Judges 6

1 The Israelites did what was evil in the Lord's sight. So the Lord handed them over to the Midianites for seven years.

And the sons of Israel do evil in the eyes of YHWH, and YHWH gives them into the hand of Midian [for] seven years,

2 The Midianite oppression was so great that because of them the Israelites made themselves hiding places in mountains, caves, and fortifications.

and the hand of Midian is strong against Israel, [so] the sons of Israel have made for themselves the nooks which [are] in the mountains, and the caves, and the strongholds [to hide] from the presence of Midian.

3 Whenever the Israelites planted their crops, the Midianites, Amalekites, and other peoples from the east would come and attack them.

And it has been, if Israel has sowed, that Midian has come up, and Amalek, and the sons of the east, indeed, they have come up against him,

4 They would set up their camps and destroy the country's crops as far away as Gaza. They didn't leave anything to eat in the whole of Israel, and they took for themselves all the sheep, cattle, and donkeys.

and encamp against them, and destroy the increase of the land until your entering Gaza; and they leave no sustenance in Israel, either sheep, or ox, or donkey;

5 They arrived in huge numbers with their livestock and tents like swarms of locusts, with so many camels they couldn't be counted. They invaded the land to completely devastate it.

for they and their livestock come up, with their tents; they come in as the fullness of the locust for multitude, and of them and of their livestock there is no number, and they come into the land to destroy it.

6 The Israelites were made desperately poor by the Midianites and they called out to the Lord for help.

And Israel is very weak from the presence of Midian, and the sons of Israel cry to YHWH.

7 When the Israelites cried out to the Lord for help because of the Midianites,

And it comes to pass, when the sons of Israel have cried to YHWH concerning Midian,

8 the Lord sent the Israelites a prophet. He told them, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘I brought you out of Egypt; I led you out from the place where you were slaves.

that YHWH sends a man, a prophet, to the sons of Israel, and he says to them, “Thus said YHWH, God of Israel: I have brought you up out of Egypt, and I bring you out from a house of servants,

9 I saved you from the power of the Egyptians and from everyone who oppressed you. I expelled them before you and gave their land to you.

and I deliver you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of all your oppressors, and I cast them out from your presence, and I give their land to you,

10 I warned you: I am the Lord your God. You must not worship the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you're now living.’ But you didn't listen to me.”

and I say to you, I [am] your God YHWH, you do not fear the gods of the Amorite in whose land you are dwelling—and you have not listened to My voice.”

11 The angel of the Lord came and sat under the oak tree in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite. His son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress there to hide it from the Midianites.

And the Messenger of YHWH comes and sits under the oak which [is] in Ophrah, which [is] to Joash the Abi-Ezrite, and his son Gideon is beating out wheat in the winepress, to remove [it] from the presence of the Midianites;

12 The angel of the Lord appeared to him and said, “The Lord is with you, great man of courage!”

and the Messenger of YHWH appears to him and says to him, “YHWH [is] with you, O mighty man of valor.”

13 “Excuse me, my lord, but if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us?” Gideon replied. “Where are all his wonderful miracles that our forefathers reminded us about when they said, ‘Wasn't it the Lord who led us out of Egypt?’ But now the Lord has given up on us and has handed us over to the Midianites.”

And Gideon says to Him, “O my Lord, [if] YHWH is indeed with us, then why has all this found us? And where [are] all His wonders which our fathers recounted to us, saying, Has YHWH not brought us up out of Egypt? And now YHWH has left us, and gives us into the hand of Midian.”

14 The Lord turned to him and said, “Go in the strength that you have and save Israel from the Midianites. Aren't I the one sending you?”

And YHWH turns to him and says, “Go in this—your power; and you have saved Israel out of the hand of Midian—have I not sent you?”

15 “Excuse me, my lord, but how can I save Israel?” Gideon replied. “My family is the least important of the tribe of Manasseh, and I am the least important person of that family!”

And he says to Him, “O my Lord, with what do I save Israel? Behold, my chief [is] weak in Manasseh, and I [am] the least in the house of my father.”

16 “I will be with you,” the Lord told him. “You will defeat the Midianites as if they were just one man.”

And YHWH says to him, “Because I am with you—you have struck the Midianites as one man.”

17 “Please, Lord, if you think well of me, give me a sign that it's really you telling me this,” Gideon asked.

And he says to Him, “Now if I have found grace in Your eyes, then You have done a sign for me that You are speaking with me.

18 “Don't leave until I come back and present my offering to you.” “I will remain here until you return,” he replied.

Please do not move from here until my coming to You, and I have brought out my present, and put it before You”; and He says, “I abide until your return.”

19 Gideon went and cooked a young goat, and baked some unleavened bread from an ephah of flour. He put the meat in a basket and the broth in a pot. He carried them out and presented them to the angel under the oak tree.

And Gideon has gone in, and prepares a kid of the goats, and an ephah of flour [worth] of unleavened things; he has put the flesh in a basket, and he has put the broth in a pot, and he brings [them] out to Him, to the place of the oak, and brings [them] near.

20 The angel of God told him, “Place the meat and the unleavened bread on this rock and pour the broth over them.” So Gideon did.

And the Messenger of God says to him, “Take the flesh and the unleavened things, and place [them] on this rock—and pour out the broth”; and he does so.

21 The angel of the Lord held out the staff he was holding and touched the meat and unleavened bread with the tip. Fire flamed from the rock and burned up the meat and unleavened bread. Then the angel vanished.

And the Messenger of YHWH puts forth the end of the staff which [is] in His hand, and comes against the flesh, and against the unleavened things, and the fire goes up out of the rock and consumes the flesh and the unleavened things—and the Messenger of YHWH has gone from his eyes.

22 When Gideon realized that it was the angel of the Lord, he cried out, “Oh no, Lord God! I've seen the angel of the Lord face to face!”

And Gideon sees that He [is] the Messenger of YHWH, and Gideon says, “Aah, Lord YHWH! For so I have looked on the Messenger of YHWH face to face!”

23 But the Lord told him, “Peace! Don't worry, you're not going to die.”

And YHWH says to him, “Peace to you; do not fear; you do not die.”

24 So Gideon built an altar to the Lord there and called it “The Lord is Peace.” It's still there today, in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

And Gideon builds an altar to YHWH there, and calls it YHWH-Shalom, it [is] yet in Ophrah of the Abi-Ezrites to this day.

25 That night the Lord told Gideon, “Take your father's bull and a second bull seven years old, and tear down your father's altar of Baal, and cut down the Asherah pole beside it.

And it comes to pass, on that night, that YHWH says to him, “Take the young ox which your father has, and the second bullock of seven years, and you have thrown down the altar of Ba‘al which your father has, and cut down the Asherah which [is] by it,

26 Then build an altar to the Lord your God in the proper way on hilltop. Using the wood of the Asherah pole you cut down as firewood, take the second bull and present it as a burnt offering.”

and you have built an altar to your God YHWH on the top of this stronghold, by the arrangement, and have taken the second bullock, and caused a burnt-offering to ascend with the wood of the Asherah which you cut down.”

27 Gideon accompanied by ten of his servants did what the Lord had told him. However, because he was afraid of his family and the people of the town, he did it during the night rather than in the day.

And Gideon takes ten men of his servants, and does as YHWH has spoken to him, and it comes to pass, because he has been afraid of the house of his father, and the men of the city, to do [it] by day, that he does [it] by night.

28 Early in the morning when the people of the town got up, they saw that the altar of Baal had been torn down and the Asherah pole beside it had been cut down, with the second bull sacrificed on the altar that had just been built.

And the men of the city rise early in the morning, and behold, the altar of Ba‘al has been broken down, and the Asherah which is by it has been cut down, and the second bullock has been offered on the altar which is built.

29 They asked one another, “Who did this?” They made inquiries and they were told, “Gideon, son of Joash, did it.”

And they say to one another, “Who has done this thing?” And they inquire and seek, and they say, “Gideon son of Joash has done this thing.”

30 “Hand over your son,” the people of the town ordered Joash. “He must die, because he has torn down the altar of Baal and cut down the Asherah pole beside it.”

And the men of the city say to Joash, “Bring out your son, and he dies, because he has broken down the altar of Ba‘al, and because he has cut down the Asherah which [is] by it.”

31 Joash replied to all those confronting him, “Are you arguing on Baal's behalf? Do you have to save him? Anyone who argues for him will be put to death by morning! If he is a god let him fight for himself against those who tore down his altar.”

And Joash says to all who have stood against him, “You, do you plead for Ba‘al? You—do you save him? He who pleads for him is put to death during the morning; if he [is] a god he pleads against him himself, because he has broken down his altar.”

32 That day Gideon was called Jerub-baal, which means “Let Baal fight with him,” because he had torn down his altar.

And he calls him, on that day, Jerubba‘al, saying, “The Ba‘al pleads against him, because he has broken down his altar.”

33 All the Midianites, Amalekites, and other peoples of the East gathered together and crossed over the Jordan. They camped in the Valley of Jezreel.

And all Midian and Amalek and the sons of the east have been gathered together, and pass over, and encamp in the Valley of Jezreel,

34 The Spirit of the Lord came on Gideon, and he blew the trumpet, calling Abiezrites to join him.

and the Spirit of YHWH has clothed Gideon, and he blows with a horn, and Abi-Ezer is called after him;

35 He sent messengers through the whole territory of Manasseh, calling them to join him, and also to Asher, Zebulun and Naphtali, so they also came and joined the others.

and he has sent messengers into all Manasseh, and it is also called after him; and he has sent messengers into Asher, and into Zebulun, and into Naphtali, and they come up to meet them.

36 Gideon said to God, “If you will save Israel through me as you promised,

And Gideon says to God, “If You are Savior of Israel by my hand, as You have spoken,

37 then look—I will put a fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If the fleece is wet with dew but the ground is dry, then I will know that you are going to save Israel through me as you promised.”

behold, I am placing the fleece of wool in the threshing-floor: if dew is only on the fleece, and dryness on all the earth—then I have known that You save Israel by my hand, as You have spoken”;

38 That's what happened. When Gideon got up early the next morning, he pressed on the fleece and squeezed out the dew, enough water to fill a bowl.

and it is so, and he rises early on the next day, and presses the fleece, and wrings dew out of the fleece—the fullness of the bowl of waters.

39 Then Gideon said to God, “Please don't get cross with me. Just let me make one more request. Let me do one more test with the fleece. This time let the fleece be dry and the whole ground covered with dew.”

And Gideon says to God, “Do not let Your anger burn against me, and I only speak this time; please let me try only this time with the fleece—please let there be only dryness on the fleece, and let there be dew on all the earth.”

40 That night God did exactly that. The fleece alone was dry and the whole ground was covered with dew.

And God does so on that night, and there is only dryness on the fleece, and there has been dew on all the earth.