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.

The people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of Yahweh, and he gave them 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.

The power of Midian oppressed Israel. Because of Midian, the people of Israel made shelters for themselves from the dens in the hills, the caves, and the strongholds.

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.

It happened that any time the Israelites planted their crops, the Midianites and the Amalekites and the people from the east would attack the Israelites.

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.

They would set up their army on the land and destroy the crops, all the way to Gaza. They would leave no food in Israel, and no sheep, nor cattle or donkeys.

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.

Whenever they and their livestock and tents came up, they would come as a swarm of locusts, and it was impossible to count either the people or their camels. They invaded the land in order to destroy it.

6 And Israel was greatly impoverished because of Madiam.

Midian weakened the Israelites so severely that the people of Israel called out to Yahweh.

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

When the people of Israel called out to Yahweh 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.

Yahweh sent a prophet to the people of Israel. The prophet said to them, “This is what Yahweh, the God of Israel, says: 'I brought you up from Egypt; I brought you out of the house of slavery.

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.

I rescued you from the hand of the Egyptians, and from the hand of all who were oppressing you. I drove them out before you, and I 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.

I said to you, “I am Yahweh your God; I commanded you not to worship the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living.” But you have not obeyed 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 Yahweh came and sat under the oak in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash (the Abiezrite), while Gideon, Joash's son, was separating out the wheat by beating it on the floor, in the winepress—to hide it from the Midianites.

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

The angel of Yahweh appeared to him and said to him, “Yahweh is with you, you strong warrior!”

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.

Gideon said to him, “Oh, my master, if Yahweh is with us, why then has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonderful deeds that our fathers told us about, when they said, 'Did not Yahweh bring us up from Egypt?' But now Yahweh has abandoned us and gave us into the hand 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.

Yahweh looked at him and said, “Go in the strength you already have. Deliver Israel from the hand of 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.

Gideon said to him, “Please, Lord, how can I deliver Israel? See, my family is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least important 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.

Yahweh said to him, “I will be with you, and you will defeat the entire Midianite army as 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,

Gideon said to him, “If you are pleased with me, then give me a sign that it is you who is speaking 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.

Please, do not leave here, until I come to you and bring out my gift and set it before you.” Yahweh said, “I will wait until you return.”

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.

Gideon went and prepared a young goat and from an ephah of flour he made unleavened bread. He put the meat in a basket, and he put the broth in a pot and brought them to him under the oak tree, and presented them.

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.

The angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened bread and put them on this rock, and pour out the broth over them.” That is what Gideon did.

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 Yahweh reached out with the end of the staff in his hand. With it he touched the flesh and the unleavened bread; a fire went up out of the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened bread. Then the angel of Yahweh went away and Gideon could no longer see him.

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.

Gideon understood that this was the angel of Yahweh. Gideon said, “Ah, Lord Yahweh! For I have seen the angel of Yahweh face to face!”

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

Yahweh said to him, “Peace to you! Do not be afraid, you will not die.”

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.

So Gideon built an altar there to Yahweh. He called it, “Yahweh is Peace.” To this day it still stands at Ophrah of the clan of Abiezer.

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.

That night Yahweh said to him, “Take your father's bull, and a second bull that is seven years old, and pull apart the altar of Baal that belongs to your father, and cut down the Asherah that is beside it.

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.

Build an altar to Yahweh your God on the top of this place of refuge, and construct it the correct way. Offer the second bull as a burnt offering, using the wood from the Asherah that you 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.

So Gideon took ten of his servants and did as Yahweh had told him. But because he was too afraid of his father's household and the men of the town to do it during the day, he did it at 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.

In the morning when the men of the town got up, the altar of Baal was broken down, and the Asherah that was beside it was cut down, and the second bull had been offered on the altar that had been built.

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.

The men of the city said to one another, “Who has done this?” When they talked with others and searched for answers, they said, “Gideon 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, “Bring out your son so that he may be put to death, because he pulled apart the altar of Baal, and because he cut down the Asherah beside 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.

Joash said to all who opposed him, “Will you plead the case for Baal? Will you save him? Whoever pleads the case for him, let him be put to death while it is still morning. If Baal is a god, let him defend himself when someone pulls his altar apart.”

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

Therefore on that day they called Gideon “Jerub Baal,” because he said, “Let Baal defend himself against him,” because Gideon broke down Baal's altar.

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

Now all the Midianites, the Amalekites, and the people of the east gathered together. They crossed over the Jordan and camped 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 Yahweh came over Gideon. Gideon blew a trumpet, calling out the clan of Abiezer, so they might follow 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.

He sent messengers all throughout Manasseh, and they too, were called out to follow him. He also sent messengers to Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, and they went up to meet him.

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

Gideon said to God, “If you intend to use me to save Israel, 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.

Look, I am putting a woolen fleece on the threshing floor. If there is dew only on the fleece, and it is dry on all the ground, then I will know that you will use me to save Israel, as you 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.

This is what happened—Gideon rose early the next morning, he pressed the fleece together, and wrung out the dew from the fleece, enough to fill a bowl with water.

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 angry with me, I will speak one more time. Please allow me one more test using the fleece. This time make the fleece dry, and let there be dew on all the ground around it.”

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

God did what he asked for that night. The fleece was dry, and there was dew on all the ground around it.