8
So Gideon sent the rest of Israel to their homes. But he kept three hundred men and took the jars and the trumpets of those who left. Now the camp of Midian was in the valley below Gideon.
9
That night the Lord said to Gideon, "Get up. Go down and attack the camp of the Midianites, because I will give them to you.
10
But if you are afraid to go down, take your servant Purah with you.
11
When you come to the camp of Midian, you will hear what they are saying. Then you will not be afraid to attack the camp." So Gideon and his servant Purah went down to the edge of the enemy camp.
12
The Midianites, the Amalekites, and all the peoples from the east were camped in that valley. There were so many of them they seemed like locusts. Their camels could not be counted because they were as many as the grains of sand on the seashore!
13
When Gideon came to the enemy camp, he heard a man telling his friend about a dream. He was saying, "I dreamed that a loaf of barley bread rolled into the camp of Midian. It hit the tent so hard that the tent turned over and fell flat!"
14
The man's friend said, "Your dream is about the sword of Gideon son of Joash, a man of Israel. God will hand Midian and the whole army over to him!"
15
When Gideon heard about the dream and what it meant, he worshiped God. Then Gideon went back to the camp of Israel and called out to them, "Get up! The Lord has handed the army of Midian over to you!"
16
Gideon divided the three hundred men into three groups. He gave each man a trumpet and an empty jar with a burning torch inside.
17
Gideon told the men, "Watch me and do what I do. When I get to the edge of the camp, do what I do.
18
Surround the enemy camp. When I and everyone with me blow our trumpets, you blow your trumpets, too. Then shout, 'For the Lord and for Gideon!'"