Judges 7

All 25 verses in the Clear Bible Translation. Tap a verse to compare the KJV and read what it means.

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1. 1Early one morning, Jerubbaal — that is, Gideon — and all his men set up camp beside the spring of Harod. The Midianite army was camped north of them, near the hill of Moreh in the valley.
2. 2The LORD told Gideon, "You have too many men with you. If I hand the Midianites over to them, Israel will brag and say, 'We saved ourselves by our own strength.'
3. 3"So announce to the people: 'Anyone who is afraid or trembling may leave Mount Gilead and go home.'" 22,000 men left that day, and only 10,000 remained.
4. 4But the LORD said to Gideon, "There are still too many people. Bring them down to the water, and I will test them for you there. Whoever I say will go with you shall go, and whoever I say shall not go with you shall not go."
5. 5So Gideon brought the men down to the water. The LORD told him, "Separate everyone who laps water with his tongue the way a dog does. Put them in one group. Put everyone who kneels down to drink in another group."
6. 6Three hundred men lapped water by putting their hand to their mouth, while all the others knelt down to drink.
7. 7The LORD said to Gideon, "With these 300 men who lapped, I will save you and hand the Midianites over to you. Send everyone else home."
8. 8So Gideon kept the 300 men, who took the food and trumpets from the others. He sent the rest of the Israelites back to their tents. The Midianite camp lay below him in the valley.
9. 9That same night, the LORD said to him, "Get up and go down to the enemy camp, for I have delivered it into your hand."
10. 10But if you are afraid to go down, take your servant Purah and go down to the camp.
11. 11Listen to what they say, and afterward your hands will be strengthened to go down to the camp." So Gideon went down with his servant Purah to the edge of the armed men in the camp.
12. 12The Midianites, the Amalekites, and all the eastern tribes were spread across the valley like a swarm of locusts. Their camels were beyond counting — as many as grains of sand on a seashore.
13. 13When Gideon arrived, he overheard a man describing a dream to his companion. The man said, "I had this dream — a round loaf of barley bread came rolling into the Midianite camp. It slammed into a tent, knocked it flat, and left it lying there."
14. 14His companion replied, "That can only mean one thing: the sword of Gideon son of Joash, the Israelite. God has handed Midian and this entire army over to him."
15. 15When Gideon heard the dream and its interpretation, he worshiped. Then he returned to the Israelite camp and said, "Arise, for the LORD has delivered the Midianite army into your hands!"
16. 16He divided the 300 men into three companies and placed a trumpet in each man's hand, along with empty pitchers that had lamps inside them.
17. 17He told them, "Watch me and do exactly what I do. When I reach the edge of the camp, copy my every move.
18. 18When I and my group blow our trumpets, blow yours too — all around the camp — and shout, 'The sword of the LORD and of Gideon!'"
19. 19Gideon and his 100 men reached the edge of the camp just as the middle watch began and the new guards had barely taken their posts. They blew their trumpets and smashed the pitchers they were holding.
20. 20All three companies blew their trumpets and broke their pitchers. They held the lamps in their left hands and the trumpets in their right hands to blow them, and they shouted, "The sword of the LORD and of Gideon!"
21. 21Each man held his position around the camp, and the entire army ran, cried out, and fled.
22. 22As the 300 kept blowing their trumpets, the LORD turned the Midianites' swords against each other throughout the entire camp. The army fled toward Beth Shittah in the direction of Zererah, all the way to the border of Abel Meholah near Tabbath.
23. 23The men of Israel from the tribes of Naphtali, Asher, and all of Manasseh gathered together and chased after the Midianites.
24. 24Gideon also sent messengers throughout the hill country of Ephraim, saying, "Come down and cut off the Midianites! Seize the river crossings as far as Beth Barah and the Jordan." So all the men of Ephraim assembled and captured the water crossings as far as Beth Barah and the Jordan.
25. 25They captured two Midianite commanders, Oreb and Zeeb. They killed Oreb at the rock of Oreb, and they killed Zeeb at the winepress of Zeeb. They continued pursuing the Midianites and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon on the other side of the Jordan.