promised him, that God would supply
what he was defective in, and would afford the Israelites victory under
his conduct.

3. Now, therefore, as Gideon was relating this to some young men, they
believed him, and immediately there was an army of ten thousand men got
ready for fighting. But God stood by Gideon in his sleep, and told him
that mankind were too fond of themselves, and were enemies to such as
excelled in virtue. Now that they might not pass God over, but ascribe
the victory to him, and might not fancy it obtained by their own power,
because they were a great many, and able of themselves to fight their
enemies, but might confess that it was owing to his assistance, he
advised him to bring his army about noon, in the violence of the heat,
to the river, and to esteem those that bent down on their knees, and so
drank, to be men of courage; but for all those that drank tumultuously,
that he should esteem them to do it out of fear, and as in dread of
their enemies. And when Gideon had done as God had suggested to him,
there were found three hundred men that took water with their hands
tumultuously; so God bid him take these men, and attack the enemy.
Accordingly they pitched their camp at the river Jordan, as ready the
next day to pass over it.

4. But Gideon was in great fear, for God had told him beforehand that he
should set upon his enemies in the night-time; but God, being willing to
free him from his fear, bid him take one of his soldiers, and go near to
the Midianites' tents, for that he should from that very place have
his courage raised, and grow bold. So he obeyed, and went and took his
servant Phurah with him; and as he came near to one of the tents, he
discovered that those that were in it were awake, and that one of
them was telling to his fellow soldier a dream of his own, and that so
plainly that Gideon could hear him. The dream was this:--He thought he
saw a barley-cake, such a one as could hardly be eaten by men, it was so
vile, rolling through the camp, and overthrowing the royal tent, and the
tents of all the soldiers. Now the other soldier explained this vision
to mean the destruction of the army; and told them what his reason was
which made him so conjecture, viz. That the seed called barley was all
of it allowed to be of the vilest sort of seed, and that the Israelites
were known to be the vilest of all the people of Asia, agreeably to the
seed of barley, and that what seemed to look big among