JUDGES 6:5-19

⁵For they came up with their cattle and their tents, they came in as locusts for multitude; both they and their camels were without number: and they came into the land to destroy it.

⁶And Israel was brought very low because of Midian; and the children of Israel cried unto the LORD.

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

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

⁹and I delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of all that oppressed you, and drave them out from before you, and gave you their land;

¹⁰and I said unto you, I am the LORD your God; ye shall not fear the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but ye have not hearkened unto my voice.

¹¹And the angel of the LORD came and sat under the oak which was in Ophrah, that pertained unto Joash the Abiezrite: and his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites.

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

¹³And Gideon said unto him, Oh my lord, if the LORD be with us, why then is all this befallen us? and where be all his wondrous works which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt? but now the LORD hath cast us off, and delivered us into the hand of Midian.

¹⁴And the LORD looked upon him, and said, Go in this thy might, and save Israel from the hand of Midian: have not I sent thee?

¹⁵And he said unto him, Oh Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? behold, my family is the poorest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.

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

¹⁷And he said unto him, If now I have found grace in thy sight, then shew me a sign that it is thou that talkest with me.

¹⁸Depart not hence, I pray thee, until I come unto thee, and bring forth my present, and lay it before thee. And he said, I will tarry until thou come again.

¹⁹And Gideon went in, and made ready a kid, and unleavened cakes of an ephah of meal: 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.