During the lifetime of Anath's son Shamgar and during the lifetime of Jael highways remained deserted, while travelers kept to back roads.

My heart went out to Israel's leaders, to the people who answered the call to war. Praise the Lord!

Let them tell the righteous acts of the Lord,
the righteous deeds of His warriors in Israel,
with the voices of the singers at the watering places.

Then the Lord’s people went down to the gates.

The survivors came down to the nobles;
the Lord’s people came down to me with the warriors.

Out of Ephraim came down they whose root is in Amalek; After thee, Benjamin, among thy peoples; Out of Machir came down governors, And out of Zebulun they that handle the marshal's staff.

And the princes of Issachar were with Deborah; As was Issachar, so was Barak; Into the valley they rushed forth at his feet. By the watercourses of Reuben There were great resolves of heart.

Wherefore didst thou dwell in the midst of the folds, To hear the pipings of the flocks? For the divisions of Reuben, great searching's of heart

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

The current of the Kishon River swept them downstream, that ancient current, the Kishon's current! March on strongly, my soul!

Then were the horse's hoofs broken by the means of the prancings, the prancings of their mighty ones.

Call judgment down on Meroz,' says the Lord's angelic messenger; 'Be sure to call judgment down on those who live there, because they did not come to help in the Lord's battle, to help in the Lord's battle against the warriors.'

He asked water, she gave milk; In a prince's dish brought she curdled milk

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 stricken 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?

Do they not find and divide the spoil? A womb, two wombs to a man's head, to Sisera a prize of dyed garments, a prize of embroidered dyed garments for the necks of those that take the spoil.

So let all thine 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.

The Israelites did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. So the Lord handed them over to Midian seven years,

Midian's control predominated throughout Israel, and because of Midian the Israelis went out to find temporary hiding places for themselves in the mountains, caves, and fortified places.

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;

So they would camp against them and destroy the produce of the earth as far as Gaza, and leave no sustenance in Israel as well as no sheep, ox, or donkey.

For they would come up with their cattle and their tents, coming like locusts for number; both they and their camels could not be counted; so that they wasted the land as they came in.

So Israel became poverty-stricken because of Midian, and the Israelites cried out to the Lord.

Jehovah sent a man, a prophet to the sons of Israel, who said to them, So says Jehovah, the God of Israel: I brought you up from Egypt and brought you forth out of the house of bondage.

I rescued you from Egypt's power and from the power of all who oppressed you. I drove them out before you and gave their land to you.

and I say to you, I am Jehovah your God, ye do not fear the gods of the Amorite in whose land ye are dwelling: -- and ye have not hearkened to My voice.'

Now the angel of the Lord came and took his seat under the oak-tree in Ophrah, in the field of Joash the Abiezrite; and his son Gideon was crushing grain in the place where the grapes were crushed, so that the Midianites might not see it.

so the messenger of Yahweh appeared unto him, - and said unto him, Yahweh, is with thee, thou mighty man of valour!

And Gideon will say to him With leave, my Lord, and Jehovah be; with us, and wherefore did all this find us? and where all his wonderful things which our fathers recounted to us, saying, Did not Jehovah bring us up out of Egypt? and now Jehovah cast us off, and he will give us into the hand of Midian.

And the Lord, turning to him, said, Go in the strength you have and be Israel's saviour from Midian: have I not sent you?

And he said unto him, Oh my Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? behold, my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house.

And Yahweh said unto him - I will be with thee, - so shalt thou smite the Midianites, as one man.

So he said to him, If now I have grace in your eyes, then give me a sign that it is you who are talking to me.

Now thou shalt not depart from here till my coming to thee, and I brought forth my gift and set it before thee. And he will say, I will remain till thy turning back

So Gideon went into his house and prepared a kid, and unleavened cakes from an ephah of flour; the meat he put in a basket, and the broth he put in a pot, and brought them to him under the oak and presented them.

And the angel of God said unto him, Take the flesh and the unleavened cakes, and lay them upon this rock, and pour out the broth. And he did so.

The Lord's messenger touched the meat and the unleavened bread with the tip of his staff. Fire flared up from the rock and consumed the meat and unleavened bread. The Lord's messenger then disappeared.

And Gideon saw that he was the angel of Jehovah; and Gideon said, Alas, O Lord Jehovah! forasmuch as I have seen the angel of Jehovah face to face.

And Jehovah will say to him, Peace to thee; thou shalt not fear; thou shalt not die.

So Gideon built an altar to the Lord there and called it Yahweh Shalom. It is in Ophrah of the Abiezrites until today.

And it came to pass the same night, that the LORD said unto him, Take thy father's young bullock, even the second bullock of seven years old, and throw down the altar of Baal that thy father hath, and cut down the grove that is by it:

Then Gideon took ten men of his servants, and did as the LORD had said unto him: and so it was, because he feared his father's household, and the men of the city, that he could not do it by day, that he did it by night.

When the men of the city got up in the morning, they found Baal’s altar torn down, the Asherah pole beside it cut down, and the second bull offered up on the altar that had been built.

And they say one to another, 'Who hath done this thing?' and they inquire and seek, and they say, 'Gideon son of Joash hath done this thing.'

And the men of the city say unto Joash, 'Bring out thy son, and he dieth, because he hath broken down the altar of Baal, and because he hath cut down the shrine which is by it.'

But Joash said to all who stood against him, “Would you plead Baal’s case for him? Would you save him? Whoever pleads his case will be put to death by morning! If he is a god, let him plead his own case because someone tore down his altar.”

Therefore on that day he was called Jerubba'al, that is to say, "Let Ba'al contend against him," because he pulled down his altar.

So the Spirit of Yahweh {took possession of} Gideon, and he blew on the trumpet, and [the] Abiezrites were called to follow him.

And he sent messengers throughout all Manas'seh; and they too were called out to follow him. And he sent messengers to Asher, Zeb'ulun, and Naph'tali; and they went up to meet them.

Then Gideon said to God, "In order to see that you will deliver Israel by my hand, just as you have said,

See, I will put the wool of a sheep on the grain-floor; if there is dew on the wool only, while all the earth is dry, then I will be certain that it is your purpose to give Israel salvation by my hand as you have said.

And it was so: for he rose up early on the morrow, and thrust the fleece together, and wringed the dew out of the fleece, a bowl full of water.

Then Gideon said to God, Do not be moved to wrath against me if I say only this: let me make one more test with the wool; let the wool now be dry, while the earth is covered with dew.

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 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.

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.

So now, proclaim in the hearing of the people, ‘Whoever is afraid and trembling, let him turn back and leave Mount Gilead.’” So twenty-two thousand men returned [home], but ten thousand remained.

And 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.

So 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.

And so it was, that, the number of them that lapped with their hand to their mouth, was three hundred men, - but, all the rest of the people, bowed down on their knees, to drink water.

And Yahweh said to Gideon, "I will deliver you with the three hundred men lapping up [the water]; I will give Midian into your hand, so let the [other] troops go, each to his own place.

So 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.

And it will be in that night, and Jehovah will say to him, Arise, go down to the camp, for I gave him into thy hand.

And 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.

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 was come, behold, there was a man telling a dream unto his fellow; and he said, Behold, I dreamed a dream; and, lo, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the camp of Midian, and came unto the tent, and smote it so that it fell, and turned it upside down, so that the tent lay flat.

Then his friend replied, "Can this be anything else than the sword of Joash's son Gideon, that man from Israel? God must have given Midian and the entire encampment into his control!"

And 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.

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 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.

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 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.

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.

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 Bethshittah in Zererath, and to the border of Abelmeholah, unto Tabbath.

And the men of Israel were called out from Naph'tali and from Asher and from all Manas'seh, and they pursued after Mid'ian.

And Gideon sent messengers throughout all the hill-country of Ephraim, saying, Come down against Midian, and take before them the waters, as far as Beth-barah, even the Jordan. So all the men of Ephraim were gathered together, and took the waters as far as Beth-barah, even the Jordan.

And they captured the two princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb, and slew Oreb at Oreb's Rock, and, Zeeb, they slew at Zeeb's Winepress, and pursued Midian, - and, the heads of Oreb and Zeeb, brought they in unto Gideon at the ford of the Jordan.

And the men of Ephraim say unto him, 'What is this thing thou hast done to us -- not to call for us when thou didst go to fight with Midian?' and they strive with him severely;

So he said to them, “What have I done now compared to you? Is not the gleaning of Ephraim better than the vintage of Abiezer?

So he said to the men of Succoth, "Pray, give loaves of bread to the people who follow me; for they are faint, and I am pursuing after Zebah and Zalmun'na, the kings of Mid'ian."

And the heads of Succoth say, 'Is the hand of Zebah and Zalmunna now in thy hand, that we give to thy host bread?'

And Gideon saith, 'Therefore -- in Jehovah's giving Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand -- I have threshed your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness, and with the threshing instruments.'

So he went up from there to Penuel and made the same request to the men of Penuel; but they gave him the same answer as the men of Succoth had given.

So he said to the men of Penuel, When I come back in peace, I will have this tower broken down.

So Gideon went up by the way of the tent-dwellers, on the east of Nobah and Jogbehah, and smote the host, when, the host, had become secure.

Then Joash's son Gideon returned from the battle along the Heres Ascent.

and caught a young man, of the men of Succoth, and enquired of him, - so he wrote down for him the princes of Succoth, and the elders thereof, seventy-seven men.

He came to the men of Succoth, and said, "See Zebah and Zalmunna, concerning whom you taunted me, saying, 'Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in your hand, that we should give bread to your men who are weary?'"

So he took the elders of the city, and he took some thorns and briers from the wilderness, and he disciplined the men of Succoth with them.

He also tore down the tower of Penuel and executed the city's men.

Then said he unto 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.

So he said, “They were my brothers, the sons of my mother! As the Lord lives, if you had let them live, I would not kill you.”

So he said to Jether his firstborn, Up! slay them. But the youth drew not his sword, for he feared, because he was yet a youth.

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.

Then the men of Israel said unto Gideon, Rule thou over us, both thou, and thy son, and thy son's son also: for thou hast delivered us from the hand of Midian.

And Gideon will say to them, I will not rule over you, and my son shall not rule over you: Jehovah shall rule over you.

And Gideon will say to them, I will ask of you an asking, and ye shall give to me a man the rings of his spoil: for gold rings to them, because they were Ishmaelites.

And they say, 'We certainly give;' and they spread out the garment, and cast thither each the ring of his prey;

And so it was, that the weight of the nose-rings of gold which he requested, was a thousand and seven hundred shekels of gold, - besides the crescents, and the pendants, and the raiment of purple that were upon the kings of Midian, and besides the ornaments that were on the necks of their camels.

Gideon made [all the golden earrings into] an ephod [a sacred, high priest’s garment], and put it in his city of Ophrah, and all Israel worshiped it as an idol there, and it became a trap for Gideon and his household.

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