3. Whenever the Israelites sowed any seed, the Midianites would come with the Amalekites and the desert tribes and attack them.
4. They would camp on the land and destroy the crops as far south as the area round Gaza. They would take all the sheep, cattle, and donkeys, and leave nothing for the Israelites to live on.
5. They would come with their livestock and tents, as thick as locusts. They and their camels were too many to count. They came and devastated the land,
6. and Israel was helpless against them.
7. Then the people of Israel cried out to the Lord for help against the Midianites,
8. and he sent them a prophet who brought them this message from the Lord, the God of Israel: “I brought you out of slavery in Egypt.
9. I rescued you from the Egyptians and from the people who fought against you here in this land. I drove them out as you advanced, and I gave you their land.