14
His friend replied, "It's the sword of the Israelite, Gideon son of Joash! It can't mean anything else! God has given him victory over Midian and our whole army!"
15
When Gideon heard about the man's dream and what it meant, he fell to his knees and worshiped the Lord. Then he went back to the Israelite camp and said, "Get up! The Lord is giving you victory over the Midianite army!"
16
He divided his three hundred men into three groups and gave each man a trumpet and a jar with a torch inside it.
17
He told them, "When I get to the edge of the camp, watch me, and do what I do.
18
When my group and I blow our trumpets, then you blow yours all around the camp and shout, "For the Lord and for Gideon!' "
19
Gideon and his one hundred men came to the edge of the camp a while before midnight, just after the guard had been changed. Then they blew the trumpets and broke the jars they were holding,
20
and the other two groups did the same. They all held the torches in their left hands, the trumpets in their right, and shouted, "A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!"
21
Every man stood in his place around the camp, and the whole enemy army ran away yelling.
22
While Gideon's men were blowing their trumpets, the Lord made the enemy troops attack each other with their swords. They ran toward Zarethan as far as Beth Shittah, as far as the town of Abel Meholah near Tabbath.
23
Then men from the tribes of Naphtali, Asher, and both parts of Manasseh were called out, and they pursued the Midianites.
24
Gideon sent messengers through all the hill country of Ephraim to say, "Come down and fight the Midianites. Hold the Jordan River and the streams as far as Bethbarah, to keep the Midianites from crossing them." The men of Ephraim were called together, and they held the Jordan River and the streams as far as Bethbarah.