Judges 6

1 And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord gave them into the hand of Madiam seven years.

And the children of Israel did evil in the eyes of the Lord; and the Lord gave them up into the hand of Midian for seven years.

2 And the hand of Madiam prevailed against Israel: and the children of Israel made for themselves because of Madiam the caves in the mountains, and the dens, and the holes in the rocks.

And Midian was stronger than Israel; and because of the Midianites, the children of Israel made holes for themselves in the mountains, and hollows in the rocks, and strong places.

3 And it came to pass when the children of Israel sowed, that Madiam and Amalec went up, and the children of the east went up together with them.

And whenever Israel's grain was planted, the Midianites and the Amalekites and the people of the east came up against 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 amongst the herds.

And put their army in position against them; and they took all the produce of the earth as far as Gaza, till there was no food in Israel, or any sheep or oxen or asses.

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.

For they came up regularly with their oxen and their tents; they came like the locusts in number; they and their camels were without number; and they came into the land for its destruction.

6 And Israel was greatly impoverished because of Madiam.

And Israel was in great need because of Midian; and the cry of the children of Israel went up to the Lord.

7 And the children of Israel cried to the Lord because of Madiam.

And when the cry of the children of Israel, because of Midian, came before the Lord,

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.

The Lord sent a prophet to the children of Israel, who said to them, The Lord the God of Israel, has said, I took you up from Egypt, out of the prison-house;

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.

And I took you out of the hands of the Egyptians and out of the hands of all who were cruel to you, and I sent them out by force from before you and gave you their land;

10 And I said to you, I [am] the Lord your God: you shall not fear the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell; but you listened not to my voice.

And I said to you, I am the Lord your God; you are not to give worship to the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living, but you did not give ear to my voice.

11 And an angel of the Lord came, and sat down under the fir tree, which was in Ephratha in the land of Joas father of Esdri; and Gedeon his son [was] threshing wheat in a wine-press in order to escape from the face of Madiam.

Now the angel of the Lord came and took his seat under the oak-tree in Ophrah, in the field of Joash the Abiezrite; and his son Gideon was crushing grain in the place where the grapes were crushed, so that the Midianites might not see it.

12 And the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, The Lord [is] with you, you mighty in strength.

And the angel of the Lord came before his eyes, and said to him, The Lord is with you, O man of war.

13 And Gedeon 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 Madiam.

Then Gideon said to him, O my lord, if the Lord is with us why has all this come on us? And where are all his works of power, of which our fathers have given us word, saying, Did not the Lord take us out of Egypt? But now he has given us up, handing us over to the power of Midian.

14 And the angel of the Lord turned to him, and said, Go in this your strength, and you shall save Israel out of the hand of Madiam: behold, I have sent you.

And the Lord, turning to him, said, Go in the strength you have and be Israel's saviour from Midian: have I not sent you?

15 And Gedeon said to him, [Be gracious] with me, my Lord: whereby shall I save Israel? behold, my thousand is weakened in Manasse, and I am the least in my father's house.

And he said to him, O Lord, how may I be the saviour of Israel? See, my family is the poorest 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 you, and you shall strike Madiam as one man.

Then the Lord said to him, Truly, I will be with you, and you will overcome the Midianites as if they were one man.

17 And Gedeon said to him, If now I have found mercy in your eyes, and you will do this day for me all that you have spoken of with me,

So he said to him, If now I have grace in your eyes, then give me a sign that it is you who are talking to me.

18 depart not hence until I come to you, and I will bring forth an offering and offer it before you: and he said, I will remain until you return.

Do not go away till I come with my offering and put it before you. And he said, I will not go away before you come back.

19 And Gedeon 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 near.

Then Gideon went in and made ready a young goat, and with an ephah of meal he made unleavened cakes: he put the meat in a basket and the soup in which it had been cooked he put in a pot, and he took it out to him under the oak-tree and gave it to him there.

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.

And the angel of God said to him, Take the meat and the unleavened cakes and put them down on the rock over there, draining out the soup over them. 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.

Then the angel of the Lord put out the stick which was in his hand, touching the meat and the cakes with the end of it; and a flame came up out of the rock, burning up the meat and the cakes: and the angel of the Lord was seen no longer.

22 And Gedeon saw that he was an angel of the Lord; and Gedeon said, Ah, ah, Lord my God! for I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face.

Then Gideon was certain that he was the angel of the Lord; and Gideon said, I am in fear, O Lord God! for I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face.

23 And the Lord said to him, Peace be to you, fear not, you shall not die.

But the Lord said to him, Peace be with you; have no fear: you are in no danger of death.

24 And Gedeon built there an altar to the Lord, and called it The peace of the Lord, until this day, as it is still inEphratha of the father of Esdri.

Then Gideon made an altar there to the Lord, and gave it the name Yahweh-shalom; to this day it is in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

25 And it came to pass in that night, that the Lord said to him, Take the young bullock which your father has, even the second bullock of seven years old, and you shall destroy the altar of Baal which your father has, and the grove which is by itthou shall destroy.

The same night the Lord said to him, Take ten men of your servants and an ox seven years old, and after pulling down the altar of Baal which is your father's, and cutting down the holy tree by its side,

26 And you shall build an altar to the Lord your God on the top of this Maozi in the ordering[it], and you shall take the second bullock, and shall offer up whole burnt offerings with the wood of the grove, which you shall destroy.

Make an altar to the Lord your God on the top of this rock, in the ordered way and take the ox and make a burned offering with the wood of the holy tree which has been cut down.

27 And Gedeon 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.

Then Gideon took ten of his servants and did as the Lord had said to him; but fearing to do it by day, because of his father's people and the men of the town, 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 Gedeon offered on the altar that had been built.

And the men of the town got up early in the morning, and they saw the altar of Baal broken down, and the holy tree which was by it cut down, and the ox offered on the altar which had been put up there.

29 And a man said to his neighbour, Who has done this thing? and they enquired and searched, and learnt that Gedeon the son of Joas had done this thing.

And they said to one another, Who has done this thing? And after searching with care, they said, Gideon, the son of Joash, has done this thing.

30 And the men of the city said to Joas, Bring out your son, and let him die, because he has destroyed the altar of Baal, and because he has destroyed the grove that is by it.

Then the men of the town said to Joash, Make your son come out to be put to death, for pulling down the altar of Baal and cutting down the holy tree which was by it.

31 And Gedeon the son of Joas said to all the men who rose up against him, Do you now plead for Baal, or will you 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.

But Joash said to all those who were attacking him, Will you take up the cause of Baal? will you be his saviour? Let anyone who will take up his cause be put to death while it is still morning: if he is a god, let him take up his cause himself because of the pulling down of his altar.

32 And he called it in that day Jerobaal, saying, Let Baal plead thereby, because his altar has been thrown down.

So that day he gave him the name of Jerubbaal, saying, Let Baal take up his cause against him because his altar has been broken down.

33 And all Madiam, and Amalek, and the sons of the east gathered themselves together, and encamped in the valley of Jezrael.

Then all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the people of the east, banding themselves together, went over and put up their tents in the valley of Jezreel.

34 And the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gedeon, and he blew with the horn, and Abiezer came to help after him.

But the spirit of the Lord came on Gideon; and at the sound of his horn all Abiezer came together after him.

35 And [Gedeon] sent messengers into all Manasse, and into Aser, and into Zabulon, and into Nephthali; and he went up to meet them.

And he sent through all Manasseh, and they came after him; and he sent to Asher and Zebulun and Naphtali, and they came up and were joined to the others.

36 And Gedeon said to God, If you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said,

Then Gideon said to God, If you are going to give Israel salvation by my hand, as you have said,

37 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 you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said.

See, I will put the wool of a sheep on the grain-floor; if there is dew on the wool only, while all the earth is dry, then I will be certain that it is your purpose to give Israel salvation by my hand as you have 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.

And it was so: for he got up early on the morning after, and twisting the wool in his hands, he got a basin full of water from the dew on the wool.

39 And Gedeon said to God, Let not, I pray you, your 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.

Then Gideon said to God, Do not be moved to wrath against me if I say only this: let me make one more test with the wool; let the wool now be dry, while the earth is covered with dew.

40 And God did so in that night; and there was drought on the fleece only, and on all the ground there was dew.

And that night God did so; for the wool was dry, and there was dew on all the earth round it.