1
And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord gave them into the hand of Midian seven years.
2
And the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel: and the children of Israel made for themselves because of Midian the caves in the mountains, and the dens, and the holes in the rocks.
3
And it came to pass when the children of Israel sowed, that Midian and Amalek went up, and the children of the east went up together with them.
4
And they encamped against them, and destroyed their fruits until they came to Gaza; and they left not the support of life in the land of Israel, not even ox or ass among the herds.
5
For they and their stock came up, and their tents were with them, as the locust in multitude, and there was no number to them and their camels; and they came to the land of Israel, and laid it waste.
6
And Israel was greatly impoverished because of Midian.
7
And the children of Israel cried to the Lord because of Midian.
8
And the Lord sent a prophet to the children of Israel; and he said to them, Thus says the Lord God of Israel, I am he that brought you up out of the land of Egypt, and I brought you up out of the house of your bondage.
9
And I delivered you out of the hand of Egypt, and out of the hand of all that afflicted you, and I cast them out before you; and I gave you their land.
10
And I said to you, I am the Lord your God: ye shall not fear the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell; but ye hearkened not to my voice.
11
And an angel of the Lord came, and sat down under the fir tree, which was in Ophrah in the land of Joash father of Ezer; and Gideon his son was threshing wheat in a winepress in order to escape from the face of Midian.
12
And the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, The Lord is with thee, thou mighty in strength.
13
And Gideon said to him, Be gracious with me, my Lord: but if the Lord is with us, why have these evils found us? and where are all his miracles, which our fathers have related to us, saying, Did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt? and now he has cast us out, and given us into the hand of Midian.
14
And the angel of the Lord turned to him, and said, Go in this thy strength, and thou shalt save Israel out of the hand of Midian: behold, I have sent thee.
15
And Gideon said to him, Be gracious with me, my Lord: whereby shall I save Israel? behold, my thousand is weakened in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.
16
And the angel of the Lord said to him, The Lord shall be with thee, and thou shalt smite Midian as one man.
17
And Gideon said to him, If now I have found mercy in thine eyes, and thou wilt do this day for me all that thou hast spoken of with me,
18
depart not hence until I come to thee, and I will bring forth an offering and offer it before thee: and he said, I will remain until thou return.
19
And Gideon went in, and prepared a kid of the goats, and an ephah of fine flour unleavened; and he put the flesh in the basket, and poured the broth into the pot, and brought them forth to him under the turpentine tree, and drew nigh.
20
And the angel of God said to him, Take the flesh and the unleavened cakes, and put them on that rock, and pour out the broth close by: and he did so.
21
And the angel of the Lord stretched out the end of the rod that was in his hand, and touched the flesh and the unleavened bread; and fire came up out of the rock, and consumed the flesh and the unleavened bread, and the angel of the Lord vanished from his sight.
22
And Gideon saw that he was an angel of the Lord; and Gideon said, Ah, ah, Lord my God! for I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face.
23
And the Lord said to him, Peace be to thee, fear not, thou shalt not die.
24
And Gideon built there an altar to the Lord, and called it The peace of the Lord, until this day, as it is still in Ophrah of the father of Ezer.
25
And it came to pass in that night, that the Lord said to him, Take the young bullock which thy father has, even the second bullock of seven years old, and thou shalt destroy the altar of Baal which thy father has, and the grove which is by it thou shalt destroy.
26
And thou shalt build an altar to the Lord thy God on the top of this Maozi in the ordering it, and thou shalt take the second bullock, and shalt offer up whole burnt offerings with the wood of the grove, which thou shalt destroy.
27
And Gideon took ten men of his servants, and did as the Lord spoke to him: and it came to pass, as he feared the house of his father and the men of the city if he should do it by day, that he did it by night.
28
And the men of the city rose up early in the morning; and behold, the altar of Baal had been demolished, and the grove by it had been destroyed; and they saw the second bullock, which Gideon offered on the altar that had been built.
29
And a man said to his neighbor, Who has done this thing? and they inquired and searched, and learned that Gideon the son of Joash had done this thing.
30
And the men of the city said to Joash, Bring out thy son, and let him die, because he has destroyed the altar of Baal, and because he has destroyed the grove that is by it.
31
And Gideon the son of Joash said to all the men who rose up against him, Do ye now plead for Baal, or will ye save him? whoever will plead for him, let him be slain this morning: if he be a god let him plead for himself, because one has thrown down his altar.
32
And he called it in that day Jerubbaal, saying, Let Baal plead thereby, because his altar has been thrown down.
33
And all Midian, and Amalek, and the sons of the east gathered themselves together, and encamped in the Valley of Jezreel.
34
And the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon, and he blew with the horn, and Abiezer came to help after him.
35
And Gideon sent messengers into all Manasseh, and into Asher, and into Zebulun, and into Naphtali; and he went up to meet them.
36
And Gideon said to God, If thou wilt save Israel by my hand, as thou hast said,
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behold, I put the fleece of wool in the threshing floor: if there be dew on the fleece only, and drought on all the ground, I shall know that thou wilt save Israel by my hand, as thou hast said.
38
And it was so: and he rose up early in the morning, and wrung the fleece, and dew dropped from the fleece, a bowl full of water.
39
And Gideon said to God, Let not, I pray thee, thine anger be kindled with me, and I will speak yet once; I will even yet make one trial more with the fleece: let now the drought be upon the fleece only, and let there be dew on all the ground.
40
And God did so in that night; and there was drought on the fleece only, and on all the ground there was dew.