1 Then Jerubbaal, that is, Gideon, and all the people with him, got up early and put up their tents by the side of the water-spring of Harod; the tents of Midian were on the north side of him, under the hill of Moreh in the valley.2 And the Lord said to Gideon, So great is the number of your people, that if I give the Midianites into their hands they will be uplifted in pride over me and will say, I myself have been my saviour.3 So now, let it be given out to the people that anyone who is shaking with fear is to go back from Mount Galud. So twenty-two thousand of the people went back, but there were still ten thousand.4 Then the Lord said to Gideon, There are still more people than is necessary; take them down to the water so that I may put them to the test for you there; then whoever I say is to go with you will go, and whoever I say is not to go will not go.5 So he took the people down to the water; and the Lord said to Gideon, Put on one side by themselves all those drinking up the water with their tongues like a dog; and in the same way, all those who go down on their knees to the water while drinking.6 Now the number of those who took up the water with their tongues was three hundred; all the rest of the people went down on their knees to the water.7 And the Lord said to Gideon, By those three hundred who were drinking with their tongues I will give you salvation and give the Midianites into your hands; let the rest of the people go away, every man to his place.8 So they took the vessels of the people, and their horns from their hands, and he sent them away, every man to his tent, keeping only the three hundred; and the tents of Midian were lower down in the valley.9 The same night the Lord said to him, Up! go down now against their army, for I have given them into your hands.10 But if you have fear of going down, take your servant Purah with you and go down to the tents;11 And after hearing what they are saying, you will get strength to go down against the army. So he went down with his servant Purah to the outer line of the tents of the armed men.12 Now the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the people of the east were covering the valley like locusts; and their camels were like the sand by the seaside, without number.13 When Gideon came there, a man was giving his friend an account of his dream, saying, See, I had a dream about a cake of barley bread which, falling into the tents of Midian, came on to the tent, overturning it so that it was stretched out flat on the earth.14 And his friend in answer said, This is certainly the sword of Gideon, the son of Joash, the men of Israel: into their hands God has given up all the army of Midian.15 Then Gideon, hearing the story of the dream and the sense in which they took it, gave worship; then he went back to the tents of Israel, and said, Up! for the Lord has given the army of Midian into your hands.16 Then separating the three hundred men into three bands, he gave every man a horn, and a vessel in which was a flaming branch.17 And he said to them, Keep your eyes on me, and do what I do; when I come to the outer line of tents, whatever I do, you are to do the same.18 At the sound of my horn, and the horns of those who are with me, let your horns be sounded all round the tents, and say, For the Lord and for Gideon.19 So Gideon and the three hundred men who were with him came to the outer line of tents, at the start of the middle watch, when the watchmen had only then taken their stations; and the horns were sounded and the vessels broken.20 So the three bands all gave a loud note on their horns, and when the vessels had been broken, they took the flaming branches in their left hands, and the horns in their right hands ready for blowing, crying out, For the Lord and for Gideon.21 Then they made a line round the tents, every man in his place; and all the army, awaking from sleep, came running out, and with loud cries went in flight.22 And the three hundred gave a loud note on their horns, and every man's sword was turned by the Lord against his brother all through the army; and the army went in flight as far as Beth-shittah in the direction of Zeredah, to the edge of Abel-meholah by Tabbath.23 And the men of Israel came together from Naphtali and from Asher and all Manasseh, and went after Midian.24 Then Gideon sent through all the hill-country of Ephraim saying, Come down against Midian, and keep the ways across Jordan before they come. So all the men of Ephraim, massing themselves together, kept the ways across Jordan.25 And they took the two chiefs of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb; and they put Oreb to death at the rock of Oreb, and Zeeb they put to death at the place of the grape-crushing in Zeeb, and they went after Midian; but the heads of Oreb and Zeeb they took across Jordan to Gideon.

1 Igitur Jerobaal qui et Gedeon, de nocte consurgens, et omnis populus cum eo, venit ad fontem qui vocatur Harad. Erant autem castra Madian in valle ad septentrionalem plagam collis excelsi. 2 Dixitque Dominus ad Gedeon : Multus tecum est populus, nec tradetur Madian in manus ejus : ne glorietur contra me Isral, et dicat : Meis viribus liberatus sum. 3 Loquere ad populum, et cunctis audientibus prdica : Qui formidolosus et timidus est, revertatur. Recesseruntque de monte Galaad, et reversi sunt de populo viginti duo millia virorum, et tantum decem millia remanserunt. 4 Dixitque Dominus ad Gedeon : Adhuc populus multus est : duc eos ad aquas et ibi probabo illos : et de quo dixero tibi ut tecum vadat, ipse pergat ; quem ire prohibuero, revertatur. 5 Cumque descendisset populus ad aquas, dixit Dominus ad Gedeon : Qui lingua lambuerint aquas, sicut solent canes lambere, separabis eos seorsum : qui autem curvatis genibus biberint, in altera parte erunt. 6 Fuit itaque numerus eorum qui manu ad os projiciente lambuerunt aquas, trecenti viri : omnis autem reliqua multitudo flexo poplite biberat. 7 Et ait Dominus ad Gedeon : In trecentis viris qui lambuerunt aquas, liberabo vos, et tradam in manu tua Madian : omnis autem reliqua multitudo revertatur in locum suum. 8 Sumptis itaque pro numero cibariis et tubis, omnem reliquam multitudinem abire prcepit ad tabernacula sua : et ipse cum trecentis viris se certamini dedit. Castra autem Madian erant subter in valle.9 Eadem nocte dixit Dominus ad eum : Surge, et descende in castra : quia tradidi eos in manu tua. 10 Sin autem solus ire formidas, descendat tecum Phara puer tuus. 11 Et cum audieris quid loquantur, tunc confortabuntur manus tu, et securior ad hostium castra descendes. Descendit ergo ipse et Phara puer ejus in partem castrorum, ubi erant armatorum vigili. 12 Madian autem et Amalec, et omnes orientales populi, fusi jacebant in valle, ut locustarum multitudo : cameli quoque innumerabiles erant, sicut arena qu jacet in littore maris. 13 Cumque venisset Gedeon, narrabat aliquis somnium proximo suo : et in hunc modum referebat quod viderat : Vidi somnium, et videbatur mihi quasi subcinericius panis ex hordeo volvi, et in castra Madian descendere : cumque pervenisset ad tabernaculum, percussit illud, atque subvertit, et terr funditus coquavit. 14 Respondit is, cui loquebatur : Non est hoc aliud, nisi gladius Gedeonis filii Joas viri Isralit : tradidit enim Dominus in manus ejus Madian, et omnia castra ejus. 15 Cumque audisset Gedeon somnium, et interpretationem ejus, adoravit : et reversus est ad castra Isral, et ait : Surgite, tradidit enim Dominus in manus nostras castra Madian. 16 Divisitque trecentos viros in tres partes, et dedit tubas in manibus eorum, lagenasque vacuas, ac lampades in medio lagenarum. 17 Et dixit ad eos : Quod me facere videritis, hoc facite : ingrediar partem castrorum, et quod fecero, sectamini. 18 Quando personuerit tuba in manu mea, vos quoque per castrorum circuitum clangite, et conclamate : Domino et Gedeoni.19 Ingressusque est Gedeon, et trecenti viri qui erant cum eo, in partem castrorum, incipientibus vigiliis noctis medi : et custodibus suscitatis, cperunt buccinis clangere, et complodere inter se lagenas. 20 Cumque per gyrum castrorum in tribus personarent locis, et hydrias confregissent, tenuerunt sinistris manibus lampades, et dextris sonantes tubas, clamaveruntque : Gladius Domini et Gedeonis : 21 stantes singuli in loco suo per circuitum castrorum hostilium. Omnia itaque castra turbata sunt, et vociferantes ululantesque fugerunt : 22 et nihilominus insistebant trecenti viri buccinis personantes. Immisitque Dominus gladium omnibus castris, et mutua se cde truncabant, 23 fugientes usque ad Bethsetta, et crepidinem Abelmehula in Tebbath. Conclamantes autem viri Isral de Nephthali, et Aser, et omni Manasse, persequebantur Madian. 24 Misitque Gedeon nuntios in omnem montem Ephraim, dicens : Descendite in occursum Madian, et occupate aquas usque Bethbera atque Jordanem. Clamavitque omnis Ephraim, et proccupavit aquas atque Jordanem usque Bethbera. 25 Apprehensosque duos viros Madian, Oreb et Zeb, interfecit Oreb in petra Oreb, Zeb vero in torculari Zeb. Et persecuti sunt Madian, capita Oreb et Zeb portantes ad Gedeon trans fluenta Jordanis.