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,

And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD: and the LORD delivered them into the hand of Midian 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: and because of the Midianites the children of Israel made them the dens which are in the mountains, and caves, and strong holds.

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,

And so it was, when Israel had sown, that the Midianites came up, and the Amalekites, and the children of the east, even they came up against 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;

And they encamped against them, and destroyed the increase of the earth, till thou comest to Gaza, and left no sustenance for Israel, neither sheep, nor ox, nor donkey.

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 they came up with their cattle and their tents, and they came as grasshoppers for multitude; for both they and their camels were without number: and they entered into the land to destroy it.

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

And Israel was greatly impoverished because of the Midianites; and the children of Israel cried to the LORD.

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

And it came to pass, when the children of Israel cried to the LORD because of the Midianites,

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,

That the LORD sent a prophet to the children of Israel, who said to them, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I brought you up from Egypt, and brought you forth from the house of bondage;

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,

And I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians, and from the hand of all that oppressed you, and drove them out from 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; fear not the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but ye have not obeyed my voice.

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;

And there came an angel of the LORD, and sat under an oak which was in Ophrah, that pertained to Joash the Abiezrite: and his son Gideon threshed wheat by the 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 him, and said to him, The LORD is with thee, thou mighty man of valour.

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.”

And Gideon said to him, O my Lord, if the LORD is with us, why then hath all this befallen us? and where are all his miracles which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt? but now the LORD hath forsaken us, and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.

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?”

And the LORD looked upon him, and said, Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites: have not I sent thee?

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.”

And he said to him, O my Lord, how shall I save Israel? behold, my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.

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

And the LORD said to him, Surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite 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.

And he said to him, If now I have found grace in thy sight, then show me a sign that thou talkest 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.”

Depart not from here, I pray thee, until I come to thee, and bring forth my present, and set it before thee. And he said, I will tarry until thou comest again.

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.

And Gideon went in, and made ready a kid, and unleavened cakes of an ephah of flour: the flesh he put in a basket, and he put the broth in a pot, and brought it out to him under the oak, and presented it.

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 flesh and the unleavened cakes, and lay them upon this rock, and pour out the broth. And he 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 put forth the end of the staff that was in his hand, and touched the flesh and the unleavened cakes; and there rose fire out of the rock, and consumed the flesh and the unleavened cakes. Then the angel of the LORD departed 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!”

And when Gideon perceived that he was an angel of the LORD, Gideon said, Alas, O Lord GOD! for because I have seen an angel of the LORD face to face.

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

And the LORD said to him, Peace be to thee; fear not: thou shalt 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.

Then Gideon built an altar there to the LORD, and called it Jehovahshalom: to this day it is yet 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,

And it came to pass the same night, that the LORD said to him, Take thy father’s young bull, even the second bull of seven years old, and throw down the altar of Baal that thy father hath, and cut down the grove that is by 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.”

And build an altar to the LORD thy God upon the top of this rock, in the ordered place, and take the second bull, and offer a burnt sacrifice with the wood of the grove which thou shalt cut down.

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.

Then Gideon took ten men of his servants, and did as the LORD had said to him: and so it was, because he feared his father’s household, and the men of the city, that he could not do it by day, that he did it by night.

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.

And when the men of the city arose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was cast down, and the grove was cut down that was by it, and the second bull was offered upon the altar that was built.

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.”

And they said one to another, Who hath done this thing? And when they enquired and asked, they said, Gideon the son of Joash hath done this thing.

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 thy son, that he may die: because he hath cast down the altar of Baal, and because he hath cut down the grove that was by 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.”

And Joash said to all that stood against him, Will ye plead for Baal? will ye save him? he that will plead for him, let him be put to death by morning: if he is a god, let him plead for himself, because one hath cast 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.”

Therefore on that day he called him Jerubbaal, saying, Let Baal plead against him, because he hath thrown down his 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 and the Amalekites and the children of the east were gathered together, and went over, and encamped 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;

But the Spirit of the LORD came upon Gideon, and he blew a trumpet; and Abiezer was called after 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.

And he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh; who also was called after him: and he sent messengers to Asher, and to Zebulun, and to Naphtali; and they came up to meet them.

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

And Gideon said to God, If thou wilt save Israel by my hand, as thou hast 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”;

Behold, I will put a fleece of wool on the floor; and if the dew shall be on the fleece only, and it shall be dry upon all the earth besides, then shall I know that thou wilt save Israel by my hand, as thou hast 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 it was so: for he rose early on the next morning, and pressed the fleece, and wrung the dew out of the fleece, a bowl full 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.”

And Gideon said to God, Let not thy anger be hot against me, and I will speak but this once: let me make a test, I pray thee, but this once with the fleece; let it now be dry only upon the fleece, and upon all the ground let there be 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 God did so that night: for it was dry upon the fleece only, and there was dew on all the ground.