Judges 6

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

Again the Israelites did evil in the sight of the LORD; so He delivered them into the hand of Midian for seven years,

2 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.

and the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel. Because of the Midianites, the Israelites prepared shelters for themselves in the mountains, caves, and strongholds.

3 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,

Whenever the Israelites would plant their crops, the Midianites, Amalekites, and other people of the east would come up and invade them,

4 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;

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.

5 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.

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.

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

Israel was greatly impoverished by Midian, and the Israelites cried out to the LORD.

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

Now when the Israelites cried out to the LORD because of Midian,

8 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,

He sent them a prophet, who told them, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: I brought you up out of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

9 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,

I delivered you out of the hands of Egypt and all your oppressors. I drove them out before you and gave you their land.

10 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.”

And I said to you: ‘I am the LORD your God. You must not fear the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell.’ But you did not obey Me.”

11 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;

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.

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

And the angel of the LORD appeared to Gideon and said, “The LORD is with you, O mighty man of valor.”

13 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.”

“Please, my Lord,” Gideon replied, “if the LORD is with us, why has all this happened to us? And where are all His wonders of 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.”

14 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?”

The LORD turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel from the hand of Midian. Am I not sending you?”

15 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.”

“Please, my Lord,” Gideon replied, “how can I save Israel? Indeed, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my father’s house.”

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

“Surely I will be with you,” the LORD replied, “and you will strike down all the Midianites as one man.”

17 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.

Gideon answered, “If I have found favor in Your sight, give me a sign that it is You speaking with me.

18 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.”

Please do not depart from this place until I return to You. Let me bring my offering and set it before You.” And the LORD said, “I will stay until you return.”

19 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.

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.

20 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.

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.

21 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.

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.

22 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!”

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!”

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

But the LORD said to him, “Peace be with you. Do not be afraid, for you will not die.”

24 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.

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.

25 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,

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.

26 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.”

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.”

27 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.

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.

28 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.

When the men of the city got up in the morning, there was Baal’s altar torn down, with the Asherah pole cut down beside it and the second bull offered up on the newly built altar.

29 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.”

“Who did this?” they said to one another. And after they had investigated thoroughly, they were told, “Gideon son of Joash did it.”

30 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.”

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.”

31 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.”

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 with the one who has torn down his altar.”

32 And he calls him, on that day, Jerubba‘al, saying, “The Ba‘al pleads against him, because he has broken 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 Baal’s altar.

33 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,

Then all the Midianites, Amalekites, and other people of the east gathered together, crossed over the Jordan, and camped in the Valley of Jezreel.

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

So the Spirit of the LORD came upon Gideon, who blew the ram’s horn and rallied the Abiezrites behind him.

35 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.

Calling them to arms, Gideon sent messengers throughout Manasseh, as well as Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, so that they came up to meet him.

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

Then Gideon said to God, “If You are going to save Israel by my hand, as You have said,

37 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”;

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 are going to save Israel by my hand, as You have said.”

38 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.

And that is what happened. When Gideon arose the next morning, he squeezed the fleece and wrung out the dew—a bowlful of water.

39 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.”

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 covered with dew.”

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

And that night God did so. Only the fleece was dry, and dew covered the ground.