19So Gideon went in and prepared a kid, and [baked] unleavened bread from an ephah of flour. He put the meat in a basket and poured the broth into a pot, and he brought them out to Him under the terebinth. As he presented them, 20the angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened bread, put them on yonder rock, and spill out the broth.” He did so. 21The angel of the LORD held out the staff that he carried, and touched the meat and the unleavened bread with its tip. A fire sprang up from the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened bread. And the angel of the LORD vanished from his sight. 22Then Gideon realized that it was an angel of the LORD; and Gideon said, “Alas, O Lord GOD! For I have seen an angel of the LORD face to face.”
23But the LORD said to him, “All is well; have no fear, you shall not die.” 24So Gideon built there an altar to the LORD and called it c-Adonaishalom.-c To this day it stands in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
25That night the LORD said to him: “Take the a-young bull-a belonging to your father and another bull seven years old; pull down the altar of Baal which belongs to your father, and cut down the sacred post which is beside it. 26Then build an altar to the LORD your God, on a-the level ground-a on top of this stronghold. Take the other bull and offer it as a burnt offering, using the wood of the sacred post that you have cut down.” 27So Gideon took ten of his servants and did as the LORD had told him; but as he was afraid to do it by day, on account of his father’s household and the townspeople, he did it by night. 28Early the next morning, the townspeople found that the altar of Baal had been torn down and the sacred post beside it had been cut down, and that the second bull had been offered on the newly built altar. 29They said to one another, “Who did this thing?” Upon inquiry and investigation, they were told, “Gideon son of Joash did this thing!” 30The townspeople said to Joash, “Bring out your son, for he must die: he has torn down the altar of Baal and cut down the sacred post beside it!” 31But Joash said to all who had risen against him, “Do you have to contend for Baal? Do you have to vindicate him? Whoever fights his battles shall be dead by morning! If he is a god, let him fight his own battles, since it is his altar that has been torn down!” 32That day they named himd Jerubbaal, meaning “Let Baal contend with him, since he tore down his altar.”
33All Midian, Amalek, and the Kedemites joined forces; they crossed over and encamped in the Valley of Jezreel. 34The spirit of the LORD enveloped Gideon; he sounded the horn, and the Abiezrites rallied behind him. 35And he sent messengers throughout Manasseh, and they too rallied behind him. He then sent messengers through Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, and they came up to meet the Manassites.e
36And Gideon said to God, “If You really intend to deliver Israel through me as You have said—37here I place a fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If dew falls only on the fleece and all the ground remains dry, I shall know that You will deliver Israel through me, as You have said.” 38And that is what happened. Early the next day, he squeezed the fleece and wrung out the dew from the fleece, a bowlful of water. 39Then Gideon said to God, “Do not be angry with me if I speak just once more. Let me make just one more test with the fleece: let the fleece alone be dry, while there is dew all over the ground.” 40God did so that night: only the fleece was dry, while there was dew all over the ground.
7 Early next day, Jerubbaal—that is, Gideon—and all the troops with him encamped above En-harod,a while the camp of Midian was in the plain to the north of him, at Gibeath-moreh.b 2The LORD said to Gideon, “You have too many troops with you for Me to deliver Midian into their hands; Israel might claim for themselves the glory due to Me, thinking, ‘Our own hand has brought us victory.’ 3Therefore, announce to the men, ‘Let anybody who is timid and fearful turn back, c-as a bird flies from Mount Gilead.’ ”-c Thereupon, 22,000 of the troops turned back and 10,000 remained.
4“There are still too many troops,” the LORD said to Gideon. “Take them down to the water and I will siftd them for you there. Anyone of whom I tell you, ‘This one is to go with you,’ that one shall go with you; and anyone of whom I tell you, ‘This one is not to go with you,’ that one shall not go.” 5So he took the troops down to the water. Then the LORD said to Gideon, “Set apart all those who e-lap up the water with their tongues like dogs-e from all those who get down on their knees to drink.” 6Now those who “lapped” the water into their mouths by hand numbered three hundred; all the rest of the troops got down on their knees to drink. 7Then the LORD said to Gideon, “I will deliver you and I will put Midian into your hands through the three hundred ‘lappers’; let the rest of the troops go home.” 8c-So [the lappers] took the provisions and horns that the other men had with them,-c and he sent the rest of the men of Israel back to their homes, retaining only the three hundred men.
The Midianite camp was below him, in the plain. 9That night the LORD said to him, “Come, attackf the camp, for I have delivered it into your hands. 10And if you are afraid to attack, first go down to the camp with your attendant Purah 11and listen to what they say; after that you will have the courage to attack the camp.” So he went down with his attendant Purah to the outposts of the warriors who were in the camp.—12Now Midian, Amalek, and all the Kedemites were spread over the plain, as thick as locusts; and their camels were countless, as numerous as the sands on the seashore.—13Gideon came there just as one man was narrating a dream to another. “Listen,” he was saying, “I had this dream: There was a commotionc—a loaf of barley bread was whirling through the Midianite camp. It came to a tent and struck it, and it fell; it turned it upside down, and the tent collapsed.” 14To this the other responded, “That can only mean the sword of the Israelite Gideon son of Joash. God is delivering Midian and the entire camp into his hands.”g
15When Gideon heard the dream told and interpreted, he bowed low. Returning to the camp of Israel, he shouted, “Come on! The LORD has delivered the Midianite camp into your hands!” 16He divided the three hundred men into three columns and equipped every man with a ram’s horn and an empty jar, with a torch in each jar. 17“Watch me,” he said, “and do the same. When I get to the outposts of the camp, do exactly as I do. 18When I and all those with me blow our horns, you too, all around the camp, will blow your horns and shout, ‘For the LORD and for Gideon!’ ”
19Gideon and the hundred men with him arrived at the outposts of the camp, at the beginning of the middle watch, just after the sentries were posted. h-They sounded the horns and smashed the jars that they had with them,-h 20and the three columns blew their horns and broke their jars. Holding the torches in their left hands and the horns for blowing in their right hands, they shouted, “A sword for the LORD and for Gideon!” 21They remained standing where they were, surrounding the camp; but the entire camp ran about yelling, and took to flight. 22For when the three hundred horns were sounded, the LORD turned every man’s sword against his fellow, throughout the camp, and the entire host fled as far as Bethshittah and on to Zererah—as far as the outskirts of Abel-meholah near Tabbath.
23And now the men of Israel from Naphtali and Asher and from all of Manasseh rallied for the pursuit of the Midianites. 24Gideon also sent messengers all through the hill country of Ephraim with this order: i“Go down ahead of the Midianites and seize their access to the water all along the Jordan down to Beth-barah.” So all the men of Ephraim rallied and seized the waterside down to Beth-barah by the Jordan. 25They pursued the Midianites and captured Midian’s
