Then, when the men who were afraid had gone, God had Gideon take the soldiers to drink water. 300 of the men drank putting water in their hand and lifting it to their lips. The rest lapped the water up like dogs.

God said to Gideon, By these 300 men I will save you. The rest were sent home but left their food and trumpets behind with the army God had chosen.

God told Gideon, If you are afraid, take your servant and go down to the camp of their army. Listen to what they say. What you hear will make you strong to fight the battle.

So Gideon went down to the enemy camp that night. There were so many soldiers that it was like grasshoppers in the field or the sand at the ocean.

Gideon heard one man telling his friend about a dream he had. The man said, I dreamed a dream where a cake of barley bread tumbled into the camp and came to a tent and struck it and the tent fell over.

His friend said, This is the sword of Gideon, a man of Israel because God has delivered this army into Israel’s hand.

When Gideon heard this, he lifted up his heart to God with happiness and wonder. Then he went back to Israel’s camp and said, Get up! The Lord has given this army into Israel’s hands.

So Gideon separated the men into three parts and gave each one a trumpet and a lamp. They put the lamps inside pitchers to hide the light until the right time.

Gideon said, Watch me and do what I do. So they surrounded the enemy’s army at night. Then Gideon blew his trumpet and broke his pitcher. The rest of the men did the same thing and the light blazed all around the army and the noise of the 300 trumpets blared. Israel shouted, The sword of Lord and of Gideon.

When this happened, God caused the enemy soldiers to fight against each other while Gideon and Israel stood with their torches high, blasting their trumpets.

The army ran away and Gideon chased them on and on. Other men from Israel’s families began to chase them out of their country too.

While they were chasing the enemy out of their country they got tired and hungry. They asked some of the children of Israel for food, but they refused to give them any.

When the battle was over and Gideon had won God’s victory, he went back to those people who wouldn’t give them any food and gave them trouble for not helping God’s people in God’s battle.

When the fighting was all done and the bad ones were out of Israel’s land, the people wanted to make Gideon and his son their king.

Gideon told them, No! I will not rule over you. God rules over you. He is your king.

But I do ask you one thing, Gideon said. Each one of you give me an earring of gold that you took from the enemy. So they gave Gideon much gold and purple clothing.

Gideon took the gold and made a priest’s robe. The children of Israel went to it to ask questions instead of God. The children of Israel forgot God and all the good things Gideon had done for them.

Gideon had many wives and children in his life: 70 sons.

When they grew up, one of Gideon’s sons, the son of a servant woman, wanted to be first in charge of everything. He gathered some men who followed the bad one to him and they killed all of Gideon’s sons except one who escaped.

Then one who escaped stood on top of a mountain and shouted a story to show the people what a bad thing they had done. He said, If this is a good thing, then be happy in this man, but if it is a bad thing, then let fire come out from him and eat you all up.

God gave them three years to turn back to him and be forgiven. But after three years He sent a bad spirit to stir up their lives and bring the cruel thing they had done to Gideon’s sons back on their own heads.

By this God remembered the ones who had been killed and paid back the bad thing that the bad ones had done onto their own heads.