Chapter 7

¹ And Jerobaal rose early, the same is Gedeon, and all the people with him, and encamped at the fountain of Arad; and the

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camp of Madiam was to the north of him, reaching from Gabaathamorai, in the valley.

² And the Lord said to Gedeon, The people with thee are many, so that I may not deliver Madiam into their hand, lest at any time Israel boast against me, saying, My hand has saved me. ³ And now speak in the ears of the people, saying, Who is afraid and fearful? let him turn and depart from mount Galaad: and there returned of the people twenty-two thousand, and ten thousand were left. ⁴ And the Lord said to Gedeon, The people is yet numerous; bring them down to the water, and I will purge them there for thee: and it shall come to pass that of whomsoever I shall say to thee, This one shall go with thee, even he shall go with thee; and of whomsoever I shall say to thee, This one shall not go with thee, even he shall not go with thee. ⁵ And he brought the people down to the water; and the Lord said to Gedeon, Whosoever shall lap of the water with his tongue as if a dog should lap, thou shalt set him apart, and also whosoever shall bow down upon his knees to drink. ⁶ And the number of those that lapped with their hand to their mouth was three hundred men; and all the rest of the people bowed upon their knees to drink water. ⁷ And the Lord said to Gedeon, I will save you by the three hundred men that lapped, and I will give Madiam into thy hand; and all the rest of the people shall go every one to his place. ⁸ And they took the provision of the people in their hand, and their horns; and he sent away every man of Israel each to his tent, and he ¹strengthened the three hundred; and the army of Madiam were beneath him in the valley.

⁹ And it came to pass in that night that the Lord said to him, Arise, go down into the camp, for I have delivered it into thy hand. ¹⁰ And if thou art afraid to go down, go down thou and thy servant Phara into the camp. ¹¹ And thou shalt hear what they shall say, and afterwards thy hands shall be strong, and thou shalt go down into the camp: and he went down and Phara his servant to the extremity of the companies of fifty, which were in the camp. ¹² And Madiam and Amalec and all the children of the east were scattered in the valley, as the locust for multitude; and there was no number to their camels, but they were as the sand on the seashore for multitude.

¹³ And Gedeon came, and behold a man was relating to his neighbour a dream, and he said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream, and behold, a cake of barley bread rolling into the camp of Madiam, and it came as far as a tent, and smote it, and it fell, and it turned it up, and the tent fell. ¹⁴ And his neighbour answered and said, This is none other than the sword of Gedeon, son of Joas, a man of Israel: God has delivered Madiam and all the host into his hand.

¹⁵ And it came to pass when Gedeon heard the account of the dream and the interpretation of it, that he worshipped the Lord,

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and returned to the camp of Israel, and said, Rise, for the Lord has delivered the camp of Madiam into our hand. ¹⁶ And he divided the three hundred men into three companies, and put horns in the ²hands of all, and empty pitchers, and torches in the pitchers: ¹⁷ and he said to them, Ye shall look ³at me, and so shall ye do; and behold, I will go into the ⁴beginning of the host, and it shall come to pass that as I do, so shall ye do. ¹⁸ And I will sound with the horn, and all ye with me shall sound with the horn round about the whole camp, and ye shall say, For the Lord and Gedeon.

¹⁹ And Gedeon and the hundred men that were with him came to the extremity of the army in the beginning of the middle watch; and they completely roused the guards, and sounded with the horns, and they ⁵broke the pitchers that were in their hands, ²⁰ and the three companies sounded with the horns, and broke the pitchers, and held the torches in their left hands, and in their right hands their horns to sound with; and they cried out, A sword for the Lord and for Gedeon. ²¹ And every man stood in his place round about the host; and all the host ran, and sounded an alarm, and fled. ²² And they sounded with the three hundred horns; and the Lord set every man's sword in all the host against his neighbour. ²³ And the host fled as far as Bethseed Tagaragatha Abel-meula to Tabath; and the men of Israel from Nephthali, and from Aser, and from all Manasse, came to help, and followed after Madiam.

²⁴ And Gedeon sent messengers ⁶into all mount Ephraim, saying, Come down to meet Madiam, and take to yourselves the water as far as Bæthera and Jordan: and every man of Ephraim cried out, and they took the water before hand unto Bæthera and Jordan. ²⁵ And they took the princess of Madiam, even Oreb and Zeb; and they slew Oreb in Sur Oreb, and they slew Zeb in Jakephzeph; and they pursued Madiam, and brought the ⁷heads of Oreb and Zeb to Gedeon from beyond Jordan.