Judges 6
6
1And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of Jehovah; and Jehovah delivered them into the hand of Midian seven years. 2And the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel. Because of the Midianites the children of Israel made for themselves the dens that are in the mountains, and the caves, and the strongholds. 3And it came to pass when Israel sowed, that Midian came up, and Amalek, and the children of the east, and came up against them. 4And they encamped against them, and destroyed the produce of the land, until thou come to Gazah, and they left no sustenance in Israel, neither sheep, nor ox, nor ass. 5For they came up with their cattle and their tents, and they came as locusts for multitude; both they and their camels were without number; and they entered into the land to destroy it. 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#GodHebrew: Elohim 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#GodHebrew: Elohim 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#GodHebrew: Elohim 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#GodHebrew: Elohim 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. 31And Joash said to all that stood near him, Will ye contend for Baal? or will ye save him? he that contends for him, let him be put to death whilst it is yet morning. If he be a god, let him plead for himself, because they have broken down his altar. 32And on that day they called him Jerubbaal, saying, Let Baal plead with him, because he has broken down his altar.
33And all Midian and Amalek and the children of the east were gathered together, and went over, and encamped in the valley of Jezreel. 34And the Spirit of Jehovah came upon Gideon, and he blew the trumpet, and the Abi-ezrites were gathered after him. 35And he sent messengers throughout Manasseh, and they also were gathered after him; and he sent messengers to Asher, and to Zebulun, and to Naphtali; and they came up to meet them. 36And Gideon said to God#GodHebrew: Elohim If thou wilt save Israel by my hand, as thou hast said, 37behold, I put a fleece of wool on the threshing-floor; if dew shall be on the fleece only, and it be dry upon all the ground, then shall I know that thou wilt save Israel by my hand, as thou hast said. 38And it was so. And when he rose up early on the morrow, he pressed the fleece together, and wrung dew out of the fleece, a bowl-full of water. 39And Gideon said to God#GodHebrew: Elohim 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, I pray thee, be dry upon the fleece only, and upon all the ground let there be dew. 40And God#GodHebrew: Elohim did so that night, and it was dry upon the fleece only, but on all the ground there was dew.
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Judges 6: DARBY
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First published in 1890. This edition is maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society.
Judges 6
6
1Then once again the Israelites started disobeying the Lord, so he let the nation of Midian control Israel for seven years. 2The Midianites were so cruel that many Israelites ran to the mountains and hid in caves.
3Every time the Israelites planted crops, the Midianites invaded Israel together with the Amalekites and other eastern nations. 4-5They rode in on their camels, set up their tents, and then let their livestock eat the crops as far as the town of Gaza. The Midianites stole food, sheep, cattle, and donkeys. Like a swarm of locusts,#6.4,5 locusts: Insects like grasshoppers that travel in swarms and cause great damage to crops. they could not be counted, and they ruined the land wherever they went.
6-7The Midianites took almost everything that belonged to the Israelites, and the Israelites begged the Lord for help. 8-9Then the Lord sent a prophet to them with this message:
I am the Lord God of Israel, so listen to what I say. You were slaves in Egypt, but I set you free and led you out of Egypt into this land. And when nations here made life miserable for you, I rescued you and helped you get rid of them and take their land. 10I am your God, and I told you not to worship Amorite gods, even though you are living in the land of the Amorites. But you refused to listen.
The Lord Chooses Gideon
11One day an angel from the Lord went to the town of Ophrah and sat down under the big tree that belonged to Joash, a member of the Abiezer clan. Joash's son Gideon was nearby, threshing grain in a shallow pit, where he could not be seen by the Midianites.
12The angel appeared and spoke to Gideon, “The Lord is helping you, and you are a strong warrior.”
13Gideon answered, “Please don't take this wrong, but if the Lord is helping us, then why have all of these awful things happened? We've heard how the Lord performed miracles and rescued our ancestors from Egypt. But those things happened long ago. Now the Lord has abandoned us to the Midianites.”
14Then the Lord himself said, “Gideon, you will be strong, because I am giving you the power to rescue Israel from the Midianites.”
15Gideon replied, “But how can I rescue Israel? My clan is the weakest one in Manasseh, and everyone else in my family is more important than I am.”
16“Gideon,” the Lord answered, “you can rescue Israel because I am going to help you! Defeating the Midianites will be as easy as beating up one man.”
17Gideon said, “It's hard to believe that I'm actually talking to the Lord. Please do something so I'll know that you really are the Lord. 18And wait here until I bring you an offering.”
“All right, I'll wait,” the Lord answered.
19Gideon went home and killed a young goat, then started boiling the meat. Next, he opened a big sack of flour and made it into thin bread.#6.19 thin bread: Bread made without yeast, since there was no time for the dough to rise. When the meat was done, he put it in a basket and poured the broth into a clay cooking pot. He took the meat, the broth, and the bread and placed them under the big tree.
20God's angel said, “Gideon, put the meat and the bread on this rock, and pour the broth over them.” Gideon did as he was told. 21The angel was holding a walking stick, and he touched the meat and the bread with the end of the stick. Flames jumped from the rock and burned up the meat and the bread.
When Gideon looked, the angel was gone. 22Gideon realized that he had seen one of the Lord's angels. “Oh!” he moaned. “Now I'm going to die.”#6.22 Now I'm going to die: The Hebrew text has “I have seen an angel of the Lord face to face.” Some people believed that if they saw one of the Lord's angels, they would die (see 13.22).
23“Calm down!” the Lord told Gideon. “There's nothing to be afraid of. You're not going to die.”
24Gideon built an altar for worshiping the Lord and called it “The Lord Calms Our Fears.” It still stands there in Ophrah, a town in the territory of the Abiezer clan.
Gideon Tears Down Baal's Altar
25That night the Lord spoke to Gideon again:
Get your father's second-best bull, the one that's seven years old. Use it to pull down the altar where your father worships Baal and cut down the sacred pole#6.25 sacred pole: Or “sacred tree,” used as a symbol of Asherah, the Canaanite goddess of fertility. next to the altar. 26Then build an altar for worshiping me on the highest part of the hill where your town is built. Use layers of stones for my altar, not just a pile of rocks. Cut up the wood from the pole, make a fire, kill the bull, and burn it as a sacrifice to me.
27Gideon chose ten of his servants to help him, and they did everything God had said. But since Gideon was afraid of his family and the other people in Ophrah, he did it all at night.
28When the people of the town got up the next morning, they saw that Baal's altar had been knocked over, and the sacred pole next to it had been cut down. Then they noticed the new altar covered with the remains of the sacrificed bull.
29“Who could have done such a thing?” they asked. And they kept on asking, until finally someone told them, “Gideon the son of Joash did it.”
30The men of the town went to Joash and said, “Your son Gideon knocked over Baal's altar and cut down the sacred pole next to it. Hand him over, so we can kill him!”
31The crowd pushed closer and closer, but Joash replied, “Are you trying to take revenge for Baal? Are you trying to rescue Baal? If you are, you will be the ones who are put to death, and it will happen before another day dawns. If Baal really is a god, let him take his own revenge on someone who tears down his altar.”
32That same day, Joash changed Gideon's name to Jerubbaal, explaining, “He tore down Baal's altar, so let Baal take revenge himself.”#6.32 Jerubbaal … take revenge himself: In Hebrew, “Jerubbaal” means “Let Baal take revenge.”
Gideon Defeats the Midianites
33All the Midianites, Amalekites, and other eastern nations got together and crossed the Jordan River. Then they invaded the land of Israel and set up camp in Jezreel Valley.
34The Lord's Spirit took control of Gideon, and Gideon blew a trumpet as a signal for the men in the Abiezer clan to follow him. 35He also sent messengers to the tribes of Manasseh, Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, telling the men of these tribes to come and join his army. Then they set out toward the enemy camp.
36-37Gideon prayed to God, “I know that you promised to help me rescue Israel, but I need proof. Tonight I'll spread a sheep skin on the stone floor of that threshing-place over there. If you really will help me rescue Israel, then tomorrow morning let there be dew on the skin, but let the stone floor be dry.”
38And that's just what happened. Early the next morning, Gideon got up and checked the sheep skin. He squeezed out enough water to fill a bowl. 39But Gideon prayed to God again. “Don't be angry with me,” Gideon said. “Let me try this just one more time, so I'll really be sure you'll help me. Only this time, let the skin be dry and the stone floor be wet.”
40That night, God made the stone floor wet with dew, but he kept the sheep skin dry.
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.