Judges 7:2-8

New American Standard Bible

² And the Lord said to Gideon, “The people who are with you are too many for Me to hand Midian over to them, ^(A)otherwise Israel would ^[a]become boastful, saying, ‘My own ^[b]power has saved me.’ ³ Now therefore come, proclaim in the hearing of the people, saying, ‘^(B)Whoever is afraid and worried, is to return and leave Mount Gilead.’” So twenty-two thousand from the people returned, but ten thousand remained.

^4 (C)Then the Lord said to Gideon, “The people are still too many; bring them down to the water and I will test them for you there. So it shall be that he of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall go with you,’ he shall go with you; but everyone of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ he shall not go.” ⁵ So he brought the people down to the water. Then the Lord said to Gideon, “You shall put everyone who laps the water with his tongue as a dog laps ^[c]in one group, and everyone who kneels down to drink in another.” ⁶ Now the number of those who lapped, ^[d]putting their hand to their mouth, was three hundred men; but all the rest of the people kneeled down to drink water. ⁷ And the Lord said to Gideon, “I will save you ^(D)with the three hundred men who lapped, and will hand the Midianites over to you; so have all the other people go, each man to his ^[e]home.” ⁸ So ^[f]the three hundred men took the people’s provisions and their trumpets in their hands. And ^[g]Gideon dismissed all the other men of Israel, each to his tent, but retained the three hundred men; and the camp of Midian was below him in the valley.