¹⁵ When Gideon^[a] heard the tale of the dream and its interpretation, he bowed down in worship and then returned to the Israeli encampment.

Gideon’s 300 Attack

There he announced, “Get up! The Lord has given the Midianite army into your control!” ¹⁶ Then he separated the 300 men into three companies, gave them each trumpets to carry, along with jars into which he placed lit torches.

¹⁷ He instructed them, “Watch me, and do what I do. When we come to the outer perimeter of the encampment, do what I do. ¹⁸ When I sound my trumpet, accompanied by everyone who is with me, you must blow your trumpets all around the entire encampment. Then shout out, ‘For the Lord and for Gideon!’”

¹⁹ So Gideon and the 100 men with him arrived at the outer perimeter of the encampment at the beginning of the middle watch, just after they had posted sentries. They blew their trumpets and smashed the jars that they were carrying in their hands. ²⁰ When the three companies sounded their trumpets and broke the jars, they held the torches in their left hands and sounded their trumpets with their right hands. Then they cried out, “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!” ²¹ They stood up, each soldier in his assigned^[b] place surrounding the encampment, and the entire army ran away, sounding the alarm to retreat.

²² As the 300 trumpets were being sounded, the Lord turned the swords of the Midianite^[c] soldiers against one another throughout the entire army, and the army ran away as far as Beth-shittah in the direction of Zererah. They got as far as the outskirts of Abel-meholah, near Tabbath. ²³ Israeli soldiers were called out from the territories of^[d] Naphtali, Asher, and throughout Manasseh, and they chased after the Midianites.