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Judges 6

English Standard Version ESV

1 The people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord gave them into the hand of Midian seven years.

2 And the hand of Midian overpowered Israel, and because of Midian the people of Israel made for themselves the dens that are in the mountains and the caves and the strongholds.

3 For whenever the Israelites planted crops, the Midianites and the Amalekites and the people of the East would come up against them.

4 They would encamp against them and devour the produce of the land, as far as Gaza, and leave no sustenance in Israel and no sheep or ox or donkey.

5 For they would come up with their livestock and their tents; they would come like locusts in number—both they and their camels could not be counted—so that they laid waste the land as they came in.

6 And Israel was brought very low because of Midian. And the people of Israel cried out for help to the Lord.

7 When the people of Israel cried out to the Lord on account of the Midianites,

8 the Lord sent a prophet to the people of Israel. And he said to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: I led you up from Egypt and brought you out of the house of slavery.

9 And I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of all who oppressed you, and drove them out before you and 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 have not obeyed my voice. ”

11 Now the angel of the Lord came and sat under the terebinth at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon was beating out wheat 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, O mighty man of valor. ”

13 And Gideon said to him, “Please, sir, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all his wonderful deeds that our fathers recounted to us, saying, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt? ’ But now the Lord has forsaken us and given us into the hand of Midian. ”

14 And the Lord turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian; do not I send you? ”

15 And he said to him, “Please, Lord, how can I save Israel? Behold, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house. ”

16 And the Lord said to him, “But I will be with you, and you shall strike the Midianites as one man. ”

17 And he said to him, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, then show me a sign that it is you who speak with me.

18 Please do not depart from here until I come to you and bring out my present and set it before you. ” And he said, “I will stay till you return. ”

19 So Gideon went into his house and prepared a young goat and unleavened cakes from an ephah of flour. The meat he put in a basket, and the broth he put in a pot, and brought them to him under the terebinth and presented them.

20 And the angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened cakes, and put them on this rock, and pour the broth over them. ” And he did so.

21 Then the angel of the Lord reached out the tip of the staff that was in his hand and touched the meat and the unleavened cakes. And fire sprang up from the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened cakes. And the angel of the Lord vanished from his sight.

22 Then Gideon perceived that he was the angel of the Lord. And Gideon said, “Alas, O Lord God! For now I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face. ”

23 But the Lord said to him, “Peace be to you. Do not fear; you shall not die. ”

24 Then Gideon built an altar there to the Lord and called it, The Lord Is Peace. To this day it still stands at Ophrah, which belongs to the Abiezrites.

25 That night the Lord said to him, “Take your father’s bull, and the second bull seven years old, and pull down the altar of Baal that your father has, and cut down the Asherah that is beside it

26 and build an altar to the Lord your God on the top of the stronghold here, with stones laid in due order. Then take the second bull and offer it as a burnt offering with the wood of the Asherah that you shall cut down. ”

27 So Gideon took ten men of his servants and did as the Lord had told him. But because he was too afraid of his family and the men of the town to do it by day, he did it by night.

28 When the men of the town rose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was broken down, and the Asherah beside it was cut down, and the second bull was offered on the altar that had been built.

29 And they said to one another, “Who has done this thing? ” And after they had searched and inquired, they said, “Gideon the son of Joash has done this thing. ”

30 Then the men of the town said to Joash, “Bring out your son, that he may die, for he has broken down the altar of Baal and cut down the Asherah beside it. ”

31 But Joash said to all who stood against him, “Will you contend for Baal? Or will you save him? Whoever contends for him shall be put to death by morning. If he is a god, let him contend for himself, because his altar has been broken down. ”

32 Therefore on that day Gideon was called Jerubbaal, that is to say, “Let Baal contend against him, ” because he broke down his altar.

33 Now all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the people of the East came together, and they crossed the Jordan and encamped in the Valley of Jezreel.

34 But the Spirit of the Lord clothed Gideon, and he sounded the trumpet, and the Abiezrites were called out to follow him.

35 And he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh, and they too were called out to follow him. And he sent messengers to Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, and they went up to meet them.

36 Then Gideon said to God, “If you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said,

37 behold, I am laying a fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If there is dew on the fleece alone, and it is dry on all the ground, then I shall know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said. ”

38 And it was so. When he rose early next morning and squeezed the fleece, he wrung enough dew from the fleece to fill a bowl with water.

39 Then Gideon said to God, “Let not your anger burn against me; let me speak just once more. Please let me test just once more with the fleece. Please let it be dry on the fleece only, and on all the ground let there be dew. ”

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

The Message Bible MSG

1 Yet again the People of Israel went back to doing evil in God's sight. God put them under the domination of Midian for seven years.

2 Midian overpowered Israel. Because of Midian, the People of Israel made for themselves hideouts in the mountains - caves and forts.

3 When Israel planted its crops, Midian and Amalek, the easterners, would invade them,

4 camp in their fields, and destroy their crops all the way down to Gaza. They left nothing for them to live on, neither sheep nor ox nor donkey.

5 Bringing their cattle and tents, they came in and took over, like an invasion of locusts. And their camels - past counting! They marched in and devastated the country.

6 The People of Israel, reduced to grinding poverty by Midian, cried out to God for help.

7 One time when the People of Israel had cried out to God because of Midian,

8 God sent them a prophet with this message: "God, the God of Israel, says, I delivered you from Egypt, I freed you from a life of slavery;

9 I rescued you from Egypt's brutality and then from every oppressor; I pushed them out of your way and gave you their land.

10 "And I said to you, 'I am God, your God. Don't for a minute be afraid of the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living.' But you didn't listen to me."

11 One day the angel of God came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, whose son Gideon was threshing wheat in the winepress, out of sight of the Midianites.

12 The angel of God appeared to him and said, "God is with you, O mighty warrior!"

13 Gideon replied, "With me, my master? If God is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all the miracle-wonders our parents and grandparents told us about, telling us, 'Didn't God deliver us from Egypt?' The fact is, God has nothing to do with us - he has turned us over to Midian."

14 But God faced him directly: "Go in this strength that is yours. Save Israel from Midian. Haven't I just sent you?"

15 Gideon said to him, "Me, my master? How and with what could I ever save Israel? Look at me. My clan's the weakest in Manasseh and I'm the runt of the litter."

16 God said to him, "I'll be with you. Believe me, you'll defeat Midian as one man."

17 Gideon said, "If you're serious about this, do me a favor: Give me a sign to back up what you're telling me.

18 Don't leave until I come back and bring you my gift." He said, "I'll wait till you get back."

19 Gideon went and prepared a young goat and a huge amount of unraised bread (he used over half a bushel of flour!). He put the meat in a basket and the broth in a pot and took them back under the shade of the oak tree for a sacred meal.

20 The angel of God said to him, "Take the meat and unraised bread, place them on that rock, and pour the broth on them." Gideon did it.

21 The angel of God stretched out the tip of the stick he was holding and touched the meat and the bread. Fire broke out of the rock and burned up the meat and bread while the angel of God slipped away out of sight.

22 And Gideon knew it was the angel of God! Gideon said, "Oh no! Master, God! I have seen the angel of God face to face!"

23 But God reassured him, "Easy now. Don't panic. You won't die."

24 Then Gideon built an altar there to God and named it "God's Peace." It's still called that at Ophrah of Abiezer.

25 That night this happened. God said to him, "Take your father's best seven-year-old bull, the prime one. Tear down your father's Baal altar and chop down the Asherah fertility pole beside it.

26 Then build an altar to God, your God, on the top of this hill. Take the prime bull and present it as a Whole-Burnt-Offering, using firewood from the Asherah pole that you cut down."

27 Gideon selected ten men from his servants and did exactly what God had told him. But because of his family and the people in the neighborhood, he was afraid to do it openly, so he did it that night.

28 Early in the morning, the people in town were shocked to find Baal's altar torn down, the Asherah pole beside it chopped down, and the prime bull burning away on the altar that had been built.

29 They kept asking, "Who did this?" Questions and more questions, and then the answer: "Gideon son of Joash did it."

30 The men of the town demanded of Joash: "Bring out your son! He must die! Why, he tore down the Baal altar and chopped down the Asherah tree!"

31 But Joash stood up to the crowd pressing in on him, "Are you going to fight Baal's battles for him? Are you going to save him? Anyone who takes Baal's side will be dead by morning. If Baal is a god in fact, let him fight his own battles and defend his own altar."

32 They nicknamed Gideon that day Jerub-Baal because after he had torn down the Baal altar, he had said, "Let Baal fight his own battles."

33 All the Midianites and Amalekites (the easterners) got together, crossed the river, and made camp in the Valley of Jezreel.

34 God's Spirit came over Gideon. He blew his ram's horn trumpet and the Abiezrites came out, ready to follow him.

35 He dispatched messengers all through Manasseh, calling them to the battle; also to Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali. They all came.

36 Gideon said to God, "If this is right, if you are using me to save Israel as you've said,

37 then look: I'm placing a fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If dew is on the fleece only, but the floor is dry, then I know that you will use me to save Israel, as you said."

38 That's what happened. When he got up early the next morning, he wrung out the fleece - enough dew to fill a bowl with water!

39 Then Gideon said to God, "Don't be impatient with me, but let me say one more thing. I want to try another time with the fleece. But this time let the fleece stay dry, while the dew drenches the ground."

40 God made it happen that very night. Only the fleece was dry while the ground was wet with dew.