Judges 6

1 Again the Israelis did things that Yahweh said were very evil. So he allowed the people of Midian to conquer them and rule them for seven years.

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.

2 The people of Midian treated the Israelis so cruelly that the Israelis fled to the mountains. There they made places to live in caves and animal dens.

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.

3 Whenever the Israelis planted things in their fields, the people of Midian and Amalek and other groups from the east invaded Israel.

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.

4 They set up tents in the area, and then destroyed the crops as far south as Gaza. They did not leave anything for the Israelis’ sheep or cattle or donkeys to eat.

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.

5 They came into Israel with their tents and their livestock like a swarm of locusts. There were [so many of them that] arrived riding on their camels that no one could count them. They stayed and ruined the Israelis’ crops.

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.

6 The people of Midian took almost everything the Israelis owned. So finally the Israelis pleaded for Yahweh to help them.

And Israel was greatly impoverished because of Madiam.

7 When the Israelis pleaded with Yahweh to help them because of [what] the people from Midian [were doing to them],

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

8 he sent to them a prophet, who said, “Yahweh, the God we Israelis worship, says this: ‘Your ancestors were slaves in Egypt.

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.

9 But I rescued them from the leaders of Egypt and from all the others who oppressed them. I expelled their enemies from this land, and gave it to your ancestors.

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.

10 I told you all, “I am Yahweh, your God. You are now in the land where the descendants of Amor live, but you must not worship the gods whom they worship.” But you did not pay attention to me.’”

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.

11 One day Yahweh appeared [in the form of] an angel and sat underneath a big oak tree at Ophrah [town]. That tree belonged to Joash, who was from the clan of Abiezer. Joash’s son Gideon was threshing wheat in the pit where they pressed [grapes to make] wine. He was threshing the grain there in order to hide it from the people of Midian.

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.

12 Yahweh [went over] to Gideon and said to him, “You mighty warrior, Yahweh is helping you!”

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

13 Gideon replied, “Sir, if Yahweh is helping us, why have all these [bad things] happened to us? We heard about [RHQ] all the miracles that Yahweh performed for our ancestors. We heard people tell us about how he rescued them from [being slaves in] Egypt. But now Yahweh has abandoned us, and we are ruled by the people from Midian.”

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.

14 Then Yahweh turned toward him and said, “I will give you strength to enable you to rescue the Israelis from the people of Midian. I am sending you [to do that]!”

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.

15 Gideon replied, “But Yahweh, how can I rescue the Israelis? My clan is the least significant in the whole tribe descended from Manasseh, and I am the least significant person in my whole family!”

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.

16 Yahweh said to him, “I will help you. So you will defeat the army of Midian [as easily] as if you were fighting only one man!”

And the angel of the Lord said to him, The Lord shall be with you, and you shall strike Madiam as one man.

17 Gideon replied, “If you are truly pleased with me, do something which will prove that you who are speaking to me are really Yahweh.

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,

18 But do not go away until I go and bring back an offering to you.” Yahweh answered, “Okay, I will stay here until you return.”

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.

19 Gideon hurried to his home. He [killed] a young goat [and] cooked [it]. Then he took (a half a bushel/18 liters) of flour and baked some bread without yeast. Then he put the cooked meat in a basket, and put the broth [from the meat] in a pot, and took it to Yahweh, who was sitting under the tree.

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.

20 Then Yahweh said to him, “Put the meat and the bread on this rock. Then pour the broth on top of it.” So Gideon did that.

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.

21 Then Yahweh touched the meat and bread with the walking stick that was in his hand. A fire flamed up from the rock and burned up everything that Gideon had brought! And then Yahweh disappeared.

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.

22 When Gideon realized that it was really Yahweh [who had appeared in the form of an angel and talked with him], he exclaimed, “O, Yahweh, I have seen you face-to-face [when you had the form of] an angel! [So I will surely die]!”

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.

23 But Yahweh called to him and said, “Do not be afraid! You will not die [because of seeing me]!”

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

24 Then Gideon built an altar to [worship] Yahweh there. He named it ‘Yahweh gives us peace’. That altar is still there in Ophrah [town], in the land that belongs to the descendants of Abiezer.

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.

25 That night Yahweh said to Gideon, “Take the second-best/oldest bull from your father’s herd, the bull that is seven years old. [Kill it]. Then tear down the altar that your father built to [worship] the god Baal. Also cut down the pole for worshipping [the goddess] Astarte that is there beside it.

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.

26 Then build a [stone] altar to worship me, your God Yahweh, here on this hill. Take the wood from the pole you cut down and make a fire [to cook the meat of the bull] as a burnt offering to me.”

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.

27 So Gideon and his servants did what Yahweh commanded. But they did it at night, because he was afraid what the other members of his family and the other men in town would do to him if they found out that he had done that.

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.

28 Early the next morning, as soon as the men got up, they saw that the altar to Baal had been torn down, and the pole for worshiping Astarte was gone. They saw that there was a new altar there, and on it was what remained from the bull they had sacrificed.

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.

29 The people asked each other, “Who did this?” After they investigated, someone told them that it was Gideon, the son of Joash, [who had done it].

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.

30 They went to Joash and said to him, “Bring your son out here! (He must be executed/We must kill him), because he destroyed our god Baal’s altar and cut down the pole for our goddess Astarte!”

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.

31 But Joash replied, “Are you trying to defend Baal? Are you trying to argue his case? Anyone who tries to defend Baal should be executed by tomorrow morning! If Baal is truly a god, he ought to be able to defend himself, and to get rid of the person who tore down his altar!”

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.

32 From that time, people called Gideon Jerub-Baal, which means ‘Baal should defend himself’, because he tore down Baal’s altar.

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

33 Soon after that, the armies of the people of Midian and of Amalek and the people from the east gathered together. They crossed the Jordan River [to attack the Israelis]. They set up their tents in Jezreel Valley.

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

34 Then Yahweh’s Spirit took control of Gideon. He blew a ram’s horn to summon the men to prepare to fight. So the men of the clan of Abiezer came to him.

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

35 He also sent messengers throughout the tribes descended from [the four tribes of] Manasseh, Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali [to tell their soldiers to come], and all of them came.

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

36 Then Gideon said to God, “If you are truly going to enable me to rescue the Israeli people as you promised,

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

37 confirm it by doing this: Tonight I will put a dry wool fleece on the ground where I thresh the grain. Tomorrow morning, if the fleece is wet with dew but the ground is dry, then I will know that I am the one you will enable to rescue the people of Israel as you promised.”

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.

38 And that is what happened. When Gideon got up the next morning, he picked up the fleece, and squeezed out a whole bowlful of water!

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.

39 Then Gideon said to God, “Do not be angry with me, but let me ask you to do one more thing. Tonight I will put the fleece out again. This time, let the fleece remain dry, while the ground is wet with the dew.”

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.

40 So that night, God did what Gideon asked him to do. The next morning the fleece was dry, but the ground was covered with dew.

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