Judges 7

¹Therfor Jerobaal, which also Gedeon, roos bi nyyt, and al the puple with hym, and cam to the welle which is clepid Arad. Sotheli the tentis of Madian weren in the valey, at the north coost of the hiy hil.

²And the Lord seide to Gedeon, Myche puple is with thee, and Madian schal not be bitakun in to the hondis `ther of, lest Israel haue glorie ayens me, and seie, Y am delyuerid bi my strengthis.

³Speke thou to the puple, and preche thou, while alle men heren, He that is ferdful `in herte, and dredeful `with outforth, turne ayen. And thei yeden awei fro the hil of Galaad, and two and twenti thousynde of men turniden ayen fro the puple; and oneli ten thousynde dwelliden.

⁴And the Lord seide to Gedeon, Yet the puple is myche; lede thou hem to the watris, and there Y schal preue hem, and he go, of whom Y schal seye, that he go; turne he ayen, whom Y schal forbede to go.

⁵And whanne the puple hadde go doun to watris, the Lord seide to Gedeon, Thou schalt departe hem bi hem silf, that lapen watris with hond and tunge, as doggis ben wont to lape; sotheli thei, that drynken with knees bowid, schulen be in the tothir part.

⁶And so the noumbre of hem, that lapiden watris bi hond castynge to the mouth, was thre hundrid men; forsothe al the tothir multitude drank knelynge.

⁷And the Lord seide to Gedeon, In thre hundrid men, that lapiden watris, Y schal delyuere you, and Y schal bitake Madian in thin hond; but al the tothir multitude turne ayen in to her place.

⁸And so whanne thei hadden take meetis and trumpis for the noumbre, he comaundide al the tothir multitude to go to her tabernaclis; and he, with thre hundrid men, yaf hym silf to batel. Sothely the tentis of Madian weren bynethe in the valey.

⁹In the same nyyt the Lord seyde to hym, Ryse thou, and go doun in to `the castels of Madian, for Y haue bitake hem in thin hond;

¹⁰sotheli if thou dredist to go aloon, Phara, thi child, go doun with thee.

¹¹And whanne thou schalt here what thei speken, thanne thin hondis schulen be coumfortid, and thou schalt do down sikerere to the tentis of enemyes. Therfor he yede doun, and Phara, his child, in to the part of tentis, where the watchis of armed men weren.

¹²Forsothe Madian, and Amalech, and alle the puplis of the eest layen spred in the valey, as the multitude of locustis; sotheli the camelis weren vnnoumbrable, as grauel that liggith in the `brenke of the see.

¹³And whanne Gedeon hadde come, a man tolde a dreem to his neiybore, and telde bi this maner that, that he hadde seyn, I siy a dreem, and it semyde to me, that as `o loof of barly bakun vndur the aischis was walewid, and cam doun in to the tentis of Madian; and whanne it hadde come to a tabernacle, it smoot and distriede `that tabernacle, and made euene outirly to the erthe.

¹⁴That man answeride, to whom he spak, This is noon other thing, no but the swerd of Gedeon, `sone of Joas, a man of Israel; for the Lord hath bitake Madian and alle `tentis therof in to the hondis of Gedeon.

¹⁵And whanne Gedeon had herd the dreem, and `the interpretyng therof, he worschypide the Lord, and turnede ayen to the tentis of Israel, and seide, Ryse ye; for the Lord hath bitake in to oure hondis the tentis of Madian.

¹⁶And he departide thre hundrid men in to thre partis, and he yaf trumpis in her hondis, and voyde pottis, and laumpis in the myddis of the pottis.

¹⁷And he seide to hem, Do ye this thing which ye seen me do; Y schal entre in to a part of the tentis, and sue ye that, that Y do.

¹⁸Whanne the trumpe in myn hond schal sowne, sowne ye also `bi the cumpas of tentis, and crye ye togidere, To the Lord and to Gedeon.

¹⁹And Gedeon entride, and thre hundrid men that weren with hym, `in to a part of the tentis, whanne the watchis of mydnyyt bigunnen; and whanne the keperis weren reysid, thei bigunnen to sowne with trumpis, and to bete togidere the pottis among hem silf.

²⁰And whanne thei sowneden in thre places bi cumpas, and hadden broke the pottis, thei helden laumpis in the left hondis, and sownynge trumpis in the riyt hondis; and thei crieden, The swerd of the Lord and of Gedeon; and stoden alle in her place,

²¹`bi the cumpas of the tentis of enemyes. And so alle `the tentis weren troblid; and thei crieden, and yelliden, and fledden;

²²and neuertheles the thre hundrid men contynueden, sownynge with trumpis. And the Lord sente swerd in alle the castels, and thei killiden hem silf bi deeth ech other;

²³and thei fledden `til to Bethsecha, and bi the side, fro Elmonla in to Thebbath. Sotheli men of Israel crieden togidere, of Neptalym, and of Aser, and of alle Manasses, and pursueden Madian; and the Lord yaf victorie to the puple of Israel in that day.

²⁴And Gedeon sente messangeris in to al the hil of Effraym, and seide, Come ye doun ayens the comyng of Madian, and ocupie ye the watris `til to Bethbera and Jordan. And al Effraym criede, and bifore ocupide the watris and Jordan `til to Bethbera.

²⁵And Effraym killide twei men of Madian, Oreb and Zeb; he killide Oreb in the ston of Oreb, forsothe `he killide Zeb in the pressour of Zeb; and `thei pursueden Madian, and baren the heedis of Oreb and of Zeb to Gedeon, ouer the flodis of Jordan.

Judges 7

¹Then Jerubbaal, who is Gideon, and all the people that were with him, rose up early, and pitched beside the well of Harod: so that the host of the Midianites were on the north side of them, by the hill of Moreh, in the valley.

²And the Lord said unto Gideon, The people that are with thee are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me.

³Now therefore go to, proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, Whosoever is fearful 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.

⁴And the Lord said unto Gideon, The people are yet too many; bring them down unto the water, and I will try them for thee there: and it shall be, that of 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.

⁵So 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.

⁶And the number of them that lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, were three hundred men: but all the rest of the people bowed down upon their knees to drink water.

⁷And 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 other people go every man unto his place.

⁸So the people took victuals in their hand, and their trumpets: and he sent all the rest of Israel every man unto his tent, and retained those three hundred men: and the host of Midian was beneath him in the valley.

⁹And 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.

¹⁰But if thou fear to go down, go thou with Phurah thy servant down to the host:

¹¹And 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 were in the host.

¹²And the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the children of the east lay along in the valley like grasshoppers for multitude; and their camels were without number, as the sand by the sea side for multitude.

¹³And when Gideon was come, behold, there was a 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.

¹⁴And his fellow answered and said, This is nothing else save the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel: for into his hand hath God delivered Midian, and all the host.

¹⁵And 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.

¹⁶And he divided the three hundred men into three companies, and he put a trumpet in every man’s hand, with empty pitchers, and lamps within the pitchers.

¹⁷And 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.

¹⁸When I blow with a trumpet, I and all that are with me, then blow ye the trumpets also on every side of all the camp, and say, The sword of the Lord, and of Gideon.

¹⁹So Gideon, and the hundred men that were with 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 were in their hands.

²⁰And 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 of the Lord, and of Gideon.

²¹And they stood every man in his place round about the camp: and all the host ran, and cried, and fled.

²²And the three hundred blew the trumpets, and the Lord set every man’s sword against his fellow, even throughout all the host: and the host fled to Beth–shittah in Zererath, and to the border of Abel–meholah, unto Tabbath.

²³And the men of Israel gathered themselves together out of Naphtali, and out of Asher, and out of all Manasseh, and pursued after the Midianites.

²⁴And Gideon sent messengers throughout all mount Ephraim, saying, Come down against the Midianites, and take before them the waters unto Beth–barah and Jordan. Then all the men of Ephraim gathered themselves together, and took the waters unto Beth–barah and Jordan.

²⁵And they took two princes of the Midianites, Oreb and Zeeb; and they slew Oreb upon the rock Oreb, and Zeeb they slew at the winepress of Zeeb, and pursued Midian, and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon on the other side Jordan.