² The Lord said to Gideon, “You have too many troops for me to hand the Midianites over to them, or else Israel might elevate themselves over me and say,^[a] ‘I saved myself.’ ³ Now announce to the troops, ‘Whoever is fearful and trembling may turn back and leave Mount Gilead.’”^(A) So twenty-two thousand of the troops turned back, but ten thousand remained.

⁴ Then the Lord said to Gideon, “There are still too many troops. Take them down to the water, and I will test them for you there. If I say to you, ‘This one can go with you,’ he can go. But if I say about anyone, ‘This one cannot go with you,’ he cannot go.”