Parallel Bible results for "judges 6"

Judges 6

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.

The Complete Jewish Bible CJB

1 But the people of Isra'el did what was evil from ADONAI's perspective, so ADONAI handed them over to Midyan for seven years.

2 Midyan exercised its power harshly against Isra'el, and because of Midyan the people of Isra'el hid themselves in mountains, in caves and in other safe places.

3 One time, after Isra'el's sowing season, Midyan, with 'Amalek and others from the east, attacked them.

4 They set up camp by them and destroyed the produce of the country all the way to 'Azah; they left nothing for people to live on, no sheep, no oxen, no donkeys.

5 For they came up with their cattle and tents, and they came in as thick as locusts; both they and their camels were beyond numbering, and they came into the land to destroy it.

6 Isra'el became very discouraged because of Midyan, and the people of Isra'el cried out to ADONAI.

7 When the people of Isra'el cried out to ADONAI because of Midyan,

8 ADONAI sent a prophet to the people of Isra'el, who said to them: "ADONAI the God of Isra'el says, 'I brought you up from Egypt, out of a life of slavery.

9 I delivered you from the power of the Egyptians and from the power of all your oppressors. I drove them out ahead of you and gave you their land.

10 And I said to you: "I am ADONAI your God; you are not to be afraid of the gods of the Emori in whose land you are living." But you paid no attention to what I said!'"

11 Then the angel of ADONAI came and sat under the pistachio tree in 'Ofrah that belonged to Yo'ash the Avi'ezri. His son Gid'on was threshing wheat in the winepress, in order to hide it from Midyan.

12 The angel of ADONAI appeared to him and said to him: "You valiant hero! ADONAI is with you!"

13 "Excuse me, sir," answered Gid'on, "but if ADONAI is with us, then why is all this happening to us? And where are all his miracles our ancestors told us about when they said, 'Didn't ADONAI bring us up from Egypt?' For now ADONAI has abandoned us and handed us over to Midyan."

14 ADONAI turned to him and said, "Go in this strength of yours and save Isra'el from the hands of Midyan. Haven't I sent you?"

15 But Gid'on answered him, "Forgive me, my Lord, but with what am I to save Isra'el? Why, my family is the poorest in M'nasheh, and I'm the youngest person in my father's house!"

16 ADONAI said to him, "Because I will be with you, you will strike down Midyan as easily as if they were just one man."

17 Gid'on replied, "If indeed you favor me, would you mind giving me a sign that it is really you talking with me?

18 Please don't leave until I go and return with a gift and present it to you." He replied, "I'll wait till you come back."

19 Gid'on went in, cooked a young goat and made matzot from a bushel of flour. He put the meat in a basket and the broth in a pot, brought them out to him under the pistachio tree and presented them.

20 The angel of God said to him, "Take the meat and matzot, lay them on this rock, and pour out the broth." Gid'on did so.

21 Then the angel of ADONAI reached out with the stick he was holding, touched the meat and matzot, and fire shot up out of the rock and burned up the meat and matzot. Then the angel of ADONAI disappeared before his eyes.

22 Gid'on realized that he was the angel of ADONAI and said, "Oh no! My Lord! ADONAI! Because I've seen the angel of ADONAI face-to-face!"

23 But ADONAI reassured him, "Shalom to you, don't be afraid, you won't die!"

24 Then Gid'on built an altar there to ADONAI and called it "ADONAI-Shalom"; to this day it remains in 'Ofrah of the Avi'ezri.

25 That very night ADONAI said to him, "Take your father's bull and the other bull, the seven-year-old. Destroy the altar to Ba'al that belongs to your father, cut down the sacred pole next to it,

26 and build a proper altar to ADONAI your God on top of this strong-point. Then take the second bull; and offer it as a burnt offering, using the wood of the sacred pole you cut down."

27 Gid'on took ten of his servants and did what ADONAI had told him to do. He didn't do it by day, because he was afraid of the men in his father's household and those from the city, so he did it at night.

28 When the men of the city got up the next morning, there was the altar of Ba'al destroyed, the sacred pole cut down, and the second bull a burnt offering on the newly built altar.

29 They asked each other, "Who could have done this?" But after investigating, they concluded that Gid'on the son of Yo'ash had done it.

30 "Bring out your son," the men of the city demanded of Yo'ash, "so that he may die, because he destroyed the altar of Ba'al and cut down the sacred pole next to it!"

31 But Yo'ash said to all those crowding around him, "You're defending Ba'al, are you? It's your job to save him? Anyone who defends Ba'al will be put to death before morning! If he's a god, let him defend himself! After all, somebody destroyed his altar!"

32 Therefore on that day Gid'on was given the name Yeruba'al [let Ba'al defend], because they said, "Let Ba'al defend himself against him, since he destroyed his altar."

33 Now all Midyan, 'Amalek and the others from the east joined forces, crossed the Yarden, and set up camp in the Yizre'el Valley.

34 But the Spirit of ADONAI covered Gid'on. He sounded the call on the shofar, and Avi'ezer rallied behind him.

35 He sent messengers throughout all M'nasheh, and they too rallied behind him. He also sent messengers to Asher, Z'vulun and Naftali; and they came up to join them.

36 Gid'on said to God, "If you are going to save Isra'el through me, as you said you would,

37 then, here: I will lay a wool fleece on the threshing-floor; if there is dew on the fleece only, while all the ground stays dry, I will be convinced that you will save Isra'el through me, as you said you would."

38 And it happened! He got up early in the morning, pressed the fleece together and wrung dew out of it, a bowlful of water.

39 But Gid'on said to God, "Don't be angry with me because I am asking one more thing, let me make one more test, please: this time let it be dry only on the fleece, with dew all over the ground."

40 And that is what God did that night - it was dry only on the fleece, even though there was dew all over the ground.