⁸ So Gideon sent all the Israelites to their tents but kept the three hundred troops, who took the provisions and their rams’ horns. The camp of Midian was below him in the valley.

Gideon Spies on the Midianite Camp

⁹ That night the Lord said to him, “Get up and attack the camp, for I have handed it over to you.^{(A) 10} But if you are afraid to attack the camp, go down with Purah your servant. ¹¹ Listen to what they say, and then you will be encouraged to attack the camp.” So he went down with Purah his servant to the outpost of the troops^[a] who were in the camp.

¹² Now the Midianites, Amalekites, and all the people of the east had settled down in the valley like a swarm of locusts, and their camels were as innumerable as the sand on the seashore. ¹³ When Gideon arrived, there was a man telling his friend about a dream. He said, “Listen, I had a dream:^(B) a loaf of barley bread came tumbling into the Midianite camp, struck a tent, and it fell. The loaf turned the tent upside down so that it collapsed.”

¹⁴ His friend answered, “This is nothing less than the sword of Gideon son of Joash, the Israelite. God has handed the entire Midianite camp over to him.”

Gideon Attacks the Midianites

¹⁵ When Gideon heard the account of the dream and its interpretation, he bowed in worship. He returned to Israel’s camp and said, “Get up, for the Lord has handed the Midianite camp over to you.” ¹⁶ Then he divided the three hundred men into three companies and gave each of the men a ram’s horn in one hand and an empty pitcher with a torch inside it in the other hand.

¹⁷ “Watch me,” he said to them, “and do what I do. When I come to the outpost of the camp, do as I do. ¹⁸ When I and everyone with me blow our rams’ horns, you are also to blow your rams’ horns all around the camp. Then you will say, ‘For the Lord and for Gideon!’”

¹⁹ Gideon and the hundred men who were with him went to the outpost of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch after the sentries had been stationed. They blew their rams’ horns and broke the pitchers that were in their hands. ²⁰ The three companies blew their rams’ horns and shattered their pitchers. They held their torches in their left hands and their rams’ horns to blow in their right hands, and they shouted, “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!” ²¹ Each Israelite took his position around the camp, and the entire Midianite army began to run, and they cried out as they fled. ²² When Gideon’s men blew their three hundred rams’ horns, the Lord caused the men in the whole army to turn on each other with their swords.^(C) They fled to Acacia House^[b] in the direction of Zererah as far as the border of Abel-meholah^(D) near Tabbath. ²³ Then the men of Israel were called from Naphtali, Asher, and Manasseh, and they pursued the Midianites.

The Men of Ephraim Join the Battle

²⁴ Gideon sent messengers throughout the hill country of Ephraim with this message: “Come down to intercept the Midianites and take control of the watercourses ahead of them as far as Beth-barah and the Jordan.” So all the men of Ephraim^(E) were called out, and they took control of the watercourses as far as Beth-barah and the Jordan. ²⁵ They captured Oreb and Zeeb, the two princes of Midian; they killed Oreb at the rock of Oreb and Zeeb at the winepress of Zeeb, while they were pursuing the Midianites. They brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon across the Jordan.

8 The men of Ephraim said to him, “Why have you done this to us, not calling us when you went to fight against the Midianites?” And they argued with him violently.

² So he said to them, “What have I done now compared to you? Is not the gleaning^(A) of Ephraim better than the grape harvest^(B) of Abiezer? ³ God handed over to you Oreb and Zeeb, the two princes of Midian. What was I able to do compared to you?” When he said this, their anger against him subsided.

Gideon Pursues the Kings of Midian

⁴ Gideon and the three hundred men came to the Jordan and crossed it. They were exhausted but still in pursuit. ⁵ He said to the men of Succoth,^(C) “Please give some loaves of bread to the troops under my command,^[a] because they are exhausted, for I am pursuing Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian.”

⁶ But the princes of Succoth asked, “Are Zebah and Zalmunna now in your hands that we should give bread to your army?”

⁷ Gideon replied, “Very well, when the Lord has handed Zebah and Zalmunna over to me, I will tear^[b] your flesh with thorns and briers from the wilderness!” ⁸ He went from there to Penuel and asked the same thing from them. The men of Penuel^(D) answered just as the men of Succoth had answered. ⁹ He also told the men of Penuel, “When I return safely, I will tear down this tower!”

¹⁰ Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor, and with them was their army of about fifteen thousand men, who were all those left of the entire army of the people of the east. Those who had been killed were one hundred twenty thousand armed men. ¹¹ Gideon traveled on the caravan route^[c] east of Nobah^(E) and Jogbehah and attacked their army while the army felt secure. ¹² Zebah and Zalmunna fled, and he pursued them. He captured these two kings of Midian and routed the entire army.

¹³ Gideon son of Joash returned from the battle by the Ascent of Heres. ¹⁴ He captured a youth from the men of Succoth and interrogated him. The youth wrote down for him the names of the seventy-seven leaders and elders of Succoth. ¹⁵ Then he went to the men of Succoth and said, “Here are Zebah and Zalmunna. You taunted me about them, saying, ‘Are Zebah and Zalmunna now in your power that we should give bread to your exhausted men?’” ¹⁶ So he took the elders of the city, and he took some thorns and briers from the wilderness, and he disciplined the men of Succoth with them. ¹⁷ He also tore down the tower of Penuel and killed the men of the city.

¹⁸ He asked Zebah and Zalmunna, “What kind of men did you kill at Tabor?”

“They were like you,” they said. “Each resembled the son of a king.”

¹⁹ So he said, “They were my brothers, the sons of my mother! As the Lord lives, if you had let them live, I would not kill you.” ²⁰ Then he said to Jether, his firstborn, “Get up and kill them.” The youth did not draw his sword, for he was afraid because he was still a youth.

²¹ Zebah and Zalmunna said, “Get up and strike us down yourself, for a man is judged by his strength.” So Gideon got up, killed Zebah and Zalmunna, and took the crescent ornaments that were on the necks of their camels.

Gideon’s Legacy

²² Then the Israelites said to Gideon, “Rule over us,^(F) you as well as your sons and your grandsons, for you delivered us from the power of Midian.”

²³ But Gideon said to them, “I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you; the Lord will rule over you.” ²⁴ Then he said to them, “Let me make a request of you: Everyone give me an earring from his plunder.” Now the enemy had gold earrings because they were Ishmaelites.

²⁵ They said, “We agree to give them.” So they spread out a cloak, and everyone threw an earring from his plunder on it. ²⁶ The weight of the gold earrings he requested was forty-three pounds^[d] of gold, in addition to the crescent ornaments and ear pendants, the purple garments on the kings of Midian, and the chains on the necks of their camels. ²⁷ Gideon made an ephod^(G) from all this and put it in Ophrah, his hometown. Then all Israel prostituted themselves by worshiping it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and his household.

²⁸ So Midian was subdued before the Israelites, and they were no longer a threat. The land had peace for forty years^(H) during the days of Gideon. ²⁹ Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) son of Joash went back to live at his house.

³⁰ Gideon had seventy sons, his own offspring, since he had many wives. ³¹ His concubine who was in Shechem^(I) also bore him a son, and he named him Abimelech. ³² Then Gideon son of Joash died at a good old age and was buried in the tomb of his father Joash in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

³³ When Gideon died, the Israelites turned and prostituted^(J) themselves by worshiping the Baals and made Baal-berith^[e] their god. ³⁴ The Israelites did not remember the Lord their God^(K) who had rescued them from the hand of the enemies around them. ³⁵ They did not show kindness^(L) to the house of Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) for all the good he had done for Israel.