CHAPTER 6
Again the Israelites
did
evil
in the sight
of the LORD;
so He
handed them over to
Midian
for seven
years,
and the hand
of Midian
prevailed
against
Israel.
Because of
the Midianites,
the Israelites
prepared
shelters
for themselves
in the mountains,
caves,
and strongholds.
Whenever
the Israelites
would plant their crops,
the Midianites,
Amalekites,
and other people
of the East
would come up
and invade
them,
encamping
against them
as far as
Gaza
and destroying
the produce
of the land.
They left
Israel
with no
sustenance,
neither sheep
nor oxen
nor donkeys.
For
the Midianites
came
with their livestock
and their tents
like a great
swarm
of locusts.
They and their camels
were innumerable,
and they entered
the land
to ravage it.
He
sent
them
a prophet
who said,
“This is what
the LORD
God
of Israel
says:
I
brought
you up out of
Egypt,
out of the house
of slavery.
I delivered
you
out of the hands
of Egypt
and
all
your oppressors.
I drove them out
before you
and gave
you
their land.
And I said
to you:
‘I
am the LORD
your God.
You must not
worship
the gods
of the Amorites,
in whose
land
you
dwell.’
But you did not
obey Me.”
Then the Angel
of the LORD
came
and sat down
under
the oak
in Ophrah
that
belonged to Joash
the Abiezrite,
where his son
Gideon
was threshing
wheat
in a winepress
to hide it
from
the Midianites.
“Pardon me,
Sir,”
Gideon
replied,
“but if the LORD
is
with us,
why
has all
this
happened to us?
And where
are all
His wonders
about which
our fathers
told
us,
saying,
'Has not
the LORD
brought us up
out of Egypt?'
But now
the LORD
has forsaken us
and delivered us
into the hand
of Midian.”
The LORD
turned
to him
and said,
“Go
in the strength you have
and deliver
Israel
from the hand
of Midian.
Am I not
sending you?”
“Please,
Lord,”
Gideon asked,
“how
can I deliver
Israel?
Indeed,
my clan
is the weakest
in Manasseh,
and I
am the youngest
in my father’s
house.”
“Surely
I will be
with you,”
the LORD
replied,
“and you will strike down
all the Midianites
as one
man.”
Gideon answered,
“If
I have found
favor
in Your sight,
give
me a sign
that it is You
speaking
with me.
Please
do not
depart
from this place
until
I return
to You.
Let me bring
my gift
and set it
before You.”
And the LORD said,
“I
will stay
until
you return.”
So Gideon
went in
and prepared
a young goat
and unleavened bread
and an ephah
of flour.
He placed
the meat
in a basket
and the broth
in a pot
and brought them out
to present
to Him
under
the oak.
And the Angel
of God
said
to him,
“Take
the meat
and
the unleavened bread,
lay them
on
this
rock,
and
pour out
the broth.”
And Gideon did
so.
Then the Angel
of the LORD
extended
the tip
of the staff
that
was in His hand
and touched
the meat
and the unleavened bread.
And fire
flared
from
the rock
and consumed
the meat
and the unleavened bread.
Then the Angel
of the LORD
vanished
from his sight.
When Gideon
realized
that
it was
the Angel
of the LORD,
he
said,
“Oh no,
Lord
GOD!
I have seen
the Angel
of the LORD
face
to
face!”
So Gideon
built
an altar
to the LORD
there
and called
it
The LORD
is Peace.
To
this
day
it stands
in Ophrah
of the Abiezrites.
On that very
night
the LORD
said to Gideon,
“Take
your father’s
young bull
and a second
bull
seven
years old,
tear down
your father's
altar
to Baal,
and cut down
the Asherah pole
beside it.
Then build
a proper
altar
to the LORD
your God
on
the top
of this
stronghold.
And with the wood
of the Asherah pole
you cut down,
take
the second
bull
and offer
it as a burnt offering.”
So Gideon
took
ten
of his servants
and did
as
the LORD
had told him.
But because
he was too afraid
of his father’s
household
and
the men
of the city,
he did it
by night
rather than
in the daytime.
When the men
of the city
got up
in the morning,
they found
Baal’s
altar
torn down,
the Asherah pole
beside
it cut down,
and the second
bull
offered up
on
the newly built
altar.
“Who
did
this?”
they said
to
one
another.
And after they had investigated thorough
they were told,
“Gideon
son
of Joash
did
it.”
Then the men
of the city
said
to
Joash,
“Bring out
your son.
He must die,
because
he has torn down
Baal’s
altar
and cut down
the Asherah pole
beside it.”
But Joash
said
to all
who
stood
against him,
“Are you
contending
for Baal?
Are you
trying to save him?
Whoever
pleads his case
will be put to death
by
morning!
If
Baal
is a god,
let him contend
for himself
if
someone has torn down
his altar."
So on that day
Gideon was called
Jerubbaal,
that is to say,
“Let Baal
contend
with him,”
because
he had torn down
his altar.
Then all
the Midianites,
Amalekites,
and other people
of the East
gathered
together,
crossed over the Jordan,
and camped
in the Valley
of Jezreel.
So the Spirit
of the LORD
came upon
Gideon,
and he blew
the trumpet
and rallied
the Abiezrites
behind him.
Calling
them to arms,
Gideon sent
messengers
throughout
Manasseh,
as well as
Asher,
Zebulun,
and Naphtali,
so that they came up
to meet him.
then behold,
I
will place
a fleece
of wool
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 deliver
Israel
by my hand,
as
You have said."
And that is what
happened.
When Gideon arose
the next morning,
he squeezed
the fleece
and wrung
out
the dew—
a bowlful
of water.
Then Gideon
said
to
God,
“Do not
be angry
with me;
let me speak
one more time.
Please allow me
one more
test
with the fleece.
This time
let it be
dry,
and the ground
be
covered
with dew.”