1 The Israelites did things that the Lord saw as evil, and the Lord handed them over to the Midianites for seven years.
2 The power of the Midianites prevailed over Israel, and because of the Midianites, the Israelites used crevices and caves in the mountains as hidden strongholds.
3 Whenever the Israelites planted seeds, the Midianites, Amalekites, and other easterners would invade.
4 They would set up camp against the Israelites and destroy the land’s crops as far as Gaza, leaving nothing to keep Israel alive, not even sheep, oxen, or donkeys.
5 They would invade with their herds and tents, coming like a swarm of locusts, so that no one could count them or their camels. They came into the land to destroy it.
6 So Israel became very weak on account of Midian, and the Israelites cried out to the Lord.