Judges 7:1-3

New Catholic Bible

Chapter 7

Midian’s Defeat. ¹ Early in the morning Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) and all of the people who were with him camped at the well of Harod. The Midianite army was to the north of them, in the valley by the hill of Moreh.

² The Lord said to Gideon, “You have too many people with you for me to deliver over the Midianites into your hands. Otherwise, Israel might vaunt themselves against me saying, ‘We have saved ourselves by our own efforts.’ ³ Announce to the people, ‘Whoever is afraid and panicking, let him go back and leave Mount Gilead.’ ” Twenty-two thousand of the men left, and there were ten thousand left.