Early the next morning, Gideon—now called Jerub-Baal, "Let Baal contend with him"—gathered his army near the spring of Harod. Before them lay the vast camp of Midian, stretching across the valley like a sea of tents.
But the Lord spoke to Gideon, saying, "You have too many men. If I give you victory like this, Israel will boast that their own strength saved them. Tell those who are afraid to go home."
When Gideon announced this, twenty-two thousand soldiers turned back, leaving only ten thousand. Yet God said again, "There are still too many." He led Gideon to test them by the river. Those who drank by lapping water with their hands were set apart from those who knelt to drink. Only three hundred men drank with their hands to their mouths.
The Lord said, "With these three hundred, I will save Israel. Let the others go." So Gideon kept the three hundred, armed only with trumpets and empty jars, while the rest went home.
That night, God told Gideon, "Go down and attack the camp, for I will give it into your hands. But if you are afraid, go with your servant Purah and listen."
Gideon went quietly through the night and reached the edge of the Midianite camp. The valley below was filled with men and camels, too many to count—like locusts covering the land. As he crept near, he heard a soldier telling his friend a dream:
"I saw a round loaf of barley bread tumble into our camp. It struck a tent so hard it collapsed."
The other replied, "This can only mean the sword of Gideon, son of Joash! God has handed Midian over to him."
Hearing this, Gideon bowed and worshiped God. He hurried back to his men and cried, "Get up! The Lord has given Midian into our hands!"
He divided the three hundred into three groups, giving each man a trumpet, a jar, and a torch hidden inside. "Watch me," he said. "Do as I do. When I blow my trumpet, blow yours and shout, 'For the Lord and for Gideon!'"
At midnight, just as the guards changed, Gideon's men surrounded the camp. They blew their trumpets and smashed their jars, revealing blazing torches. The valley erupted with the cry, "A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!"
The Midianites panicked. In the chaos, they turned their swords on one another. The army fled toward the Jordan, and Gideon's men pursued them.
Messengers were sent through the hill country of Ephraim: "Cut them off at the Jordan!" The men of Ephraim obeyed, capturing the waters and seizing two Midianite princes—Oreb and Zeeb. Oreb was killed at the rock that now bore his name, and Zeeb at the winepress of Zeeb.
And the heads of Oreb and Zeeb were brought to Gideon by the Jordan, as the Lord's promise was fulfilled through three hundred faithful men.