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.”

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Footnotes

  1. Judges 7:11 Lit your hand will be strengthened
  2. Judges 7:11 Lit extremity of the battle formation
  3. Judges 7:12 Lit sons
  4. Judges 7:13 Lit dreamed
  5. Judges 7:13 Lit and behold, a loaf
  6. Judges 7:13 Lit upward

Gideon Reassured of Victory

That night the Lord said to Gideon,[a] “Get up! Attack[b] the camp, for I am handing it over to you.[c] 10 But if you are afraid to attack, go down to the camp with Purah your servant 11 and listen to what they are saying. Then you will be brave[d] and attack the camp.” So he went down with Purah his servant to where the sentries were guarding the camp.[e] 12 Now the Midianites, Amalekites, and the people from the east covered the valley like a swarm of locusts.[f] Their camels could not be counted; they were as innumerable as the sand on the seashore. 13 When Gideon arrived, he heard a man telling another man about a dream he had.[g] The man[h] said, “Look! I had a dream. I saw[i] a stale cake of barley bread rolling into the Midianite camp. It hit a tent so hard it knocked it over and turned it upside down. The tent just collapsed.”[j] 14 The other man said,[k] “Without a doubt this symbolizes[l] the sword of Gideon son of Joash, the Israelite. God is handing Midian and all the army over to him.”

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Footnotes

  1. Judges 7:9 tn Heb “him”; the referent (Gideon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  2. Judges 7:9 tn Heb “Go down against.”
  3. Judges 7:9 tn The Hebrew verbal form is a perfect, emphasizing the certainty of the promise.
  4. Judges 7:11 tn Heb “your hands will be strengthened.”
  5. Judges 7:11 tn Heb “to the edge of the ones in battle array who were in the camp.”
  6. Judges 7:12 tn Heb “Midian, Amalek, and the sons of the east were falling in the valley like locusts in great number.”
  7. Judges 7:13 tn Heb “And Gideon came, and, look, a man was relating to his friend a dream.”
  8. Judges 7:13 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the man mentioned in the previous clause) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  9. Judges 7:13 tn Heb “Look!” The repetition of this interjection, while emphatic in Hebrew, would be redundant in the English translation.
  10. Judges 7:13 tn Heb “It came to the tent and struck it and it fell. It turned it upside down and the tent fell.”
  11. Judges 7:14 tn Heb “answered and said.”
  12. Judges 7:14 tn Heb “This can be nothing but.”