Judges 6

1And the sons of Israel did what was evil in the eyes of Yahweh, and Yahweh gave them into the hand of Midian for seven years.

2And the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel. Because of Midian, the sons of Israel made for themselves the dens that are in the mountains, and the caves, and the strongholds.

3And whenever Israel sowed, Midian and Amalek and the people of the East would come up against them.

4They would encamp against them and destroy the produce of the land as far as Gaza, and they would leave no sustenance in Israel, nor sheep, ox, or donkey.

5For they and their livestock would come up, and their tents would come like locusts in multitude; both they and their camels were without number, and they came into the land to destroy it.

6So Israel became very poor because of Midian, and the sons of Israel cried out to Yahweh.

7And it happened that, when the sons of Israel cried out to Yahweh because of Midian,

8Then Yahweh sent a man, a prophet, to the sons of Israel, and he said to them, “Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel: I brought you up from Egypt, and I brought you out from the house of slavery.”

9And I delivered you from the hand of Egypt and from the hand of all your oppressors, and I drove them out from before you and gave you their land.

10And I said to you, ‘I am Yahweh your God; do not fear the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But you have not listened to my voice.’

11Then the angel of Yahweh came and sat under the oak that was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while Gideon his son was beating out wheat in the winepress to hide it from Midian.

12Then the angel of Yahweh appeared to him and said to him, “Yahweh is with you, mighty warrior.”

13Gideon said to him, “Please, my lord, if Yahweh is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all his wonders that our fathers told us about, saying, ‘Did not Yahweh bring us up from Egypt?’ But now Yahweh has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.”

14Then Yahweh turned to him and said, “Go in this strength of yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian. Have I not sent you?”

15But he said to him, “Please, my lord, how can I save Israel? Look, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my father’s house.”

16And Yahweh said to him, “Surely I will be with you, and you will strike Midian as one man.”

17And he said to him, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, then give me a sign that you are the one speaking with me.”

18Please do not depart from here until I come to you and bring out my offering and set it before you." And he said, "I will stay until you return.

19Then Gideon went in and prepared a young goat and unleavened bread from an ephah of flour. He put the meat in a basket and the broth in a pot, and brought them out to him under the terebinth and presented them.

20Then the angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened bread, and set them on this rock, and pour out the broth.” And he did so.

21Then the angel of Yahweh reached out the tip of the staff that was in his hand and touched the meat and the unleavened bread. And fire went up from the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened bread. Then the angel of Yahweh went away from his sight.

22Then Gideon saw that he was the angel of Yahweh, and Gideon said, “Ah, Lord GOD! For I have seen the angel of Yahweh face to face.”

23But Yahweh said to him, “Peace be to you. Do not fear; you shall not die.”

24Then Gideon built an altar there to Yahweh and called it, “Yahweh Is Peace.” It remains there to this day in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

25And it happened that night that Yahweh said to him, “Take your father’s bull and the second bull, seven years old, and tear down the altar of Baal that belongs to your father, and cut down the Asherah that is upon it.”

26Then build an altar to Yahweh your God on the top of this stronghold, in orderly arrangement, and take the second bull and offer it up as a burnt offering with the wood of the Asherah that you cut down.

27So Gideon took ten men from among his servants and did as Yahweh had spoken to him. But because he feared his father's household and the men of the city too much to do it by day, he did it at night.

28When the men of the city rose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal had been torn down, and the Asherah that was on it had been cut down, and the second bull had been offered up on the altar that had been built.

29And each man said to his neighbor, “Who has done this thing?” And they inquired and searched, and they said, “Gideon son of Joash has done this thing.”

30Then the men of the city said to Joash, “Bring out your son, that he may die, because he has torn down the altar of Baal and cut down the Asherah that was beside it.”

31But Joash said to all who stood against him, “Will you contend for Baal? Will you save him? Whoever contends for him shall be put to death by morning. If he is a god, let him contend for himself, because his altar has been torn down.”

32So on that day he called him Jerubbaal, saying, “Let Baal contend against him, because he tore down his altar.”

33Then all Midian and Amalek and the people of the East gathered together, crossed over, and camped in the Valley of Jezreel.

34Then the Spirit of Yahweh clothed Gideon, and he blew the trumpet, and Abiezer was summoned after him.

35And he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh, and it too was called out after him. He also sent messengers through Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, and they went up to meet them.

36Then Gideon said to God, “If you will save Israel by my hand, as you have spoken,”

37Look, I am placing a fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If there is dew on the fleece alone, and dryness on all the ground, then I will know that you will save Israel by my hand, just as you have spoken.

38And it was so. He rose early the next day and squeezed the fleece, wringing dew from the fleece—a bowlful of water.

39Then Gideon said to God, “Do not let your anger burn against me, and let me speak just this once. Please let me test just this once with the fleece: let there be dryness on the fleece alone, and on all the ground let there be dew.”

40And God did so that night, and there was dryness on the fleece alone, and on all the ground there was dew.