⁷ The Lord said to Gideon, “With the three hundred men that lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hands.^(A) Let all the others go home.”^{(B) 8} So Gideon sent the rest of the Israelites home but kept the three hundred, who took over the provisions and trumpets of the others.

Now the camp of Midian lay below him in the valley. ⁹ During that night the Lord said to Gideon, “Get up, go down against the camp, because I am going to give it into your hands.^{(C) 10} If you are afraid to attack, go down to the camp with your servant Purah ¹¹ and listen to what they are saying. Afterward, you will be encouraged to attack the camp.” So he and Purah his servant went down to the outposts of the camp. ¹² The Midianites, the Amalekites^(D) and all the other eastern peoples had settled in the valley, thick as locusts.^(E) Their camels^(F) could no more be counted than the sand on the seashore.^(G)