Judges 7:8-22

8Gideon kept the 300 men with him. He took the food and trumpets from the other men and he gave it to the 300 men. Then Gideon sent the other men home. The camp of the Midianite army was in the valley below the Israelites.

9That night the Lord said to Gideon, ‘Get up now. Go down and attack the camp of the Midianites. I have put them under your power.

10But if you are afraid to attack them now, take your servant Purah down to their camp.

11Listen to what the Midianites are saying to each other. That will make you brave enough to attack them.’ So Gideon took Purah with him to the edge of the Midianite army's camp, where they had guards.

12The valley was full of Midianites, Amalekites and all the people from the east. They covered the ground like locusts. There were too many men to count. Their camels also were more than the sand on the shore of the sea.

13When Gideon came nearer, he heard a Midianite soldier tell his friend about a dream. The soldier said, ‘In my dream, I saw a loaf of bread that was rolling into our camp. It hit one of our tents and it knocked the tent down to the ground!’

14The other soldier replied, ‘This dream is telling us about Joash's son Gideon, the leader of the Israelites. It shows us that he has the power to kill us. God has put Midian and all our army under his power!’

15When Gideon heard this news about the dream and its meaning, he praised God. He returned to the Israelites' camp. He shouted to his men, ‘Get up now! The Lord has put Midian's army under your power!’

16He divided his 300 men into three separate groups. He gave a trumpet and an empty pot to each soldier. Each man put a burning branch into his pot.

17Gideon said to his men, ‘Watch me carefully. When we get near to the enemy's camp, you must do the same thing that I do.

18You will be all around the camp. I and my group of men will make a noise with our trumpets. Then you must also make a noise with your trumpets. Then shout, “We are fighting for the Lord and for Gideon!” ’

19Gideon took 100 men with him to the edge of the Midianites' camp. It was the middle of the night. A new group of Midianite guards had just started their work. Gideon's men made a loud noise with their trumpets. They also broke the pots that they were holding.

20Then all three groups of Israelite soldiers made a noise with their trumpets that they held in the right hands. They broke their pots and they held their burning branches in their left hands. Then they shouted, ‘Fight for the Lord and for Gideon!’

21They all stood in their places around the Midianites' camp. Then the whole Midianite army ran away! They were shouting as they ran as fast as they could run.

22When Gideon's 300 men made a noise with their trumpets, it confused the Midianites everywhere in their camp. The Lord caused them to attack one another with their swords. Their army ran away to Beth Shittah, on the road towards Zererah. They ran as far as the border of Abel Meholah, near Tabbath.