Judges 6
6
The Midianites Attack Israel
1Again the Israelites did what the Lord said was wrong. So for seven years the Lord handed them over to Midian. 2Because the Midianites were very powerful and were cruel to Israel, the Israelites made hiding places in the mountains, in caves, and in safe places. 3Whenever the Israelites planted crops, the Midianites, Amalekites, and other peoples from the east would come and attack them. 4They 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. 5The 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. 6Israel became very poor because of the Midianites, so they cried out to the Lord.
7When the Israelites cried out to the Lord against the Midianites, 8the 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. 9I 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. 10Then 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.”
The Angel of the Lord Visits Gideon
11The 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. 12The angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon and said, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior!”
13Then 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.”
14The Lord turned to Gideon and said, “Go with your strength and save Israel from the Midianites. I am the one who is sending you.”
15But 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.”
16The Lord answered him, “I will be with you. It will seem as if the Midianites you are fighting are only one man.”
17Then Gideon said to the Lord, “If you are pleased with me, give me proof that it is really you talking with me. 18Please 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.”
19So 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.
20The 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. 21The 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! 22Then 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!”
23But the Lord said to Gideon, “Calm down! Don’t be afraid! You will not die!”
24So 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.
Gideon Tears Down the Altar of Baal
25That 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. 26Then 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.”
27So 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.
28When 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. 29The men of the city asked each other, “Who did this?”
After they asked many questions, someone told them, “Gideon son of Joash did this.”
30So 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!”
31But 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.” 32So on that day Gideon got the name Jerub-Baal, which means “let Baal fight against him,” because Gideon pulled down Baal’s altar.
Gideon Defeats Midian
33All 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. 34But the Spirit of the Lord entered Gideon, and he blew a trumpet to call the Abiezrites to follow him. 35He 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.
36Then Gideon said to God, “You said you would help me save Israel. 37I 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.” 38And 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.
39Then 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.” 40That night God did that very thing. Just the wool was dry, but the ground around it was wet with dew.
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Judges 6: NCV
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The Holy Bible, New Century Version, Copyright © 2005 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.
Judges 6
6
1 The children of Israel did that which was evil in the LORD’s sight, so the LORD delivered them into the hand of Midian seven years. 2The hand of Midian prevailed against Israel; and because of Midian the children of Israel made themselves the dens which are in the mountains, the caves, and the strongholds. 3So it was, when Israel had sown, that the Midianites, the Amalekites, and the children of the east came up against them. 4They encamped against them, and destroyed the increase of the earth, until you come to Gaza. They left no sustenance in Israel, and no sheep, ox, or donkey. 5For they came up with their livestock 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. 6Israel was brought very low because of Midian; and the children of Israel cried to the LORD.
7 When the children of Israel cried to the LORD because of Midian, 8The LORD sent a prophet to the children of Israel; and he said to them, “The LORD, the God of Israel, says, ‘I brought you up from Egypt, and brought you out of the house of bondage. 9I 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. 10I said to you, “I am the LORD your God. You shall not fear the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell.” But you have not listened to my voice.’”
11 The LORD’s angel came and sat under the oak which was in Ophrah, that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite. His son Gideon was beating out wheat in the wine press, to hide it from the Midianites. 12The LORD’s angel appeared to him, and said to him, “The LORD is with you, you mighty man of valour!”
13 Gideon said to him, “Oh, my lord, if the LORD is with us, why then has all this happened to us? Where are all his wondrous works which our fathers told us of, saying, ‘Didn’t the LORD bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the LORD has cast us off, and delivered us into the hand of Midian.”
14 The LORD looked at him, and said, “Go in this your might, and save Israel from the hand of Midian. Haven’t I sent you?”
15 He said to him, “O Lord,#6:15 The word translated “Lord” (mixed case) is “Adonai.” how shall I save Israel? Behold, my family is the poorest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.”
16 The LORD said to him, “Surely I will be with you, and you shall strike the Midianites as one man.”
17 He said to him, “If now I have found favour in your sight, then show me a sign that it is you who talk with me. 18Please don’t go away until I come to you, and bring out my present, and lay it before you.”
He said, “I will wait until you come back.”
19 Gideon went in and prepared a young goat and unleavened cakes of an efah#6:19 1 efah is about 22 litres or about 2/3 of a bushel of meal. He put the meat in a basket and he put the broth in a pot, and brought it out to him under the oak, and presented it.
20 The angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened cakes, and lay them on this rock, and pour out the broth.”
He did so. 21Then the LORD’s angel stretched out the end of the staff that was in his hand, and touched the meat and the unleavened cakes; and fire went up out of the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened cakes. Then the LORD’s angel departed out of his sight.
22 Gideon saw that he was the LORD’s angel; and Gideon said, “Alas, Lord GOD! Because I have seen the LORD’s angel face to face!”
23 The LORD said to him, “Peace be to you! Don’t be afraid. You shall not die.”
24 Then Gideon built an altar there to the LORD, and called it “The LORD is Peace.”#6:24 or, Shalom To this day it is still in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
25 That same night, the LORD said to him, “Take your father’s bull, even the second bull seven years old, and throw down the altar of Baal that your father has, and cut down the Asherah that is by it. 26Then build an altar to the LORD your God on the top of this stronghold, in an orderly way, and take the second bull, and offer a burnt offering with the wood of the Asherah which you shall cut down.”
27 Then Gideon took ten men of his servants, and did as the LORD had spoken to him. Because he feared his father’s household and the men of the city, he could not do it by day, but he did it by night.
28 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 bull was offered on the altar that was built. 29They said to one another, “Who has done this thing?”
When they enquired and asked, they said, “Gideon the son of Joash has done this thing.”
30 Then the men of the city said to Joash, “Bring out your 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.” 31Joash said to all who stood against him, “Will you contend for Baal? Or will you save him? He who will contend for him, let him be put to death by morning! If he is a god, let him contend for himself, because someone has broken down his altar!” 32Therefore on that day he named him Jerub-Baal,#6:32 “Jerub-Baal” means “Let Baal contend”. saying, “Let Baal contend against him, because he has broken down his altar.”
33 Then all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the children of the east assembled themselves together; and they passed over, and encamped in the valley of Jezreel. 34But the LORD’s Spirit came on Gideon, and he blew a shofar; and Abiezer was gathered together to follow him. 35He sent messengers throughout all Manasseh, and they also were gathered together to follow him. He sent messengers to Asher, to Zebulun, and to Naphtali; and they came up to meet them.
36 Gideon said to God, “If you will save Israel by my hand, as you have spoken, 37behold, I will put a fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If there is dew on the fleece only, and it is dry on all the ground, then I’ll know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you have spoken.”
38 It was so; for he rose up early on the next day, and pressed the fleece together, and wrung the dew out of the fleece, a bowl full of water.
39 Gideon said to God, “Don’t let your anger be kindled against me, and I will speak but this once. Please let me make a trial just this once with the fleece. Let it now be dry only on the fleece, and on all the ground let there be dew.”
40God did so that night; for it was dry on the fleece only, and there was dew on all the ground.
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