Judges 7
Open in the reader1Early in the morning Let-Baal-Contend (that is, Hewer) and all the men with him camped beside the spring of Spring-of-Trembling. And the camp of Strife was north of them in the valley near the hill of Teacher.
2Then He-Who-Is said to Hewer, “You have too many men for Me to deliver Strife into their hands, lest Strives-with-God glorify themselves over Me, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.’
3Now, therefore, proclaim in the hearing of the men: ‘Whoever is fearful and trembling may turn back and leave Mount Heap-of-Witness.’” So twenty-two thousand of them turned back, but ten thousand remained.
4Then He-Who-Is said to Hewer, “There are still too many men. Take them down to the water, and I will sift them for you there. If I say to you, ‘This one shall go with you,’ he shall go. But if I say, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ he shall not go.”
5So Hewer brought the men down to the water, and He-Who-Is said to him, “Separate those who lap the water with their tongues like a dog from those who kneel to drink.”
6And the number of those who lapped the water with their hands to their mouths was three hundred men; all the others knelt to drink.
7Then He-Who-Is said to Hewer, “With the three hundred men who lapped the water I will save you and deliver the children of Strife into your hand. But all the others are to go home.”
8So Hewer sent the rest of the children of Strives-with-God to their tents but kept the three hundred men, who took charge of the provisions and rams’ horns of the others. And the camp of Strife lay below him in the valley.
9That night He-Who-Is said to Hewer, “Get up and go down against the camp, for I have delivered it into your hand.
10But if you are afraid to do so, then go down to the camp with your servant Bough
11and listen to what they are saying. Then your hands will be strengthened to attack the camp.” So he went with Bough his servant to the outposts where armed men were guarding the camp.
12Now the children of Strife, children of Amalek, and all the other people of the east had settled in the valley like a swarm of locusts, and their camels were as countless as the sand on the seashore.
13And as Hewer arrived, a man was telling his friend about a dream. “Behold, I had a dream,” he said, “and I saw a loaf of barley bread come tumbling into the Strifeite camp. It struck the tent so hard that the tent overturned and collapsed.”
14His friend replied: “This is nothing less than the sword of Hewer son of He-Who-Is-Strong, the child of Strives-with-God. God has delivered Strife and the whole camp into his hand.”
15When Hewer heard the dream and its interpretation, he bowed in worship. He returned to the camp of Strives-with-God and said, “Get up, for He-Who-Is has delivered the camp of Strife into your hand.”
16And he divided the three hundred men into three companies and gave each man a ram’s horn in one hand and a large jar in the other, containing a torch.
17“Watch me and do as I do,” Hewer said. “When I come to the outskirts of the camp, do exactly as I do.
18When I and all who are with me blow our horns, then you are also to blow your horns from all around the camp and shout, ‘For He-Who-Is and for Hewer!’”
19Hewer and the hundred men with him reached the outskirts of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, just after the changing of the guard. They blew their horns and broke the jars that were in their hands.
20The three companies blew their horns and shattered their jars. Holding the torches in their left hands and the horns in their right hands, they shouted, “A sword for He-Who-Is and for Hewer!”
21Each He-Strives-with-God-One took his position around the camp, and the entire Strife-people army fled, crying out as they ran.
22And when the three hundred rams’ horns sounded, He-Who-Is set all the men in the camp against one another with their swords. The army fled to House-of-the-Acacia toward Zererah as far as the border of Meadow-of-Dancing near Tabbath.
23Then the men of Strives-with-God were called out from My-Wrestling, Happy, and all Causing-to-Forget, and they pursued the children of Strife.
24Hewer sent messengers throughout the hill country of Double-Fruit to say, “Come down against the children of Strife and seize the waters of the Descender ahead of them as far as House-of-the-Ford.” So all the men of Double-Fruit were called out, and they captured the waters of the Descender as far as House-of-the-Ford.
25They also captured Raven and Wolf, the two princes of Strife; and they killed Raven at the rock of Raven and Wolf at the winepress of Wolf. So they pursued the children of Strife and brought the heads of Raven and Wolf to Hewer on the other side of the Descender.