Judges 7:1-22

Now, the Baal-Fighter (that is, Gideon) and his men rose early and encamped by the Spring of Trembling. The Midianites had encamped in the valley to the north, below Moreh. YAHWEH spoke to Gideon: “You have too many in your army. If I give them victory over the Midianites, they might claim credit for themselves at my expense, thinking that they had won the victory on their own. Announce to your men, ‘All who are trembling and afraid, hurry back home and leave Mount Gilead!’ ” So twenty-two thousand went back home, and only ten thousand stayed with Gideon. Then YAHWEH spoke to Gideon again, “You still have too many men. Take them down to the water, and I will test them for you there. If I tell you a man should go with you, he will go. If I tell you a man should not go with you, he will not go.” So Gideon brought the soldiers down to the water, and YAHWEH said to him, “Separate those who drink from their cupped hands and drink as a dog laps from those who kneel down to drink.” Of the ten thousand men, only three hundred lapped water from their cupped hands; all the others knelt to drink. Then YAHWEH told Gideon, “I will give you victory over the Midianites with the three hundred men who cupped their hands and drank. Tell everyone else to go home.” So Gideon sent all the Israelites home except the three hundred, who kept the supplies and shofars of those who had left. Now the Midianites were camped down below in the valley. That night YAHWEH commanded Gideon, “Get up and attack the camp; I am giving you victory over the Midianites! But if you are afraid to engage them, first go down to the camp with your servant Purah. Listen to what they are saying, and then you will be brave and have the courage to attack.” So Gideon and his servant Purah went down and approached the outposts of the enemy camp. The Midianites, the Amalekites, and the desert tribesmen were spread out in the valley like a swarm of locusts. They had as many camels as there were grains of sand on the seashore. As soon as Gideon arrived, he heard an enemy soldier telling a friend about a dream. He was saying, “Well, I had a dream of this huge commotion in our camp. I dreamed a round loaf of barley bread came whirling into our camp and leveled a tent. It hit the tent so hard it turned it upside down, and the tent collapsed on the ground.” His friend interpreted the dream and said, “Your dream symbolizes the sword of the Israelite, Gideon son of Joash! It can’t mean anything else! God has given him victory over Midian and our whole army!” When Gideon heard about the man’s dream and what it meant, he fell to his knees and worshiped YAHWEH. Then he went back to the Israelite camp and shouted, “Come on, it’s time to strike! YAHWEH is giving you victory over the Midianite army!” He divided his three hundred men into three groups and gave each man a shofar and a clay jar hiding a torch inside it. He told them, “Follow me! When I get to the edge of the camp, watch me closely and do exactly what I do. When my group and I blow our shofars, then you blow yours all around the camp and shout, ‘For YAHWEH and for Gideon!’ ” Just before midnight, after the changing of the Midianite guard, Gideon and his hundred men came to the outskirts of the camp. Then each of the three groups blew the shofars and broke the clay jars that hid the torches inside. They held their torches in their left hands, the shofars in their right, and shouted a thunderous battle cry, “A sword for YAHWEH and for Gideon!” Each man held his position surrounding the camp. And the entire enemy army was shocked awake by the thunderous noises of Gideon’s army! They all panicked and fled, yelling as they ran away! When they sounded their three hundred shofars, YAHWEH made the enemy troops turn against each other with their own swords. The Midianites fled toward Zarerah as far as Beth Shittah, as far as the outskirts of the town of Abel Meholah near Tabbath.