Then sang Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam on that day, saying,

Praise ye the LORD for the avenging of Israel, when the people willingly offered themselves.

LORD, when thou wentest out of Seir, when thou marchedst out of the field of Edom, the earth trembled, and the heavens dropped, the clouds also dropped water.

In the days of Shamgar the son of Anath, in the days of Jael, the highways were unoccupied, and the travelers walked through by-ways.

The inhabitants of the villages ceased, they ceased in Israel, until that I Deborah arose, that I arose a mother in Israel.

They chose new gods; then was war in the gates: was there a shield or spear seen among forty thousand in Israel?

Speak, ye that ride on white asses, ye that sit in judgment, and walk by the way.

They that are delivered from the noise of archers in the places of drawing water, there shall they rehearse the righteous acts of the LORD, even the righteous acts towards the inhabitants of his villages in Israel: then shall the people of the LORD go down to the gates.

And the princes of Issachar were with Deborah: even Issachar, and also Barak: he was sent on foot into the valley. For the divisions of Reuben there were great thoughts of heart.

Gilead abode beyond Jordan: and why did Dan remain in ships? Asher continued on the sea-shore, and abode in his breaches.

Zebulun and Naphtali were a people that jeoparded their lives to death in the high places of the field.

The kings came and fought, then fought the kings of Canaan in Tanach by the waters of Megiddo; they took no gain of money.

They fought from heaven; the stars in their courses fought against Sisera.

Blessed above women shall Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite be, blessed shall she be above women in the tent.

He asked water, and she gave him milk; she brought forth butter in a lordly dish.

She put her hand to the nail, and her right hand to the workmen's hammer; and with the hammer she smote Sisera, she smote off his head, when she had pierced and struck through his temples.

The mother of Sisera looked out at a window, and cried through the lattice, Why is his chariot so long in coming? why tarry the wheels of his chariots?

Have they not found; have they not divided the prey; to every man a damsel or two; to Sisera a prey of divers colors, a prey of divers colors of needle-work, of divers colors of needle-work on both sides, meet for the necks of them that take the spoil?

So let all thy enemies perish, O LORD: but let them that love him be as the sun when he goeth forth in his might. And the land had rest forty years.

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.

And the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel: and because of the Midianites the children of Israel made them the dens which are in the mountains, and caves, and strong holds.

And so it 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;

And it came to pass, when the children of Israel cried to the LORD because of the Midianites,

And I said to you, I am the LORD your God; fear not the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but ye have not obeyed my voice.

And there came an angel of the LORD, and sat under an oak which was in Ophrah, that pertained to Joash the Abi-ezrite: and his son Gideon thrashed wheat by the wine-press, to hide it from the Midianites.

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?

And he said to him, O my Lord, by what means shall I save Israel? behold, my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house.

And the LORD said to him, Surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man.

And he said to him, If now I have found grace in thy sight, then show me a sign that thou talkest with me.

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 it out to him under the oak, and presented it.

Then the angel of the LORD put forth the end of the staff that was in his hand, and touched the flesh and the unleavened cakes; and there rose fire out of the rock, and consumed the flesh and the unleavened cakes. Then the angel of the LORD departed from his sight.

And when Gideon perceived that he was an angel of the LORD, Gideon said, Alas, O Lord GOD! for because I have seen an angel of the LORD face to face.

Then Gideon built an altar there to the LORD, and called it Jehovah-shalom: to this day it is yet in Ophrah of the Abi-ezrites.

And build an altar to 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.

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 was by it, and the second bullock was offered upon the altar that was built.

And they said one to another, Who hath done this thing? And when they inquired and asked, they said, Gideon the son of Joash hath done this thing.

And Joash said to 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 yet morning: if he is a god, let him plead for himself, because one hath cast down his altar.

Therefore on that day he called him Jerubbaal, saying, Let Baal plead against him, because he hath thrown down his altar.

Then all the Midianites, and the Amalekites, and the children of the east were assembled, and went over, and encamped in the valley of Jezreel.

Behold, I will put a fleece of wool on the floor; and if the dew shall be on the fleece only, and it shall be dry upon all the earth besides, then shall I know that thou wilt save Israel by my hand, as thou hast said.

And it was so: for he rose early on the morrow, and pressed the fleece, and wrung the dew out of the fleece, a bowl-full of water.

And God did so that night: for it was dry upon the fleece only, and there was dew on all the ground.

Then Jerubbaal (who is Gideon) and all the people that were with him, rose early, and encamped 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.

And the LORD said to 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, My own hand hath saved me.

Now therefore, proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, Whoever 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.

So he brought down the people to the water: and the LORD said to 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.

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

And thou shalt hear what they say; and afterward shall thy hands be strengthened to go down to the host. Then went he down with Phurah his servant to the outside of the armed men that were in the host.

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 were without number, as the sand by the sea side for multitude.

And when Gideon had come, behold, there was a man that told a dream to his fellow, and said, Behold, I dreamed a dream, and lo, a cake of barley-bread rolled into the host of Midian, and came to a tent, and smote it that it fell, and overturned it that the tent lay along.

And it was so, when Gideon heard the telling of the dream, and its interpretation, that he worshiped, and returned to the host of Israel, and said, Arise; for the LORD hath delivered into your hand the host of Midian.

And 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.

And he said to 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.

When 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.

So Gideon, and the hundred men that were with him, came to 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 broke the pitchers that were in their hands.

And the three companies blew the trumpets, and broke the pitchers, and held the lamps in their left hands, and the trumpets in their right hands to blow with: and they cried, The sword of the LORD, and of Gideon.

And they stood every man in his place around the camp; and all the host ran, and cried, and fled.

And 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 Zereroth, and to the border of Abel-meholah, to Tabbath.

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

And the men of Ephraim said to him, Why hast thou treated us thus, that thou calledst us not when thou wentest to fight with the Midianites? and they chid with him sharply.

And he said to them, What have I done now in comparison of you? Is not the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the vintage of Abiezer?

God hath delivered into your hands the princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb: and what was I able to do in comparison of you? Then, when he had said that, their anger towards him abated.

And the princes of Succoth said, Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in thy hand, that we should give bread to thy army?

And Gideon said, Therefore when the LORD hath delivered Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, then I will tear your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness and with briers.

And he spoke also to the men of Penuel, saying, When I come again in peace, I will break down this tower.

Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor, and their hosts with them, about fifteen thousand men, all that were left of all the hosts of the children of the east: for there fell a hundred and twenty thousand men that drew sword.

And Gideon went up by the way of them that dwelt in tents on the east of Nobah and Jogbehah, and smote the host: for the host was secure.

And when Zebah and Zalmunna fled, he pursued them, and took the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and discomfited all the host.

And he came to the men of Succoth, and said, Behold Zebah and Zalmunna, with whom ye upbraided me, saying, Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in thy hand, that we should give bread to thy men that are weary?

Then said he to Zebah and Zalmunna, What manner of men were they whom ye slew at Tabor? And they answered, As thou art, so were they; each one resembled the children of a king.

Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, Rise thou, and fall upon us: for as the man is, so is his strength. And Gideon arose, and slew Zebah and Zalmunna, and took away the ornaments that were on their camels' necks.

And the weight of the golden ear-rings that he requested, was a thousand and seven hundred shekels of gold; besides ornaments, and collars, and purple raiment that was on the kings of Midian, and besides the chains that were about their camels' necks.

And Gideon made of it an ephod, and put it in his city, even in Ophrah: and all Israel went thither astray after it: which thing became a snare to Gideon, and to his house.

Thus was Midian subdued before the children of Israel, so that they raised their heads no more. And the country was in quietness forty years in the days of Gideon.

And Jerubbaal the son of Joash went and dwelt in his own house.

And his concubine that was in Shechem, she also bore him a son, whose name he called Abimelech.

And Gideon the son of Joash died in a good old age, and was buried in the sepulcher of Joash his father, in Ophrah of the Abi-ezrites.

And the children of Israel remembered not the LORD their God, who had delivered them from the hands of all their enemies on every side:

Speak, I pray you, in the ears of all the men of Shechem, Which is better for you, either that all the sons of Jerubbaal, which are seventy persons, should reign over you, or that one should reign over you? remember also that I am your bone and your flesh.

And his mother's brethren spoke of him in the ears of all the men of Shechem all these words: and their hearts inclined to follow Abimelech; for they said, He is our brother.

And he went to his father's house at Ophrah, and slew his brethren the sons of Jerubbaal, being seventy persons, upon one stone; notwithstanding, yet Jotham the youngest son of Jerubbaal was left; for he hid himself.

And all the men of Shechem assembled, and all the house of Millo, and went and made Abimelech king, by the plain of the pillar that was in Shechem.

And when they told it to Jotham, he went and stood in the top of mount Gerizim, and lifted up his voice and cried, and said to them, Hearken to me, ye men of Shechem, that God may hearken to you.

The trees went forth on a time to anoint a king over them; and they said to the olive-tree, Reign thou over us.

And the vine said to them, Should I leave my wine, which cheereth God and man, and go to be promoted over the trees?

And the bramble said to the trees, If in truth ye anoint me king over you, then come and put your trust in my shadow: and if not, let fire come out of the bramble, and devour the cedars of Lebanon.

Now therefore, if ye have done truly and sincerely, in that ye have made Abimelech king, and if ye have dealt well with Jerubbaal and his house, and have done to him according to the deserving of his hands:

And ye have risen up against my father's house this day, and have slain his sons, seventy persons, upon one stone, and have made Abimelech, the son of his maid-servant, king over the men of Shechem, because he is your brother:)

If ye then have dealt truly and sincerely with Jerubbaal and with his house this day, then rejoice ye in Abimelech, and let him also rejoice in you:

When Abimelech had reigned three years over Israel,

Then God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men of Shechem; and the men of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech:

That the cruelty done to the seventy sons of Jerubbaal might come, and their blood be laid upon Abimelech their brother who slew them, and upon the men of Shechem who aided him in the killing of his brethren.

And the men of Shechem set liers in wait for him on the top of the mountains, and they robbed all that came along that way by them: and it was told Abimelech.

And Gaal the son of Ebed came with his brethren, and went over to Shechem: and the men of Shechem put their confidence in him.

And when Zebul the ruler of the city heard the words of Gaal the son of Ebed, his anger was kindled.

Now therefore rise by night, thou, and the people that are with thee, and lie in wait in the field:

And it shall be, that in the morning, as soon as the sun hath risen, thou shalt rise early, and attack the city: and behold, when he and the people that are with him come out against thee, then mayest thou do to them as thou shalt find occasion.

And Abimelech rose, and all the people that were with him, by night, and they laid wait against Shechem in four companies.

And Gaal the son of Ebed went out, and stood in the entrance of the gate of the city: and Abimelech rose, and the people that were with him, from lying in wait.

And when Gaal saw the people, he said to Zebul, Behold, there come people down from the top of the mountains. And Zebul said to him, Thou seest the shadow of the mountains as if they were men.