Judges 6

1 The Israelites did what was evil in the Lord's sight. So the Lord handed them over to the Midianites for seven years.

Then the sons of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, who delivered them into the hand of Midian for seven years.

2 The Midianite oppression was so great that because of them the Israelites made themselves hiding places in mountains, caves, and fortifications.

And they were greatly oppressed by them. And they made for themselves hollows and caves in the mountains, and very fortified places for defense.

3 Whenever the Israelites planted their crops, the Midianites, Amalekites, and other peoples from the east would come and attack them.

And when Israel had planted, Midian and Amalek, and the rest of the eastern nations ascended,

4 They would set up their camps and destroy the country's crops as far away as Gaza. They didn't leave anything to eat in the whole of Israel, and they took for themselves all the sheep, cattle, and donkeys.

and pitching their tents among them, they laid waste to all that was planted, as far as the entrance to Gaza. And they left behind nothing at all to sustain life in Israel, neither sheep, nor oxen, nor donkeys.

5 They arrived in huge numbers with their livestock and tents like swarms of locusts, with so many camels they couldn't be counted. They invaded the land to completely devastate it.

For they and all their flocks arrived with their tents, and they filled all places like locusts, an innumerable multitude of men and camels, devastating whatever they touched.

6 The Israelites were made desperately poor by the Midianites and they called out to the Lord for help.

And Israel was humbled greatly in the sight of Midian.

7 When the Israelites cried out to the Lord for help because of the Midianites,

And he cried out to the Lord, requesting assistance against the Midianites.

8 the Lord sent the Israelites a prophet. He told them, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘I brought you out of Egypt; I led you out from the place where you were slaves.

And he sent to them a man who was a prophet, and he said: “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: ‘I caused you to ascend from Egypt, and I led you away from the house of servitude.

9 I saved you from the power of the Egyptians and from everyone who oppressed you. I expelled them before you and gave their land to you.

And I freed you from the hand of the Egyptians and from all of the enemies who were afflicting you. And I cast them out at your arrival, and I delivered their land to you.

10 I warned you: I am the Lord your God. You must not worship the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you're now living.’ But you didn't listen to me.”

And I said: I am the Lord your God. You shall not fear the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you live. But you were not willing to listen to my voice.’”

11 The angel of the Lord came and sat under the oak tree in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite. His son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress there to hide it from the Midianites.

Then an Angel of the Lord arrived, and he sat under an oak tree, which was at Ophrah, and which belonged to Joash, the father of the family of Ezri. And while his son Gideon was threshing and cleaning the grain at the winepress, so that he might flee from Midian,

12 The angel of the Lord appeared to him and said, “The Lord is with you, great man of courage!”

the Angel of the Lord appeared to him, and he said: “The Lord is with you, most valiant of men.”

13 “Excuse me, my lord, but if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us?” Gideon replied. “Where are all his wonderful miracles that our forefathers reminded us about when they said, ‘Wasn't it the Lord who led us out of Egypt?’ But now the Lord has given up on us and has handed us over to the Midianites.”

And Gideon said to him: “I beg you, my lord, if the Lord is with us, why have these things happened to us? Where are his miracles, which our fathers described when they said, ‘The Lord led us away from Egypt.’ But now the Lord has forsaken us, and he has delivered us into the hand of Midian.”

14 The Lord turned to him and said, “Go in the strength that you have and save Israel from the Midianites. Aren't I the one sending you?”

And the Lord looked down upon him, and he said: “Go forth with this, your strength, and you shall free Israel from the hand of Midian. Know that I have sent you.”

15 “Excuse me, my lord, but how can I save Israel?” Gideon replied. “My family is the least important of the tribe of Manasseh, and I am the least important person of that family!”

And responding, he said: “I beg you, my lord, with what shall I free Israel? Behold, my family is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in the house of my father.”

16 “I will be with you,” the Lord told him. “You will defeat the Midianites as if they were just one man.”

And the Lord said to him: “I will be with you. And so, you shall cut down Midian as if one man.”

17 “Please, Lord, if you think well of me, give me a sign that it's really you telling me this,” Gideon asked.

And he said: “If I have found grace before you, give me a sign that it is you who is speaking to me.

18 “Don't leave until I come back and present my offering to you.” “I will remain here until you return,” he replied.

And may you not withdraw from here, until I return to you, carrying a sacrifice and offering it to you.” And he responded, “I will wait for your return.”

19 Gideon went and cooked a young goat, and baked some unleavened bread from an ephah of flour. He put the meat in a basket and the broth in a pot. He carried them out and presented them to the angel under the oak tree.

And so Gideon entered, and he boiled a goat, and he made unleavened bread from a measure of flour. And setting the flesh in a basket, and putting the broth of the flesh in a pot, he took it all under the oak tree, and he offered it to him.

20 The angel of God told him, “Place the meat and the unleavened bread on this rock and pour the broth over them.” So Gideon did.

And the Angel of the Lord said to him, “Take the flesh and the unleavened bread, and place them on that rock, and pour out the broth upon it.” And when he had done so,

21 The angel of the Lord held out the staff he was holding and touched the meat and unleavened bread with the tip. Fire flamed from the rock and burned up the meat and unleavened bread. Then the angel vanished.

the Angel of the Lord extended the end of a staff, which he was holding in his hand, and he touched the flesh and the unleavened loaves. And a fire ascended from the rock, and it consumed the flesh and the unleavened loaves. Then the Angel of the Lord vanished from his sight.

22 When Gideon realized that it was the angel of the Lord, he cried out, “Oh no, Lord God! I've seen the angel of the Lord face to face!”

And Gideon, realizing that it had been the Angel of the Lord, said: “Alas, my Lord God! For I have seen the Angel of the Lord face to face.”

23 But the Lord told him, “Peace! Don't worry, you're not going to die.”

And the Lord said to him: “Peace be with you. Do not be afraid; you shall not die.”

24 So Gideon built an altar to the Lord there and called it “The Lord is Peace.” It's still there today, in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

Therefore, Gideon built an altar to the Lord there, and he called it, the Peace of the Lord, even to the present day. And while he was still at Ophrah, which is of the family of Ezri,

25 That night the Lord told Gideon, “Take your father's bull and a second bull seven years old, and tear down your father's altar of Baal, and cut down the Asherah pole beside it.

that night, the Lord said to him: “Take a bull of your father’s, and another bull of seven years, and you shall destroy the altar of Baal, which is your father’s. And you shall cut down the sacred grove which is around the altar.

26 Then build an altar to the Lord your God in the proper way on hilltop. Using the wood of the Asherah pole you cut down as firewood, take the second bull and present it as a burnt offering.”

And you shall build an altar to the Lord your God, at the summit of this rock, on which you placed the sacrifice before. And you shall take the second bull, and you shall offer a holocaust upon a pile of the wood, which you shall cut down from the grove.”

27 Gideon accompanied by ten of his servants did what the Lord had told him. However, because he was afraid of his family and the people of the town, he did it during the night rather than in the day.

Therefore, Gideon, taking ten men from his servants, did just as the Lord had instructed him. But fearing his father’s household, and the men of that city, he was not willing to do it by day. Instead, he completed everything by night.

28 Early in the morning when the people of the town got up, they saw that the altar of Baal had been torn down and the Asherah pole beside it had been cut down, with the second bull sacrificed on the altar that had just been built.

And when the men of that town had risen up in the morning, they saw the altar of Baal destroyed, and the sacred grove cut down, and the second bull set upon the altar, which then had been built.

29 They asked one another, “Who did this?” They made inquiries and they were told, “Gideon, son of Joash, did it.”

And they said one to another, “Who has done this?” And when they inquired everywhere as to the author of the deed, it was said, “Gideon, the son of Joash, did all these things.”

30 “Hand over your son,” the people of the town ordered Joash. “He must die, because he has torn down the altar of Baal and cut down the Asherah pole beside it.”

And they said to Joash: “Bring forward your son here, so that he may die. For he has destroyed the altar of Baal, and he has cut down the sacred grove.”

31 Joash replied to all those confronting him, “Are you arguing on Baal's behalf? Do you have to save him? Anyone who argues for him will be put to death by morning! If he is a god let him fight for himself against those who tore down his altar.”

But he responded to them: “Could you be the avengers of Baal, so that you fight on his behalf? Whoever is his adversary, let him die before the light arrives tomorrow; if he is a god, let him vindicate himself against him who has overturned his altar.”

32 That day Gideon was called Jerub-baal, which means “Let Baal fight with him,” because he had torn down his altar.

From that day, Gideon was called Jerubbaal, because Joash had said, “Let Baal avenge himself against him who has overturned his altar.”

33 All the Midianites, Amalekites, and other peoples of the East gathered together and crossed over the Jordan. They camped in the Valley of Jezreel.

And so, all of Midian, and Amalek, and the eastern peoples were gathered together. And crossing the Jordan, they encamped in the valley of Jezreel.

34 The Spirit of the Lord came on Gideon, and he blew the trumpet, calling Abiezrites to join him.

But the Spirit of the Lord entered Gideon, who, sounding the trumpet, summoned the house of Abiezer so that he might follow him.

35 He sent messengers through the whole territory of Manasseh, calling them to join him, and also to Asher, Zebulun and Naphtali, so they also came and joined the others.

And he sent messengers into all of Manasseh, who also followed him, and other messengers into Asher, and Zebulun, and Naphtali, who went to meet him.

36 Gideon said to God, “If you will save Israel through me as you promised,

And Gideon said to God: “If you will save Israel by my hand, just as you have said:

37 then look—I will put a fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If the fleece is wet with dew but the ground is dry, then I will know that you are going to save Israel through me as you promised.”

I will set this wool fleece on the threshing floor. If there will be dew only on the fleece, and all the ground is dry, I will know that by my hand, as you have said, you will free Israel.”

38 That's what happened. When Gideon got up early the next morning, he pressed on the fleece and squeezed out the dew, enough water to fill a bowl.

And so it was done. And rising in the night, wringing out the fleece, he filled a vessel with the dew.

39 Then Gideon said to God, “Please don't get cross with me. Just let me make one more request. Let me do one more test with the fleece. This time let the fleece be dry and the whole ground covered with dew.”

And again he said to God: “Let not your fury be enkindled against me, if I test once more, seeking a sign in the fleece. I pray that only the fleece may be dry, and all the ground may be wet with dew.”

40 That night God did exactly that. The fleece alone was dry and the whole ground was covered with dew.

And that night, God did as he had requested. And it was dry only on the fleece, and there was dew on all the ground.