JudgesChapter 6

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¹Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD. So he handed them over to Midian for seven years. ²Midian was too strong for Israel. Because of the Midianites, the Israelites made hiding places for themselves. They hid in the mountains, in caves, and in strong places. ³Every time the Israelites planted their crops, enemies came up and attacked them. They were the Midianites, the Amalekites, and other people from the east. ⁴They set up camp against them all the way to Gaza. They ruined the crops of the land. They left Israel nothing to live on. They left no sheep, no oxen, and no donkeys. ⁵The Midianites came with their animals and their tents, like a huge swarm of locusts. No one could count them or their camels. They came into the land to ruin it. ⁶Midian made Israel very poor. So the Israelites cried out to the LORD. ⁷The Israelites cried out to the LORD because of Midian. ⁸Then the LORD sent them a prophet. The prophet told them, "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: I brought you up out of Egypt, where you were slaves. ⁹I saved you from the power of Egypt and from everyone who was cruel to you. I drove them out ahead of you, and I gave you their land. ¹⁰I said to you, 'I am the LORD your God. Do not fear the gods of the Amorites. You are living in their land.' But you did not obey me." ¹¹Then the angel of the LORD came and sat down under the oak tree in Ophrah. The tree belonged to Joash, from the family of Abiezer. His son Gideon was beating out wheat in a winepress. He was doing it there to hide it from the Midianites. ¹²The angel of the LORD appeared to Gideon. He said, "The LORD is with you, mighty warrior." ¹³"Please, my Lord," Gideon answered, "if the LORD is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his miracles? Our fathers told us about them. They said, 'Didn't the LORD bring us up out of Egypt?' But now the LORD has forsaken us. He has handed us over to Midian." ¹⁴The LORD turned to him and said, "Go in the strength you have. Save Israel from the power of Midian. I am the one sending you, am I not?" ¹⁵"Please, my Lord," Gideon answered, "how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh. And I am the youngest in my father's family." ¹⁶The LORD answered, "I will surely be with you. You will strike down all the Midianites as if they were just one man." ¹⁷Gideon answered, "If you are pleased with me, give me a sign. Show me that it is really you talking with me. ¹⁸Please don't leave this place until I come back to you. Let me bring my offering and set it in front of you." And the LORD said, "I will stay until you come back." ¹⁹So Gideon went inside and cooked a young goat. He made bread without yeast from about 20 pounds of flour. He put the meat in a basket and the broth in a pot. He brought them out and offered them to him under the oak tree.a ²⁰The angel of God said to him, "Take the meat and the bread without yeast. Put them on this rock. Then pour out the broth." And Gideon did it. ²¹Then the angel of the LORD reached out the tip of the staff in his hand. He touched the meat and the bread without yeast. Fire blazed up from the rock and burned up the meat and the bread. Then the angel of the LORD disappeared. ²²Then Gideon knew it was the angel of the LORD. He said, "Oh no, Lord GOD! I have seen the angel of the LORD face to face!" ²³But the LORD said to him, "Peace be with you. Do not be afraid, because you will not die." ²⁴So Gideon built an altar to the LORD there. He named it The LORD Is Peace. It still stands today in Ophrah, the town of the family of Abiezer. ²⁵That same night the LORD said to Gideon, "Take your father's young bull. Also take a second bull, seven years old. Tear down your father's altar to Baal. Cut down the Asherah pole beside it. ²⁶Then build a proper altar to the LORD your God on top of this high, safe place. Take the second bull and offer it as a burnt offering. Burn it with the wood of the Asherah pole you cut down." ²⁷So Gideon took ten of his servants and did what the LORD told him. But he was too afraid of his father's family and the men of the town. So he did it at night instead of in the daytime. ²⁸The men of the town got up in the morning. And there was Baal's altar, torn down! The Asherah pole beside it was cut down. The second bull had been offered on the new altar. ²⁹"Who did this?" they asked each other. They looked into it carefully. Then they were told, "Gideon son of Joash did it." ³⁰Then the men of the town said to Joash, "Bring out your son. He must die, because he tore down Baal's altar and cut down the Asherah pole beside it." ³¹But Joash spoke to all the people standing against him. "Are you going to fight for Baal?" he said. "Are you trying to save him? Anyone who fights for him will be put to death by morning! If Baal is a god, let him fight for himself. Let him fight the one who tore down his altar." ³²So that day Gideon was given the name Jerubbaal. It means "Let Baal fight with him." He was named this because he tore down Baal's altar. ³³Then all the Midianites, the Amalekites, and other people from the east joined together. They crossed the Jordan and set up camp in the Valley of Jezreel. ³⁴Then the Spirit of the LORD came on Gideon. He blew the ram's horn and called the family of Abiezer to follow him. ³⁵Gideon sent messengers all through Manasseh to call them to battle. He also sent them to Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali. So these men came up to meet him. ³⁶Then Gideon said to God, "If you are going to save Israel by my hand, as you have said, ³⁷then look, I will put a wool fleece on the threshing floor. If there is dew only on the fleece and all the ground is dry, then I will know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you said." ³⁸And that is just what happened. Gideon got up early the next morning. He squeezed the fleece and wrung the dew out of it. It filled a bowl with water. ³⁹Then Gideon said to God, "Please don't be angry with me. Let me speak just one more time. Please let me test with the fleece one more time. This time let the fleece be dry, and let the ground be covered with dew." ⁴⁰That night God did just that. Only the fleece was dry, and dew covered all the ground.