7 Then Gideon (also known as Yerub-Baal) and the warriors with him got up early and went to Harod spring. The Midianite camp was north of them in the valley below the Moreh hill.

2 Then Yahweh told Gideon, “You’ve got too many warriors with you for me to give victory over the Midianites, because what if Israel takes the glory for themselves thinking that their own strength saved them. 3 So tell the men that anyone who’s afraid or trembling can leave Mt. Gilead and go back home.” Twenty-two thousand of them went back, leaving only ten thousand.[ref]

4 “That’s still too many,” Yahweh told Gideon. “Bring them down to the spring and I’ll short-list them there. Whoever I tell you to go with you, can do so, but anyone that I say won’t go with you, won’t go.” 5 So he took them down to the water and Yahweh told him, “Separate out those who lap up the water with their tongues like a dog would, along with those who kneel down to drink.” 6 It turned out that only three hundred men used their hands to bring water to their mouths, and all the rest knelt down to drink the water. 7 “I’ll rescue you all from Midian with the three hundred men who lapped the water from their hands,” Yahweh told Gideon. “Let all the others go back to their homes.” 8 Then the three-hundred warriors collected the food and ram’s horns from the others before Gideon sent the others back to their own homes.

The Midian camp was below them down in the valley 9 and during the night Yahweh told Gideon, “Get ready and lead them down into the camp, because I have made you victorious. 10 But if you’re afraid to attack, take your servant Purah down to their camp 11 and you’ll hear what they’re saying, then you’ll have the courage to go down and attack the camp.” So Gideon and his servant Purah went quietly down to the unit at the edge of the camp.

12 The Midianites and Amalekites and others from the east covered the valley like a swarm of locusts. Even their camels were as numerous as sand grains on the beach. 13 When Gideon got close, a man was telling his companion about his dream. “Listen,” he said, “I had a dream and wow, a round loaf of barley bread was tumbling into our camp. It came as far as the tent and struck it so that it fell and turned it upside down, and collapsed completely.”

14 “That could only be the sword of Yoash’s son Gideon from Israel,” the other man replied. “The true God has caused Midian and all of the camp to be defeated by him.”

15 When Gideon heard the account of the dream and its interpretation, he thanked God, then they returned to their camp and commanded, “Get ready to go because Yahweh has given you all victory over the Midianite camp.” 16 Then he divided the three hundred men into three units, and gave each of them rams’ horns and clay jars with burning torches inside them, 17 and instructed them, “Watch me and do what I do. See, when I get to the edge of their camp, do the same as me. 18 When I blow the ram’s horn trumpet, all of you with horns should blow them and everyone will shout, ‘For Yahweh and for Gideon!’ ”

19 When Gideon and the hundred men with him got to the edge of the camp, it was the beginning of the middle nightwatch and the fresh guards had just gotten into their places. Gideon and his unit blew their trumpets and smashed the jars that they were carrying. 20 Then all three units blew the trumpets and smashed their jars. They held the torches in their left hands and the trumpets in their right hands, and they shouted out, “A sword for Yahweh and for Gideon.” 21 Then everyone stood in their place around the camp, but the Midianite army cried out in alarm and took off. 22 When the three hundred ram’s horns sounded, Yahweh caused the Midianite army to start fighting each other with their swords, and the army fled as far as Beyt-Shittah (towards Tsererah) and towards the border of Abel-Meholah (towards Tabbat).

23 Then the warriors from Naftali, Asher, and from all of Manashsheh were summoned to help with pursuing the Midianites. 24 Gideon also sent messengers through Efraim’s hill country to tell them, “Go down to the Yordan river opposite Midian and take control of the crossings to capture them between as far as Beyt-Barah.” So all the men of Efraim were summoned and they commandeered the Yordan crossings as far as Beyt-Barah. 25 They chased after the Midianites and captured their two princes, Oreb and Zeeb. They killed Oreb at the rock now called ‘Oreb’s rock’, and they killed Zeeb at a winepress now called ‘Zeeb’s winepress’, and they brought their heads back across the Yordan to Gideon.

8 But then the Efraimite men challenged Gideon, “Why have you side-tracked us? Why didn’t you call us when you went to battle against the Midianites?” And they severely rebuked him.

2 “What have I achieved compared to you guys?” answered Gideon. “Aren’t the seconds of Efraim’s grapes better than the whole grape harvest of Abiezer? 3 God helped you all defeat Oreb and Zeeb, the princes of Midian. What did I do compared to that?” After he said that, they all calmed down again.[ref]

4 Then Gideon and his three hundred warriors crossed the Yordan going east. They were all exhausted, but continued the pursuit. 5 When they arrived at the town of Sukkot, Gideon asked the leaders, “Please give my men some bread to eat because they’re exhausted, but we’re chasing Zebah and Zalmunna, the Midianite kings.”

6 However, the Sukkot officials asked cautiously, “Do you already have Zebah and Zalmunna in your grasp that we should give food to your army?”

7 “Let me assure you all,” Gideon responded, “that when Yahweh has helped us capture Zebah and Zalmunna, I will rip off your flesh with the wilderness thorns and briers.”

8 From there they climbed up to Penuel, and he asked them for food in a similar manner, and the leaders there responded similarly to the leaders of Sukkot. 9 So he said to the men of Penuel as well, “When I return safely, I’ll tear down this tower.”

10 Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor with around fifteen thousand warriors—all that remained out of all of that allied Midianite camp of eastern people, because one hundred and twenty thousand of their warriors had already been killed. 11 Gideon approached them unexpectedly via the caravan route east of Nobah and Jogbehah, and struck their camp when they were feeling secure. 12 Zebah and Zalmunna fled, but they chased after those two Midianite kings and captured them, thus defeating their entire army.

13 The Gideon (Yoash’s son) and his warriors returned from battle, going through the Heres pass. 14 He captured a young man from Sukkot and questioned him—writing down the names of the seventy-seven leaders and elders of Sukkot. 15 Then he returned to Sukkot and told them, “Look here at Zebah and Zalmunna—the ones you taunted me about when you asked, ‘Do you already have Zebah and Zalmunna in your grasp that we should give food to your weary men.’ ” 16 He took the city elders and had them punished with wilderness thorns and briers to teach them a lesson, 17 then they went to Penuel and tore down the tower and executed the city leaders.

18 Then Gideon asked Zebah and Zalmunna, “What were the men like that you killed at Tabor?”

“They were just like you,” they replied. “They seemed like they could have been a king’s sons.”

19 “They were my brothers—the sons of my mother,” he said. “As Yahweh lives, if only you had let them live, I wouldn’t have killed you.” 20 Then he ordered Yeter, his oldest son, “Go and kill them.” But Yeter didn’t pull out his sword because he was afraid—he was still a youth.

21 Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, “Come and kill us yourself—be a man and use your own strength.” So Gideon went over and killed Zebah and Zalmunna, and then he took the crescent-shaped ornaments that were on their camels’ necks.

22 Then a group of Israeli men said to Gideon, “We want you and your sons and your future descendants to rule over us, because you have saved us from the Midianites.”

23 But Gideon answered, “No, I won’t rule over you myself, nor will my son rule over you. Yahweh will rule over you.” 24 However, he continued, “Let me ask you all for something: that each man give me the earrings from his spoil.” (The enemies had gold earrings because they were Ishmaelites.)

25 “We can certainly do that for you,” they replied. So they spread out a garment and each man threw the earrings from his spoil onto it. 26 Now the weight of the gold earrings of gold came to twenty kilograms, and then there were the crescent-shaped ornaments, the pendants, the dyed purple garments that the Midianite kings had been wearing, as well as the collars that had been around their camels’ necks. 27 Then Gideon made the gold into an idol[fn] and placed it in his home city of Ophrah, and the Israelis prostituted themselves to it there, and so it became like a trap for Gideon and his household.

28 So Midian was kept under control by the Israelis and they didn’t continue to oppress the people, and there was peace in the region for forty years during Gideon’s time.

29 Then Gideon (Yoash’s son, also known as Yerub-Baal) went back and lived in his house, 30 and he fathered seventy sons because he had many wives. 31 He also had a mistress in Shekem—she also bore him a son that he named Abimelek. 32 Gideon died at a good old age and was buried in the tomb of Yoash his father, at Ofrah of the Abiezerites.

33 However after Gideon had died, the Israelis turned away again from Yahweh and prostituted themselves to the Baals—making Baal-Berit for themselves as a god. 34 They forgot about their God Yahweh—the one who had rescued them from the clutch of all of their enemies all around. 35 They didn’t show lasting loyalty to Gideon’s family, despite all the good that he’d done within Israel.

4 After Ehud died, the Israelis again started doing things considered evil by Yahweh, 2 so he handed them over to King Yabin of Canaan who reigned in Hatsor. Sisera was the commander of his army, and he lived in Haroshet-Haggoyim. 3 The Israelis cried out to Yahweh because Sisera had nine hundred chariots with iron on them, and he cruelly oppressed them for twenty years.

4 Now the prophetess Deborah (Lappidot’s wife) was leading Israel at that time. 5 She would sit under the palm tree between Ramah and Beyt-El (in the Efraimite hill country), and people would come to her to have their disputes settled. 6 One day she summoned Barak (Abinoam’s son from Kedesh in Naftali) and told him, “Israel’s God, Yahweh commands you to draft ten thousand men from Naftali and Zebulun and assemble at Mt. Tabor. 7 Yahweh will lure King Yabin’s army commander, Sisera bring his warriors and chariots to the Kishon river, and Yahweh will enable you to defeat them there.”

8 “I’ll go if you’ll come with me,” replied Barak, “but if you won’t come with me, I won’t go.”

9 “I’ll certainly go with you,” she said, “but it won’t be you that’s honoured afterwards, but rather Yahweh will use a woman to defeat Sisera.” So Deborah accompanied Barak to Kedesh. 10 There he summoned warriors from Zebulun and Naftali and ten thousand men came, and they all went together with Deborah to Mt. Tabor.

11 Now Heber had moved with his wife Yael and their family away from the other Kenites (and from Mosheh’s father-in-law Hobab’s descendants) and set up his tent by the oak tree at Zaanannim near Kedesh.

12 When Sisera was told that Barak (Abinoam’s son) had gone to Mt. Tabor, 13 he assembled his warriors and their nine hundred chariots (with iron on them) and went from Haroshet-Haggoyim to the Kishon riverbed.

14 “Get going,” Deborah told Barak, “because it’s today that Yahweh has gone ahead of you and will help you defeat Sisera.” So Barak led his ten thousand warriors down from Mt. Tabor. 15 Then Yahweh caused Sisera and all his warriors and chariots to be confused as Barak advanced, so Sisera jumped down from his chariot and took off on foot. 16 Barak pursued the men and chariots as far as Haroshet-Haggoyim and they killed them all—not a single one survived.

17 But Sisera had fled on foot and ran to Yael’s tent (Heber the Kenite’s wife) because there was peace between King Yabin of Hatsor and the house of Heber the Kenite. 18 Yael went out to meet Sisera and told him, “Stop and rest, my master. Stop and rest here. Don’t be afraid.” So he turned and went into her tent, and she covered him with a blanket.

19 “I’m thirsty,” he said. “Could you get me a little water to drink.” Yael opened a goatskin container and gave him milk to drink, then she covered him again. 20 “Stand at the tent doorway,” he said, “and if anyone comes and asks you if you’ve seen a man, say, ‘No.’ ”

21 Then Heber’s wife Yael got a hammer and a tent peg and crept in silently, driving the peg through his temple and pounding it into the ground,. He’d been tired and was sleeping soundly, and it killed him. 22 Meanwhile Barak had been searching for Sisera, and Yael went out to meet him. “Come in here,” she told him, “and I’ll show you the man you’ve been searching for.” He followed her into the tent and wow—Sisera was lying there dead with the peg still through his temple.

23 So that day God defeated Canaanite King Yabin’s army in front of the Israelis, 24 and as they became stronger against him, they destroyed King Yabin of Canaan.

5 That day, Deborah and Barak sang this song:

2 “When the leaders take the lead in Israel,

when the people offer themselves willingly,

Yahweh be blessed.

3 Listen you kings.

≈Pay attention you rulers.

I will sing to Yahweh, yes, even me.

≈I will make music for Israel’s God Yahweh.

4 Yahweh, you left Seir.

≈You marched out of the Edom region.

The earth quaked.

≈The heavens also dropped.

And the clouds poured down rain.

5 Mountains melted in Yahweh’s presence,[ref]

Yes, Mt. Sinai shook in front of Israel’s God, Yahweh.

6 In the days of Anat’s son Shamgar,

≈in the days of Yael,

main roads were abandoned,

≈and travellers walked twisting trails.

7 Israeli villages were abandoned.

≈No one lived there until I, Deborah, became their leader.

I became one of Israel’s mothers.

8 When Israel chose new gods,

then enemies attacked the city gates.

No shield or spear could be found

among forty thousand in Israel.

9 I’m thankful to Israel’s commanders

who volunteered to help the people.

Yahweh be blessed.

10 You riders of white donkeys,

you who sit on saddle blankets,

you who’re walking on the road,

tell about this.

11 From the sounds of conflict over the watering places

they recount ≈Yahweh’s righteousness

and about his righteous warriors in Israel.

Then Yahweh’s people went down to the city gates.

12 Wake up, Deborah, wake up.

Wake up, wake up, sing a song.

Barak, get moving and capture your prisoners,

you son of Abinoam.

13 Then the survivor went down to the nobles.

Yahweh’s people went down to the mighty. ???

14 From Efraim their root was with Amalek.

After you, Benyamin, among your people.

From (Manashsheh’s) Makir, the commanders came down.

And from Zebulun, those who march carrying an officer’s staff.

15 My princes in Yissashkar were with Deborah.

And Yissashkar was also with Barak.

He was sent into a valley on his heels.

There was intense heart searching among the clans of Reuben.

16 Why did you sit between the sheep pens?

To hear the whistling for the flocks?

There was intense heart searching among the clans of Reuben.

17 Gilead settled east of the Yordan.

But, Dan, why does he stay on ships?

Asher stayed at the sea coast

≈and lives by his jetties.

18 Zebulun were a tribe that devotedly risked losing their lives.

And Naftali was at their heights on the battlefield.

19 Kings came and made war.

Then the Canaanite kings fought at Taanak,

at the Megiddo springs.

But they weren’t able to plunder any silver.

20 From the sky, the stars battled.

From their courses, they fought against Sisera.

21 The Kishon river swept them away.

An ancient river that Kison river.

March on with strength, my soul.

22 Then the horses’ hooves struck.

His galloping stallions charging.

23 ‘Curse that Meroz place,’ said Yahweh’s messenger.

‘You shall certainly curse its inhabitants

because they didn’t come and help Yahweh—

to help Yahweh against the mighty ones.’

24 Yael will be an honoured woman.

The wife of Heber the Kenite.

She deserves the most praise out of all women who live in tents.

25 He asked for water—she gave him milk,

Yogurt in a bowl suitable for nobles.

26 Her hands reached out for the tent peg,

and her right hand for the workman’s hammer.

She hammered Sisera—shattering his head—

shattering and piercing his temple.

27 He bowed down between her feet—he fell—he lay down.

He bowed down between her feet—where he bowed down, there he fell—destroyed.

28 Sisera’s mother looked out the window.

She peered through the lattice, crying out,

‘Why is his chariot so slow to return?

Why are the hoofbeats of his chariots delayed?’

29 Her wise ladies answered her.

Indeed, she keeps telling herself

30 ‘Won’t they be gathering and dividing the plunder?

A woman or two for each warrior to bear children.

Finding some colourful material for Sisera.

Taking some embroidered fabrics.

Dyed scarves as plunder.’

31 May all your enemies perish like that, Yahweh.

But may those who love you shine like the sun rising in its strength.”

Then that region had peace for forty years.