Shofetim 7

1Then Yerubaal, who is Gid'on, and kol haAm that were with him, rose up early and encamped by Ein Charod; so that the Machaneh Midyan was on the north side of them, by the hill of Moreh, in the valley.

2And Hashem said unto Gid'on, The people that are with thee are too rav (many) for Me to give Midyan into their hands, lest Yisroel vaunt themselves against Me, saying, Mine own yad hath saved me.

3Now therefore go to, proclaim in the oznei haAm, saying, Whoever is fearful and afraid, let him return and depart early from Har HaGil`ad. And there returned of the people twenty and two thousand; and there remained ten thousand.

4And Hashem said unto Gid'on, HaAm are yet too many; bring them down unto the mayim, and I will sift 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 haAm unto the mayim; and Hashem said unto Gid'on, Every one that laps the mayim with his leshon, as a kelev laps, him shalt thou separate by himself; likewise every one that kneels down upon his knees to drink.

6And the number of the ones lapping, putting their yad to their mouth, were three hundred ish; but all the rest of haAm kneeled down upon their knees to drink mayim.

7And Hashem said unto Gid'on, By the three hundred ish that lapped will I save you, and deliver Midyan into thine yad; and let all the other people go every ish unto his makom (place, home).

8So the [retained] people took provision in their yad, and their shofarot; and he sent kol ish Yisroel every ish unto his ohel, but retained those three hundred haIsh; and the Machaneh Midyan was below him in the valley.

9And it came to pass the same lailah, that Hashem said unto him, Arise, get thee down unto the Machaneh; for I have delivered it into thine yad.

10But if thou fear to go down, go thou with Phurah thy eved down to the machaneh;

11And thou shalt hear what they say; and afterward shall thine hands be strengthened to go down unto the machaneh. Then he went down with Phurah his eved unto the outposts of the armed men that were in the machaneh.

12And Midyan and Amalek and kol Bnei Kedem lay along in the valley like arbeh for multitude; and their camels were without number, as the chol (sand) on the seashore for multitude.

13And when Gid'on arrived, hinei, there was an ish that told a chalom unto his re'a, and said, Hinei, I dreamed a chalom, and, hinei, a round loaf of lechem se'orim tumbled into the Machaneh Midyan, and came unto an ohel, and struck it that it fell, and overturned it, that the ohel collapsed.

14And his re'a answered and said, This is nothing else but the cherev Gid'on ben Yoash, an ish Yisroel; for into his yad hath HaElohim delivered Midyan, and kol hamachaneh.

15And it was so, when Gid'on heard the telling of the chalom, and the shever (breaking [of a dream, T.N. i.e., its interpretation]) thereof, that he worshiped, and returned into the machaneh Yisroel, and said, Arise; for Hashem hath delivered into your yad the Machaneh Midyan.

16And he divided the three hundred haIsh into three companies, and he put a shofar in every man's yad, with empty jars, and torches within the jars.

17And he said unto them, Look on me, and do likewise; and, hinei, when I come to the edge of the machaneh, it shall be that, as I do, so shall ye do.

18When I blow the shofar, I and all that are with me, then blow ye the shofarot also on every side of all the machaneh, and say, "For Hashem, and for Gid'on."

19So Gid'on, and the hundred ish that were with him, came unto the outside of the machaneh in the beginning of the ashmoret hatikhonah (middle watch); and they had just set the shomrim; and they blew the shofar, and broke the jars that were in their hands.

20And the three companies blew the shofar, and broke the jars, and held the torches in their left hands, and the shofarot in their right hands to blow withal; and they cried, A Cherev for Hashem and for Gid'on.

21And they held every ish his position round about the machaneh; and kol hamachaneh ran, and cried out, and fled.

22And the three hundred blew the shofarot, and Hashem caused every man's cherev to be against his re'a, even throughout all the machaneh; and the machaneh fled to Beit-Sheetah in Tzererah, and to the border of Avel Mecholah, by Tabat.

23And the Ish Yisroel gathered themselves together out of Naphtali, out of Asher, and out of all Menasheh, and pursued after Midyan.

24And Gid'on sent malachim throughout all Har Ephrayim, saying, Come down against Midyan, and seize ahead of them the mayim as far as Beit Barah and Yarden. Then kol ish Ephrayim gathered themselves together, and took the mayim unto Beit Barah and Yarden.

25And they took two sarim (princes) of Midyan, Orer and Ze'ev; and they killed Orev upon the Tzur Orev, and Ze'ev they killed at the Yekev (winepress) of Ze'ev, and pursued Midyan, and brought the heads of Orev and Ze'ev to Gid'on beyond the Yarden.