for the necks of them that takethe spoil?
31 So let all thine enemies perish, O LORD: but letthem that love him beas the sun when he
goeth forth in his might. And the land had rest forty years.
1 And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD: and the LORD delivered them into
the hand of Midian seven years.
2 And the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel: andbecause of the Midianites the children of
Israel made them the dens which arein the mountains, and caves, and strong holds.
3 And soit was, when Israel had sown, that the Midianites came up, and the Amalekites, and
the children of the east, even they came up against them;
4 And they encamped against them, and destroyed the increase of the earth, till thou come unto
Gaza, and left no sustenance for Israel, neither sheep, nor ox, nor ass.
5 For they came up with their cattle and their tents, and they came as grasshoppers for
multitude; forboth they and their camels were without number: and they entered into the land
to destroy it.
6 And Israel was greatly impoverished because of the Midianites; and the children of Israel
cried unto the LORD.
7 And it came to pass, when the children of Israel cried unto the LORD because of the
Midianites,
8 That the LORD sent a prophet unto the children of Israel, which said unto them, Thus saith the
LORD God of Israel, I brought you up from Egypt, and brought you forth out of the house of
bondage;
9 And I delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of all that oppressed
you, and drave them out from before you, and gave you their land;
10 And I said unto you, I amthe LORD your God; fear not the gods of the Amorites, in whose land
ye dwell: but ye have not obeyed my voice.
11 And there came an angel of the LORD, and sat under an oak which wasin Ophrah, that
pertainedunto Joash the Abiezrite: and his son Gideon threshed wheat by the winepress, to hide
itfrom the Midianites.
12 And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him, and said unto him, The LORD iswith thee, thou
mighty man of valour.
13 And Gideon said unto him, Oh my Lord, if the LORD be with us, why then is all this befallen
us? and where beall his miracles which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not the LORD bring us
up from Egypt? but now the LORD hath forsaken us, and delivered us into the hands of the
Midianites.
14 And the LORD looked upon him, and said, Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from
the hand of the Midianites: have not I sent thee?
15 And he said unto him, Oh my Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? behold, my family ispoor
in Manasseh, and I amthe least in my father's house.
16 And the LORD said unto him, Surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite the Midianites
as one man.
17 And he said unto him, If now I have found grace in thy sight, then shew me a sign that thou
talkest with me.
18 Depart not hence, I pray thee, until I come unto thee, and bring forth my present, and set it
before thee. And he said, I will tarry until thou come again.
19 And Gideon went in, and made ready a kid, and unleavened cakes of an ephah of flour: the
flesh he put in a basket, and he put the broth in a pot, and brought itout unto him under the oak,
and presented it.
20 And the angel of God said unto him, Take the flesh and the unleavened cakes, and lay them
upon this rock, and pour out the broth. And he did so.
21 Then the angel of the LORD put forth the end of the staff that wasin his hand, and touched
the flesh and the unleavened cakes; and there rose up fire out of the rock, and consumed the
flesh and the unleavened cakes. Then the angel of the LORD departed out of his sight.
22 And when Gideon perceived that he wasan angel of the LORD, Gideon said, Alas, O Lord GOD!
for because I have seen an angel of the LORD face to face.
23 And the LORD said unto him, Peace beunto thee; fear not: thou shalt not die.
24 Then Gideon built an altar there unto the LORD, and called it Jehovahshalom: unto this day it
isyet in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
25 And it came to pass the same night, that the LORD said unto him, Take thy father's young
bullock, even the second bullock of seven years old, and throw down the altar of Baal that thy
father hath, and cut down the grove that isby it:
26 And build an altar unto the LORD thy God upon the top of this rock, in the ordered place, and
take the second bullock, and offer a burnt sacrifice with the wood of the grove which thou shalt
cut down.
27 Then Gideon took ten men of his servants, and did as the LORD had said unto him: and soit
was, because he feared his father's household, and the men of the city, that he could not do itby
day, that he did itby night.
28 And when the men of the city arose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was cast
down, and the grove was cut down that wasby it, and the second bullock was offered upon the
altar that wasbuilt.
29 And they said one to another, Who hath done this thing? And when they enquired and asked,
they said, Gideon the son of Joash hath done this thing.
30 Then the men of the city said unto Joash, Bring out thy son, that he may die: because he hath
cast down the altar of Baal, and because he hath cut down the grove that wasby it.
31 And Joash said unto all that stood against him, Will ye plead for Baal? will ye save him? he
that will plead for him, let him be put to death whilst it is yetmorning: if he bea god, let him
plead for himself, because onehath cast down his altar.
32 Therefore on that day he called him Jerubbaal, saying, Let Baal plead against him, because
he hath thrown down his altar.
33 Then all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the children of the east were gathered
together, and went over, and pitched in the valley of Jezreel.
34 But the Spirit of the LORD came upon Gideon, and he blew a trumpet; and Abiezer was
gathered after him.
35 And he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh; who also was gathered after him: and he
sent messengers unto Asher, and unto Zebulun, and unto Naphtali; and they came up to meet
them.
36 And Gideon said unto God, If thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as thou hast said,
37 Behold, I will put a fleece of wool in the floor; andif the dew be on the fleece only, and it
bedry upon all the earth beside, then shall I know that thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as
thou hast said.
38 And it was so: for he rose up early on the morrow, and thrust the fleece together, and
wringed the dew out of the fleece, a bowl full of water.
39 And Gideon said unto God, Let not thine anger be hot against me, and I will speak but this
once: let me prove, I pray thee, but this once with the fleece; let it now be dry only upon the
fleece, and upon all the ground let there be dew.
40 And God did so that night: for it was dry upon the fleece only, and there was dew on all the
ground.
1 Then Jerubbaal, who isGideon, and all the people that werewith him, rose up early, and
pitched beside the well of Harod: so that the host of the Midianites were on the north side of
2 And the LORD said unto Gideon, The people that arewith thee aretoo many for me to give the
Midianites into their hands, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, Mine own hand hath
saved me.
3 Now therefore go to, proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, Whosoever isfearful and
afraid, let him return and depart early from mount Gilead. And there returned of the people
twenty and two thousand; and there remained ten thousand.
4 And the LORD said unto Gideon, The people areyet toomany; bring them down unto the water,
and I will try them for thee there: and it shall be, thatof whom I say unto thee, This shall go
with thee, the same shall go with thee; and of whomsoever I say unto thee, This shall not go
with thee, the same shall not go.
5 So he brought down the people unto the water: and the LORD said unto Gideon, Every one that
lappeth of the water with his tongue, as a dog lappeth, him shalt thou set by himself; likewise
every one that boweth down upon his knees to drink.
6 And the number of them that lapped, puttingtheir hand to their mouth, were three hundred
men: but all the rest of the people bowed down upon their knees to drink water.
7 And the LORD said unto Gideon, By the three hundred men that lapped will I save you, and
deliver the Midianites into thine hand: and let all the otherpeople go every man unto his place.
8 So the people took victuals in their hand, and their trumpets: and he sent all the rest ofIsrael
every man unto his tent, and retained those three hundred men: and the host of Midian was
beneath him in the valley.
9 And it came to pass the same night, that the LORD said unto him, Arise, get thee down unto
the host; for I have delivered it into thine hand.
10 But if thou fear to go down, go thou with Phurah thy servant down to the host:
11 And thou shalt hear what they say; and afterward shall thine hands be strengthened to go
down unto the host. Then went he down with Phurah his servant unto the outside of the armed
men that werein the host.
12 And the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the children of the east lay along in the valley
like grasshoppers for multitude; and their camels werewithout number, as the sand by the sea
side for multitude.
13 And when Gideon was come, behold, there wasa man that told a dream unto his fellow, and
said, Behold, I dreamed a dream, and, lo, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the host of Midian,
and came unto a tent, and smote it that it fell, and overturned it, that the tent lay along.
14 And his fellow answered and said, This isnothing else save the sword of Gideon the son of
Joash, a man of Israel: forinto his hand hath God delivered Midian, and all the host.
15 And it was so, when Gideon heard the telling of the dream, and the interpretation thereof,
that he worshipped, and returned into the host of Israel, and said, Arise; for the LORD hath
delivered into your hand the host of Midian.
16 And he divided the three hundred men intothree companies, and he put a trumpet in every
man's hand, with empty pitchers, and lamps within the pitchers.
17 And he said unto them, Look on me, and do likewise: and, behold, when I come to the outside
of the camp, it shall be that, as I do, so shall ye do.
18 When I blow with a trumpet, I and all that arewith me, then blow ye the trumpets also on
every side of all the camp, and say, The swordof the LORD, and of Gideon.
19 So Gideon, and the hundred men that werewith him, came unto the outside of the camp in
the beginning of the middle watch; and they had but newly set the watch: and they blew the
trumpets, and brake the pitchers that werein their hands.
20 And the three companies blew the trumpets, and brake the pitchers, and held the lamps in
their left hands, and the trumpets in their right hands to blow withal: and they cried, The sword
