Parallel Bible results for "judges 6"

Judges 6

Third Millennium Bible TMB

1 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 prevailed against Israel; and because of the Midianites the children of Israel made for themselves the dens which are in the mountains and caves and strongholds.

3 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 they encamped against them and destroyed the increase of the earth till thou come unto Gaza, and left no sustenance for Israel, neither sheep nor ox nor ass.

5 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 was greatly impoverished because of the Midianites, and the children of Israel cried unto the LORD.

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

8 that the LORD sent a prophet unto the children of Israel, who said unto them, "Thus saith the LORD God of Israel: I brought you up from Egypt, and brought you forth out of the house of bondage;

9 and I delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of the hand of all who oppressed you, and drove them out from before you, and gave you their land.

10 And I said unto 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 there came an angel of the LORD, and sat under an oak which was in Ophrah, that pertained unto Joash the Abiezrite; and his son Gideon threshed wheat by the wine press to hide it from the Midianites.

12 And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him and said unto him, "The LORD is with thee, thou mighty man of valor."

13 And Gideon said unto him, "Oh my lord, if the LORD be with us, why then has 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 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 said unto Him, "Oh my Lord, with what shall I save Israel? Behold, my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house."

16 And the LORD said unto him, "Surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man."

17 And he said unto Him, "If now I have found grace in Thy sight, then show me a sign that Thou talkest with me.

18 Depart not hence, I pray Thee, until I come unto Thee and bring forth my present and set it before Thee." And He said, "I will tarry until thou come again."

19 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 unto him under the oak and presented it.

20 And the angel of God said unto him, "Take the flesh and the unleavened cakes, and lay them upon this rock, and pour out the broth." And he did so.

21 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 up fire out of the rock, and consumed the flesh and the unleavened cakes. Then the angel of the LORD departed out of his sight.

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

23 And the LORD said unto him, "Peace be unto thee; fear not: thou shalt not die."

24 Then Gideon built an altar there unto the LORD and called it Jehovahshalom [that is, The Lord send peace]. Unto this day it is yet in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

25 And it came to pass the same night, that the LORD said unto him, "Take thy father's young bullock, even the second bullock of seven years old, and throw down the altar of Baal that thy father hath, and cut down the Asherah pole that is by it;

26 and build an altar unto the LORD thy God upon the top of this rock in the ordered place, and take the second bullock and offer a burnt sacrifice with the wood of the Asherah pole which thou shalt cut down."

27 Then Gideon took ten men of his servants and did as the LORD had said unto 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, so that he did it by night.

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

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

30 Then the men of the city said unto 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 Asherah pole that was by it."

31 And Joash said unto all who stood against him, "Will ye plead for Baal? Will ye save him? He that will plead for him, let him be put to death whilst it is yet morning. If he be a god, let him plead for himself, because one hath cast down his altar."

32 Therefore on that day he called him Jerubbaal, saying, "Let Baal plead against him, because he hath thrown down his altar."

33 Then all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the children of the East were gathered together, and went over and pitched camp in the Valley of Jezreel.

34 But the Spirit of the LORD came upon Gideon, and he blew a trumpet; and the Abiezrites were gathered after him.

35 And he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh, who also were gathered after him; and he sent messengers unto Asher and unto Zebulun and unto Naphtali, and they came up to meet them.

36 And Gideon said unto God, "If Thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as Thou hast said--

37 behold, I will put a fleece of wool on the floor; and if the dew be on the fleece only, and it be dry upon all the earth beside, then shall I know that Thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as Thou hast said."

38 And it was so; for he rose up early on the morrow, and thrust the fleece together, and wrung the dew out of the fleece, a bowl full of water.

39 And Gideon said unto God, "Let not Thine anger be hot against me, and I will speak but this once. Let me prove, 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 did so that night; for it was dry upon the fleece only, and there was dew on all the ground.

GOD'S WORD Translation GW

1 The people of Israel did what the LORD considered evil. So the LORD handed them over to Midian for seven years.

2 Midian's power was too strong for Israel. The Israelites made hiding places in the mountains, caves, and mountain strongholds [to protect themselves] from Midian.

3 Whenever Israel planted crops, Midian, Amalek, and Kedem came and damaged the crops.

4 The enemy used to camp on the land and destroy the crops all the way to Gaza. They left nothing for Israel to live on--not one sheep, cow, or donkey.

5 Like swarms of locusts, they came with their livestock and their tents. They and their camels could not be counted. They came into the land only to ruin it.

6 So the Israelites became very poor because of Midian and cried out to the LORD for help.

7 When the people of Israel cried out to the LORD for help because of what the Midianites had done to them,

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

9 I rescued you from the power of the Egyptians and from the power of those who oppressed you. I forced people out of your way. I gave you their land.

10 I said to you, 'I am the LORD your God. You must never fear the gods of the Amorites in whose land you will live.' But you have not obeyed me."

11 The Messenger of the LORD came and sat under the oak tree in Ophrah that belonged to Joash from Abiezer's family. Joash's son Gideon was beating out wheat in a winepress to hide it from the Midianites.

12 The Messenger of the LORD appeared to Gideon and said, "The LORD is with you, brave man."

13 Gideon responded, "Excuse me, sir! But if the LORD is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all the miracles our ancestors have told us about? Didn't they say, 'The LORD brought us out of Egypt?' But now the LORD has abandoned us and has handed us over to Midian."

14 The LORD turned to him and said, "You will rescue Israel from Midian with the strength you have. I am sending you."

15 Gideon said to him, "Excuse me, sir! How can I rescue Israel? Look at my whole family. It's the weakest one in Manasseh. And me? I'm the least important member of my family."

16 The LORD replied, "I will be with you. You will defeat Midian as if it were [only] one man."

17 Gideon said to him, "If you find me acceptable, give me a sign that it is really you speaking to me.

18 Don't leave until I come back. I want to bring my gift and set it in front of you." "I will stay until you come back," he said.

19 Then Gideon went into [his house] and prepared a young goat and unleavened bread made with 18 quarts of flour. He put the meat in a basket and the broth in a pot. Then he went out and presented them to the Messenger of the LORD under the oak tree.

20 The Messenger of the LORD told him, "Take the meat and the unleavened bread, put them on this rock, and pour the broth over them." Gideon did so.

21 Then the Messenger of the LORD touched the meat and the bread with the tip of the staff that was in his hand. Fire flared up from the rock and burned the meat and the bread. Then the Messenger of the LORD disappeared.

22 That's when Gideon realized that this had been the Messenger of the LORD. So he said, "LORD God! I have seen the Messenger of the LORD face to face."

23 The LORD said to him, "Calm down! Don't be afraid. You will not die."

24 So Gideon built an altar there to the LORD. He called it The LORD Calms. To this day it is still in Ophrah, which belongs to Abiezer's family.

25 That same night the LORD said to Gideon, "Take a bull from your father's herd, a bull that is seven years old. Tear down your father's altar dedicated to the god Baal and cut down the pole dedicated to the goddess Asherah that is next to it.

26 Then, in the proper way, build an altar to the LORD your God on top of this fortified place. Take this second bull and sacrifice it as a burnt offering on the wood from the Asherah pole that you have cut down."

27 Gideon took ten of his servants and did what the LORD had told him to do. However, he didn't do anything during the day. He was too afraid of his father's family and the men of the city, so he did it at night.

28 When the men of the city got up early in the morning, they saw that the Baal altar had been torn down. The Asherah pole next to it had also been cut down. They saw that the second bull had been sacrificed as a burnt offering on the altar that had been built.

29 They asked each other, "Who did this?" While they were investigating the matter, someone said, "Gideon, son of Joash, did this."

30 Then the men of the city told Joash, "Bring your son out. He must die. He has torn down the Baal altar and cut down the Asherah pole that was beside it."

31 But Joash said to everyone standing around him, "You're not going to defend Baal, are you? Do you think you should save him? Whoever defends him will be put to death in the morning. If he's a god, let him defend himself when someone tears down his altar."

32 So that day they nicknamed Gideon "Jerubbaal" [Let Baal Defend Himself], because they said, "When someone tears down Baal's altar, let Baal defend himself."

33 All of Midian, Amalek, and Kedem combined their armies, crossed [the Jordan River], and camped in the valley of Jezreel.

34 Then the LORD's Spirit gave Gideon strength. So Gideon blew the ram's horn to summon Abiezer's family to follow him.

35 He also sent messengers throughout Manasseh to summon the people to follow him. The tribes of Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali were also summoned to follow him, and they went to meet the enemy in battle.

36 Then Gideon said to God, "You said that you would rescue Israel through me.

37 I'll place some wool on the threshing floor. If there is dew on the wool while all the ground is dry, then I'll know that you will rescue Israel through me, as you said."

38 And that is what happened. The next morning Gideon got up early. He squeezed out a bowl full of water from the wool.

39 Then Gideon said to God, "Don't be angry with me. But let me ask one more thing. Let me make one more test with the wool. Let the wool be dry while all the ground is covered with dew."

40 During the night, God did what Gideon asked. The wool was dry, but all the ground was covered with dew.