his tongue like a dog from everyone who kneels to drink.” The contingent of soldiers who lapped water[b] with their hands to their mouths numbered 300 men, but everyone else kneeled to drink water.

Then the Lord told Gideon, “I’m going to deliver you with the 300 soldiers who lapped by giving the Midianites into your control. Send everyone else back to their own homes.”[c]

So the soldiers took provisions with them, along with their trumpets, and Gideon[d] sent all the rest of the soldiers of Israel back to their own tents, but he retained the 300 men. And the Midian encampment was below him in the valley.

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Footnotes

  1. Judges 7:3 The Heb. lacks home
  2. Judges 7:6 The Heb. lacks water
  3. Judges 7:7 Lit. place
  4. Judges 7:8 Lit. he