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Judges 7 :: New Living Translation (NLT)

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Gideon Defeats the Midianites
Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 7:1 - So Jerub-baal (that is, Gideon) and his army got up early and went as far as the spring of Harod. The armies of Midian were camped north of them in the valley near the hill of Moreh.
Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 7:2 - The LORD said to Gideon, “You have too many warriors with you. If I let all of you fight the Midianites, the Israelites will boast to me that they saved themselves by their own strength.
Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 7:3 - Therefore, tell the people, ‘Whoever is timid or afraid may leave this mountain[fn] and go home.’” So 22,000 of them went home, leaving only 10,000 who were willing to fight.
Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 7:4 - But the LORD told Gideon, “There are still too many! Bring them down to the spring, and I will test them to determine who will go with you and who will not.”
Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 7:5 - When Gideon took his warriors down to the water, the LORD told him, “Divide the men into two groups. In one group put all those who cup water in their hands and lap it up with their tongues like dogs. In the other group put all those who kneel down and drink with their mouths in the stream.”
Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 7:6 - Only 300 of the men drank from their hands. All the others got down on their knees and drank with their mouths in the stream.
Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 7:7 - The LORD told Gideon, “With these 300 men I will rescue you and give you victory over the Midianites. Send all the others home.”
Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 7:8 - So Gideon collected the provisions and rams’ horns of the other warriors and sent them home. But he kept the 300 men with him.
The Midianite camp was in the valley just below Gideon.
Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 7:9 - That night the LORD said, “Get up! Go down into the Midianite camp, for I have given you victory over them!
Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 7:10 - But if you are afraid to attack, go down to the camp with your servant Purah.
Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 7:11 - Listen to what the Midianites are saying, and you will be greatly encouraged. Then you will be eager to attack.”
So Gideon took Purah and went down to the edge of the enemy camp.
Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 7:12 - The armies of Midian, Amalek, and the people of the east had settled in the valley like a swarm of locusts. Their camels were like grains of sand on the seashore—too many to count!
Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 7:13 - Gideon crept up just as a man was telling his companion about a dream. The man said, “I had this dream, and in my dream a loaf of barley bread came tumbling down into the Midianite camp. It hit a tent, turned it over, and knocked it flat!”
Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 7:14 - His companion answered, “Your dream can mean only one thing—God has given Gideon son of Joash, the Israelite, victory over Midian and all its allies!”
Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 7:15 - When Gideon heard the dream and its interpretation, he bowed in worship before the LORD.[fn] Then he returned to the Israelite camp and shouted, “Get up! For the LORD has given you victory over the Midianite hordes!”
Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 7:16 - He divided the 300 men into three groups and gave each man a ram’s horn and a clay jar with a torch in it.
Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 7:17 - Then he said to them, “Keep your eyes on me. When I come to the edge of the camp, do just as I do.
Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 7:18 - As soon as I and those with me blow the rams’ horns, blow your horns, too, all around the entire camp, and shout, ‘For the LORD and for Gideon!’”
Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 7:19 - It was just after midnight,[fn] after the changing of the guard, when Gideon and the 100 men with him reached the edge of the Midianite camp. Suddenly, they blew the rams’ horns and broke their clay jars.
Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 7:20 - Then all three groups blew their horns and broke their jars. They held the blazing torches in their left hands and the horns in their right hands, and they all shouted, “A sword for the LORD and for Gideon!”
Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 7:21 - Each man stood at his position around the camp and watched as all the Midianites rushed around in a panic, shouting as they ran to escape.
Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 7:22 - When the 300 Israelites blew their rams’ horns, the LORD caused the warriors in the camp to fight against each other with their swords. Those who were not killed fled to places as far away as Beth-shittah near Zererah and to the border of Abel-meholah near Tabbath.
Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 7:23 - Then Gideon sent for the warriors of Naphtali, Asher, and Manasseh, who joined in chasing the army of Midian.
Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 7:24 - Gideon also sent messengers throughout the hill country of Ephraim, saying, “Come down to attack the Midianites. Cut them off at the shallow crossings of the Jordan River at Beth-barah.”
So all the men of Ephraim did as they were told.
Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 7:25 - They captured Oreb and Zeeb, the two Midianite commanders, killing Oreb at the rock of Oreb, and Zeeb at the winepress of Zeeb. And they continued to chase the Midianites. Afterward the Israelites brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon, who was by the Jordan River.
NLT Footnotes
Hebrew may leave Mount Gilead. The identity of Mount Gilead is uncertain in this context. It is perhaps used here as another name for Mount Gilboa.
As in Greek version; Hebrew reads he bowed.
Hebrew at the beginning of the second watch.
NLT

Holy Bible, New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Full copyright information is provided here. Visit the New Living Translation website.

For more information on this translation, see the NLT Preface.

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