The Israelites did evil in the Lord’s sight, ¹  so the Lord turned them over to ²  Midian for seven years.

Whenever the Israelites planted their crops, ¹  the Midianites, Amalekites, and the people from the east would attack them. ² 

Israel was so severely weakened by Midian that the Israelites cried out to the Lord for help.

When the Israelites cried out to the Lord for help because of Midian,

The Lord said to him, “Ah, but ¹  I will be with you! You will strike down the whole Midianite army.” ² 

All the Midianites, Amalekites, and the people from the east ¹  assembled. They crossed the Jordan River ²  and camped in the Jezreel Valley.

Israelites from Naphtali, Asher, and Manasseh answered the call and chased the Midianites. ¹ 

my father fought for you; he risked his life ¹  and delivered you from Midian’s power. ² 

The Midianites ¹  overwhelmed Israel. ²  Because of Midian the Israelites made shelters ³  for themselves in the hills, as well as caves and strongholds.

They captured the two Midianite generals, Oreb and Zeeb. ¹  They executed Oreb on the rock of Oreb and Zeeb ²  in the winepress of Zeeb. They chased the Midianites ³  and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon, who was now on the other side of the Jordan River. ⁴ 

Then the Lord himself ¹  turned to him and said, “You have the strength. ²  Deliver Israel from the power of the Midianites! ³  Have I not sent you?”

Now the Midianites, Amalekites, and the people from the east covered the valley like a swarm of locusts. ¹  Their camels could not be counted; they were as innumerable as the sand on the seashore.

When Zebah and Zalmunna ran away, Gideon ¹  chased them and captured the two Midianite kings, Zebah and Zalmunna. He had surprised ²  their entire army.

The men of Israel said to Gideon, “Rule over us – you, your son, and your grandson. For you have delivered us from Midian’s power.” ¹ 

The Israelites humiliated Midian; the Midianites’ fighting spirit was broken. ¹  The land had rest for forty years during Gideon’s time. ² 

The Lord’s angelic messenger ¹  came and sat down under the oak tree in Ophrah owned by Joash the Abiezrite. He arrived while Joash’s son Gideon ²  was threshing ³  wheat in a winepress ⁴  so he could hide it from the Midianites. ⁵ 

Gideon said to him, “Pardon me, ¹  but if the Lord is with us, why has such disaster ²  overtaken us? Where are all his miraculous deeds our ancestors told us about? They said, ³  ‘Did the Lord not bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and handed us over to Midian.”

Jerub-Baal (that is, Gideon) and his men ¹  got up the next morning and camped near the spring of Harod. ²  The Midianites ³  were camped north of them near the hill of Moreh in the valley.

The Lord said to Gideon, “You have too many men for me to hand Midian over to you. ¹  Israel might brag, ²  ‘Our own strength has delivered us.’ ³ 

The Lord said to Gideon, “With the three hundred men who lapped I will deliver the whole army ¹  and I will hand Midian over to you. ²  The rest of the men should go home.” ³