Execution of the Idolaters

¹Then I heard Him call out in a loud voice, saying, “Draw near, O executioners of the city, each with a weapon of destruction in hand.”

²And I saw six men coming from the direction of the Upper Gate, which faces north, each with a weapon of slaughter in his hand. With them was another man clothed in linen who had a writing kit at his side. And they came in and stood beside the bronze altar.

³Then the glory of the God of Israel rose from above the cherubim, where it had been, and moved to the threshold of the temple. And He called to the man clothed in linen who had the writing kit at his side.

⁴“Go throughout the city of Jerusalem,” said the LORD, “and put a mark on the foreheads of the men sighing and groaning over all the abominations committed there.”

⁵And as I listened, He said to the others, “Follow him through the city and start killing; do not show pity or spare anyone!

⁶Slaughter the old men, the young men and maidens, the women and children; but do not go near anyone who has the mark. Now begin at My sanctuary.”So they began with the elders who were before the temple.

⁷Then He told them, “Defile the temple and fill the courts with the slain. Go forth!”So they went out and began killing throughout the city.

⁸While they were killing, I was left alone. And I fell facedown and cried out, “Oh, Lord GOD, when You pour out Your wrath on Jerusalem, will You destroy the entire remnant of Israel?”

⁹He replied, “The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great. The land is full of bloodshed, and the city is full of perversity. For they say, ‘The LORD has forsaken the land; the LORD does not see.’

¹⁰But as for Me, I will not look on them with pity, nor will I spare them. I will bring their deeds down upon their own heads.”

¹¹Then the man clothed in linen with the writing kit at his side reported back, “I have done as You commanded.”

Gideon’s Army of Three Hundred

¹Early in the morning Jerubbaal(that is, Gideon) and all the men with him camped beside the spring of Harod. And the camp of Midian was north of them in the valley near the hill of Moreh.

²Then the LORD said to Gideon, “You have too many men for Me to deliver Midian into their hands, lest Israel 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 Gilead.’”So twenty-two thousand of them turned back, but ten thousand remained.

⁴Then the LORD said to Gideon, “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 Gideon brought the men down to the water, and the LORD 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 the LORD said to Gideon, “With the three hundred men who lapped the water I will save you and deliver the Midianites into your hand. But all the others are to go home.”

⁸So Gideon sent the rest of the Israelites 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 Midian lay below him in the valley.

The Sword of Gideon

⁹That night the LORD said to Gideon, “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 Purah

¹¹and listen to what they are saying. Then your hands will be strengthened to attack the camp.” So he went with Purah his servant to the outposts where armed men were guarding the camp.

¹²Now the Midianites, Amalekites, 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 Gideon 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 Midianite camp. It struck the tent so hard that the tent overturned and collapsed.”

¹⁴His friend replied: “This is nothing less than the sword of Gideon son of Joash, the Israelite. God has delivered Midian and the whole camp into his hand.”

Gideon Defeats Midian

¹⁵When Gideon heard the dream and its interpretation, he bowed in worship. He returned to the camp of Israel and said, “Get up, for the LORD has delivered the camp of Midian 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,” Gideon 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 the LORD and for Gideon!’”

¹⁹Gideon 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 the LORD and for Gideon!”

²¹Each Israelite took his position around the camp, and the entire Midianite army fled, crying out as they ran.

²²And when the three hundred rams’ horns sounded, the LORD set all the men in the camp against one another with their swords. The army fled to Beth-shittah toward Zererahas far as the border of Abel-meholah near Tabbath.

²³Then the men of Israel were called out from Naphtali, Asher, and all Manasseh, and they pursued the Midianites.

²⁴Gideon sent messengers throughout the hill country of Ephraim to say, “Come down against the Midianites and seize the waters of the Jordan ahead of them as far as Beth-barah.” So all the men of Ephraim were called out, and they captured the waters of the Jordan as far as Beth-barah.

²⁵They also captured Oreb and Zeeb, the two princes of Midian; and they killed Oreb at the rock of Oreb and Zeeb at the winepress of Zeeb. So they pursued the Midianites and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon on the other side of the Jordan.

The Invasion of Locusts

¹This is the word of the LORD that came to Joel son of Pethuel:

²Hear this, O elders;and give ear, all who dwell in the land.Has anything like this ever happened in your daysor in the days of your fathers?

³Tell it to your children;let your children tell it to their children,and their children to the next generation.

⁴What the devouring locust has left,the swarming locust has eaten;what the swarming locust has left,the young locust has eaten;and what the young locust has left,the destroying locust has eaten.

⁵Wake up, you drunkards, and weep;wail, all you drinkers of wine,because of the sweet wine,for it has been cut off from your mouth.

⁶For a nation has invaded My land,powerful and without number;its teeth are the teeth of a lion,and its fangs are the fangs of a lioness.

⁷It has laid waste My grapevineand splintered My fig tree.It has stripped off the bark and thrown it away;the branches have turned white.

A Call to Mourning

⁸Wail like a virgin dressed in sackcloth,grieving for the husband of her youth.

⁹Grain and drink offerings have been cut offfrom the house of the LORD;the priests are in mourning,those who minister before the LORD.

¹⁰The field is ruined;the land mourns.For the grain is destroyed,the new wine is dried up, and the oil fails.

¹¹Be dismayed, O farmers,wail, O vinedressers,over the wheat and barley,because the harvest of the field has perished.

¹²The grapevine is dried up,and the fig tree is withered;the pomegranate, palm, and apple—all the trees of the orchard—are withered.Surely the joy of mankind has dried up.

A Call to Repentance

¹³Put on sackcloth and lament, O priests;wail, O ministers of the altar.Come, spend the night in sackcloth,O ministers of my God,because the grain and drink offeringsare withheld from the house of your God.

¹⁴Consecrate a fast;proclaim a solemn assembly!Gather the eldersand all the residents of the landto the house of the LORD your God,and cry out to the LORD.

¹⁵Alas for the day!For the Day of the LORD is near,and it will comeas destruction from the Almighty.

¹⁶Has not the food been cut offbefore our very eyes—joy and gladnessfrom the house of our God?

¹⁷The seeds lie shriveled beneath the clods;the storehouses are in ruins;the granaries are broken down,for the grain has withered away.

¹⁸How the cattle groan!The herds wander in confusionbecause they have no pasture.Even the flocks of sheep are suffering.

¹⁹To You, O LORD, I call,for fire has consumed the open pasturesand flames have scorched all the trees of the field.

²⁰Even the beasts of the field pant for You,for the streams of water have dried up,and fire has consumed the open pastures.

I Will Exalt You, My God and King

¹I will exalt You, my God and King;I will bless Your name forever and ever.

²Every day I will bless You,and I will praise Your name forever and ever.

³Great is the LORD and greatly to be praised;His greatness is unsearchable.

⁴One generation will commend Your works to the next,and will proclaim Your mighty acts—

⁵the glorious splendor of Your majesty.And I will meditate on Your wondrous works.

⁶They will proclaim the power of Your awesome deeds,and I will declare Your greatness.

⁷They will extol the fame of Your abundant goodnessand sing joyfully of Your righteousness.

⁸The LORD is gracious and compassionate,slow to anger and abounding in loving devotion.

⁹The LORD is good to all;His compassion rests on all He has made.

¹⁰All You have made will give You thanks, O LORD,and Your saints will bless You.

¹¹They will tell of the glory of Your kingdomand speak of Your might,

¹²to make known to men Your mighty actsand the glorious splendor of Your kingdom.

¹³Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,and Your dominion endures through all generations.The LORD is faithful in all His wordsand kind in all His actions.

¹⁴The LORD upholds all who falland lifts up all who are bowed down.

¹⁵The eyes of all look to You,and You give them their food in season.

¹⁶You open Your handand satisfy the desire of every living thing.

¹⁷The LORD is righteous in all His waysand kind in all His deeds.

¹⁸The LORD is near to all who call on Him,to all who call out to Him in truth.

¹⁹He fulfills the desires of those who fear Him;He hears their cry and saves them.

²⁰The LORD preserves all who love Him,but all the wicked He will destroy.

²¹My mouth will declare the praise of the LORD;let every creature bless His holy nameforever and ever.