Judges 6:6-30

⁶And Israel was greatly impoverished because of Midian. And the children of Israel cried to Jehovah.

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

⁸that Jehovah sent a prophet to the children of Israel, who said to them, Thus saith Jehovah 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 drove them out from before you, and gave you their land,

¹⁰and I said to you, I am Jehovah your God; fear not the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell. But ye have not hearkened to my voice.

¹¹And an angel of Jehovah came and sat under the terebinth that was in Ophrah, that belonged to Joash the Abi-ezrite. And his son Gideon threshed wheat in the winepress, to secure it from the Midianites.

¹²And the Angel of Jehovah appeared to him, and said to him, Jehovah is with thee, thou mighty man of valour.

¹³And Gideon said to him, Ah my Lord, if Jehovah be with us, why then is all this befallen us? and where are all his miracles that our fathers told us of, saying, Did not Jehovah bring us up from Egypt? And now Jehovah hath cast us off, and given us into the hand of Midian.

¹⁴And Jehovah looked upon him, and said, Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of Midian. Have not I sent thee?

¹⁵And he said to him, Ah Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? behold, my thousand is the poorest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house.

¹⁶And Jehovah said to him, I will certainly be with thee; and thou shalt smite Midian as one man.

¹⁷And he said to him, If now I have found favour in thine eyes, shew me a sign that it is thou who talkest with me.

¹⁸Depart 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.

¹⁹And Gideon went in, and made ready a kid of the goats, and an ephah of flour in unleavened cakes: the flesh he put in a basket, and he put the broth in a pot, and brought it out to him under the terebinth, and presented it.

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

²¹And the Angel of Jehovah 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. And the Angel of Jehovah departed out of his sight.

²²And Gideon perceived that he was an angel of Jehovah; and Gideon said, Alas, Lord Jehovah! for because I have seen an angel of Jehovah face to face...

²³And Jehovah said to him, Peace be unto thee: fear not; thou shalt not die.

²⁴And Gideon built there an altar to Jehovah, and called it Jehovah-shalom. To this day it is yet in Ophrah of the Abi-ezrites.

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

²⁶and build an altar to Jehovah thy God upon the top of this strong place in the ordered manner, and take the second bullock, and offer up a burnt-offering with the wood of the Asherah that thou shalt cut down.

²⁷And Gideon took ten men of his servants, and did as Jehovah had said to him. And it came to pass, because he feared his father's house, and the men of the city, if he did it by day, that he did it by night.

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

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

³⁰And the men of the city said to Joash, Bring out thy son, that he may die, because he has broken down the altar of Baal, and because he has cut down the Asherah that was by it.