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Judges 6

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.

New Century Version NCV

1 Again the Israelites did what the Lord said was wrong. So for seven years the Lord handed them over to Midian.

2 Because the Midianites were very powerful and were cruel to Israel, the Israelites made hiding places in the mountains, in caves, and in safe places.

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

4 They camped in the land and destroyed the crops that the Israelites had planted as far away as Gaza. They left nothing for Israel to eat, and no sheep, cattle, or donkeys.

5 The Midianites came with their tents and their animals like swarms of locusts to ruin the land. There were so many people and camels they could not be counted.

6 Israel became very poor because of the Midianites, so they cried out to the Lord.

7 When the Israelites cried out to the Lord against the Midianites,

8 the Lord sent a prophet to them. He said, "This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I brought you out of Egypt, the land of slavery.

9 I saved you from the Egyptians and from all those who were against you. I forced the Canaanites out of their land and gave it to you.

10 Then I said to you, 'I am the Lord your God. Live in the land of the Amorites, but do not worship their gods.' But you did not obey me."

11 The angel of the Lord came and sat down under the oak tree at Ophrah that belonged to Joash, one of the Abiezrite people. Gideon, Joash's son, was separating some wheat from the chaff in a winepress to keep the wheat from the Midianites.

12 The angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon and said, "The Lord is with you, mighty warrior!"

13 Then Gideon said, "Sir, if the Lord is with us, why are we having so much trouble? Where are the miracles our ancestors told us he did when the Lord brought them out of Egypt? But now he has left us and has handed us over to the Midianites."

14 The Lord turned to Gideon and said, "Go with your strength and save Israel from the Midianites. I am the one who is sending you."

15 But Gideon answered, "Lord, how can I save Israel? My family group is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least important member of my family."

16 The Lord answered him, "I will be with you. It will seem as if the Midianites you are fighting are only one man."

17 Then Gideon said to the Lord, "If you are pleased with me, give me proof that it is really you talking with me.

18 Please wait here until I come back to you. Let me bring my offering and set it in front of you." And the Lord said, "I will wait until you return."

19 So Gideon went in and cooked a young goat, and with twenty quarts of flour, made bread without yeast. Then he put the meat into a basket and the broth into a pot. He brought them out and gave them to the angel under the oak tree.

20 The angel of God said to Gideon, "Put the meat and the bread without yeast on that rock over there. Then pour the broth on them." And Gideon did as he was told.

21 The angel of the Lord touched the meat and the bread with the end of the stick that was in his hand. Then fire jumped up from the rock and completely burned up the meat and the bread! And the angel of the Lord disappeared!

22 Then Gideon understood he had been talking to the angel of the Lord. So Gideon cried out, "Lord God! I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face!"

23 But the Lord said to Gideon, "Calm down! Don't be afraid! You will not die!"

24 So Gideon built an altar there to worship the Lord and named it The Lord Is Peace. It still stands at Ophrah, where the Abiezrites live.

25 That same night the Lord said to Gideon, "Take the bull that belongs to your father and a second bull seven years old. Pull down your father's altar to Baal, and cut down the Asherah idol beside it.

26 Then build an altar to the Lord your God with its stones in the right order on this high ground. Kill and burn a second bull on this altar, using the wood from the Asherah idol."

27 So Gideon got ten of his servants and did what the Lord had told him to do. But Gideon was afraid that his family and the men of the city might see him, so he did it at night, not in the daytime.

28 When the men of the city got up the next morning, they saw that the altar for Baal had been destroyed and that the Asherah idol beside it had been cut down! They also saw the altar Gideon had built and the second bull that had been sacrificed on it.

29 The men of the city asked each other, "Who did this?" After they asked many questions, someone told them, "Gideon son of Joash did this."

30 So they said to Joash, "Bring your son out. He has pulled down the altar of Baal and cut down the Asherah idol beside it. He must die!"

31 But Joash said to the angry crowd around him, "Are you going to take Baal's side? Are you going to defend him? Anyone who takes Baal's side will be killed by morning! If Baal is a god, let him fight for himself. It's his altar that has been pulled down."

32 So on that day Gideon got the name Jerub-Baal, which means "let Baal fight against him," because Gideon pulled down Baal's altar.

33 All the Midianites, the Amalekites, and other peoples from the east joined together and came across the Jordan River and camped in the Valley of Jezreel.

34 But the Spirit of the Lord entered Gideon, and he blew a trumpet to call the Abiezrites to follow him.

35 He sent messengers to all of Manasseh, calling them to follow him. He also sent messengers to the people of Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali. So they also went up to meet Gideon and his men.

36 Then Gideon said to God, "You said you would help me save Israel.

37 I will put some wool on the threshing floor. If there is dew only on the wool but all of the ground is dry, then I will know that you will use me to save Israel, as you said."

38 And that is just what happened. When Gideon got up early the next morning and squeezed the wool, he got a full bowl of water from it.

39 Then Gideon said to God, "Don't be angry with me if I ask just one more thing. Please let me make one more test. Let only the wool be dry while the ground around it gets wet with dew."

40 That night God did that very thing. Just the wool was dry, but the ground around it was wet with dew.