3 “And now, proclaim in the hearing of the people, saying, ‘Whoever is afraid and trembling, let him turn back, and leave Mount Gil‛aḏ.’ ” And twenty-two thousand of the people turned back, while ten thousand remained.
4 And יהוה said to Giḏ‛on, “The people are still too many. Bring them down to the water, and let Me prove them for you there. And it shall be, that of whom I say to you, ‘This one goes with you,’ let him go with you. And of whomever I say to you, ‘This one does not go with you,’ let him not go.”
5 So he brought the people down to the water. And יהוה said to Giḏ‛on, “Everyone who laps the water with his tongue, as a dog laps, separate him from everyone who bows down on his knees to drink.”
6 And the number of those who lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, was three hundred men, and all the rest of the people bowed down on their knees to drink water.
7 And יהוה said to Giḏ‛on, “By the three hundred men who lapped I save you, and shall give Miḏyan into your hand. Let all the other people go, each to his place.”
8 And the people took food and their ram’s horns in their hands. And he sent away all the rest of Yisra’ĕl, each to his tent, but kept those three hundred men. Now the camp of Miḏyan was below him in the valley.
9 And it came to be, on that night, that יהוה said to him, “Arise, go down against the camp, for I have given it into your hand.