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
Midian Oppresses Israel
1The Israelites did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. # Jdg 2:11; 3:7,12; 4:1; 10:6; 13:1 So the Lord handed # Jos 11:8; Jdg 11:32; 12:3; 13:1; 1Sm 14:10,12 them over to Midian seven years, 2and they oppressed Israel. # Jdg 3:10 Because of Midian, the Israelites made hiding places # 1Sm 23:14,19; 1Ch 11:7; Is 33:16; Jr 48:41 for themselves in the mountains, caves, and strongholds. 3Whenever the Israelites planted crops, the Midianites, Amalekites, and the Qedemites # Gn 29:1; 1Kg 4:30; Is 11:14 came and attacked them. 4They encamped against them and destroyed the produce of the land, even as far as Gaza. They left nothing for Israel to eat, as well as no sheep, ox or donkey. 5For the Midianites came with their cattle and their tents like a great swarm of locusts. # Jdg 7:12; Jr 46:23 They and their camels were without number, and they entered the land to waste it. 6So Israel became poverty-stricken because of Midian, and the Israelites cried out to the Lord. # Jdg 3:9,15; 4:3; 10:10
7When the Israelites cried out to Him because of Midian, 8the Lord sent a prophet # Gn 20:7; Ex 7:1; Nm 11:29; 12:6; Dt 18:15,18,20,22; 34:10 to them. He said to them, “This is what the Lord # Ex 4:22; 5:1; Dt 6:4; Jos 7:13 God of Israel says: ‘I brought you out of Egypt and out of the place of slavery. # Ex 13:3,14; 20:2; Dt 5:6; 7:8; Jr 34:13; Mc 6:4 9I delivered you from the power of Egypt and the power of all who oppressed # Ex 3:9; 1Sm 10:18; Ps 106:42 you. I drove them out before you and gave you their land. 10I said to you: I am Yahweh your God. Do not fear the gods of the Amorites whose land you live in. # Ex 23:24; Dt 7:16; 8:19; 11:16; Jos 24:14 But you did not obey Me.’ ”
The Lord Calls Gideon
11The Angel # Or angel of the Lord # Ex 3:2 came, and He # Or he sat under the oak that was in Ophrah, # Jos 18:23; Jdg 8:27,32 which belonged to Joash, the Abiezrite. His son Gideon was threshing wheat in the wine vat in order to hide it from the Midianites. 12Then the Angel of the Lord appeared to him and said: “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.” # Jos 1:14; 8:3; 2Kg 24:14; 1Ch 12:8
13Gideon said to Him, “Please Sir, # Lit Please, my Lord, or Please, my lord if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened? # Lit this found us out And where are all His wonders that our fathers told us about? They said, ‘Hasn’t the Lord brought us out of Egypt? ’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and handed us over to Midian.”
14The Lord # LXX reads The Angel of the Lord turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and deliver Israel from the power of Midian. Am I not sending you? ” # Ex 3:10; 1Sm 9:16; 16:1; Jr 1:7; 25:15; Ezk 2:3-4; Mal 4:5; Jn 20:21
15He said to Him, “Please, Lord, how can I deliver Israel? Look, my family is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my father’s house.”
16“But I will be with you,” # Gn 26:3; Ex 3:12 the Lord said to him. “You will strike Midian down as if it were one man.”
17Then he said to Him, “If I have found favor in Your sight, # Gn 6:8; 18:3; Ex 33:12-13; Ru 2:2,10,13; Est 5:8; 7:3 give me a sign # Ex 3:12; 1Sm 10:7,9; Is 7:11,14 that You are speaking with me. 18Please do not leave this place until I return to You. Let me bring my gift and set it before You.”
And He said, “I will stay until you return.”
19So Gideon went and prepared a young goat and unleavened bread from a half bushel # Lit an ephah of flour. He placed the meat in a basket and the broth in a pot. He brought them out and offered them to Him under the oak.
20The Angel of God # Gn 31:11; Ex 14:19; Jdg 13:6,9; 2Sm 14:17,20; 2Ch 36:16 said to him, “Take the meat with the unleavened bread, put it on this stone, and pour the broth on it.” And he did so.
21The Angel of the Lord extended the tip of the staff that was in His hand and touched the meat and the unleavened bread. Fire came up from the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened bread. Then the Angel of the Lord vanished from his sight.
22When Gideon realized that He was the Angel of the Lord, he said, “Oh no, Lord God! # Jos 7:7; Jr 1:6; Ezk 4:14 I have seen the Angel of the Lord face to face! ” # Gn 32:20; Ex 24:10-11; 33:19-23; Jdg 13:21-23; Is 6:5
23But the Lord said to him, “Peace to you. Don’t be afraid, for you will not die.” 24So Gideon built an altar to the Lord there and called it Yahweh Shalom. # = The Lord Is Peace It is in Ophrah of the Abiezrites until today.
Gideon Tears Down a Baal Altar
25On that very night the Lord said to him, “Take your father’s young bull and a second bull seven years old. Then tear down the altar of Baal # Jdg 2:11,13; 10:6; 1Kg 18:21; 2Ch 33:3; Jr 2:23; Zph 1:4 that belongs to your father and cut down the Asherah pole beside it. 26Build a well-constructed altar to the Lord your God on the top of this rock. # Neh 8:10; Ps 27:1; 37:39; Pr 10:29; Is 17:9-10 Take the second bull and offer it as a burnt offering with the wood of the Asherah pole you cut down.” 27So Gideon took 10 of his male servants and did as the Lord had told him. But because he was too afraid of his father’s household and the men of the city to do it in the daytime, he did it at night.
28When the men of the city got up in the morning, they found Baal’s altar torn down, the Asherah pole beside it cut down, and the second bull offered up on the altar that had been built. 29They said to each other, “Who did this? ” After they made a thorough investigation, they said, “Gideon son of Joash did it.”
30Then the men of the city said to Joash, “Bring out your son. He must die, because he tore down Baal’s altar and cut down the Asherah pole beside it.”
31But Joash said to all who stood against him, “Would you plead Baal’s case for him? Would you save him? Whoever pleads his case will be put to death by morning! If he is a god, let him plead his own case because someone tore down his altar.” 32That day, Gideon’s father called him Jerubbaal, saying, “Let Baal plead his case with him,” because he tore down his altar.
The Sign of the Fleece
33All the Midianites, Amalekites, and Qedemites gathered together, crossed over the Jordan, and camped in the Valley of Jezreel. # Jos 17:16; 1Sm 29:1,11; 1Kg 21:1
34The Spirit of the Lord took control of # Lit Lord clothed Himself with; 1Ch 12:18; 2Ch 24:20 Gideon, # Jdg 3:10; 11:29; 13:25; 14:6,19; 15:14; 1Sm 10:6; 16:13-14 and he blew the ram’s horn and the Abiezrites rallied behind him. 35He sent messengers throughout all of Manasseh, who rallied behind him. He also sent messengers throughout Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, who also came to meet him.
36Then Gideon said to God, “If You will deliver Israel by my hand, as You said, 37I will put a fleece of wool here on the threshing floor. If dew is only on the fleece, and all the ground is dry, I will know that You will deliver Israel by my strength, as You said.” 38And that is what happened. When he got up early in the morning, he squeezed the fleece and wrung dew out of it, filling a bowl with water.
39Gideon then said to God, “Don’t be angry with me; let me speak one more time. Please allow me to make one more test with the fleece. Let it remain dry, and the dew be all over the ground.” 40That night God did as Gideon requested: only the fleece was dry, and dew was all over the ground.
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