1. And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD: and the LORD delivered them into the hand of Midian seven years.
2. And the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel: and because of the Midianites the children of Israel made for themselves the dens which are in the mountains, and caves, and strongholds.
3. And so it was, when Israel had sown, that the Midianites came up, and the Amalekites, and the children of the east, even they came up against them;
4. And they encamped against them, and destroyed the increase of the earth, all the way to Gaza, and left no sustenance for Israel, neither sheep, nor ox, nor donkey.
5. For they came up with their cattle and their tents, and they came as grasshoppers for multitude; for both they and their camels were without number: and they entered into the land to destroy it.
6. And Israel was greatly impoverished because of the Midianites; and the children of Israel cried out unto the LORD.
7. And it came to pass, when the children of Israel cried out unto the Lord because of the Midianites,
8. That the LORD sent a prophet to the children of Israel, which said to them, Thus says the LORD God of Israel, I brought you up from Egypt, and brought you forth out of the house of bondage;
9. And 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;
10. And I said to you, I am the LORD your God; do not fear the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell: but you have not obeyed my voice.
11. And there came an angel of the LORD, and sat under an oak which was in Ophrah, that belonged to Joash the Abi-ezrite: and his son Gideon threshed wheat by the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites.
12. And the angel of the LORD appeared to him, and said to him, The LORD is with you, you mighty man of valor.
13. And Gideon said to him, Oh my Lord, if the LORD be with us, why then is all this befallen us? and where are all his miracles which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt? but now the LORD has forsaken us, and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.
14. And the LORD looked upon him, and said, Go in this your might, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites: have I not sent you?
15. And he said to him, Oh my Lord, with what shall I save Israel? behold, my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house.
16. And the LORD said to him, Surely I will be with you, and you shall strike the Midianites as one man.
17. And he said to him, If now I have found grace in your sight, then show me a sign that you are talking with me.
18. Depart not from here, I pray you, until I come to you, and bring forth my present, and set it before you. And he said, I will wait until you come again.
19. And Gideon went in, and made ready a kid, and unleavened cakes of an ephah of flour: the flesh he put in a basket, and he put the broth in a pot, and brought it out to him under the oak, and presented it.
20. And 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.
21. Then the angel of the LORD 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. Then the angel of the LORD departed out of his sight.
22. And when Gideon perceived that he was an angel of the LORD, Gideon said, Alas, O Lord GOD! for I have seen an angel of the LORD face to face.
23. And the LORD said to him, Peace be unto you; fear not: you shall not die.
24. Then Gideon built an altar there unto the LORD, and called it Jehovah shalom: to this day it is yet in Ophrah of the Abi-ezrites.
25. And it came to pass the same night, that the LORD said to him, Take your father's young bullock, even the second bullock of seven years old, and throw down the altar of Baal that your father has, and cut down the grove that is by it:
26. And build an altar unto the LORD your God upon the top of this rock, in the prepared place, and take the second bullock, and offer a burnt sacrifice with the wood of the grove which you shall cut down.
27. Then Gideon took ten men of his servants, and did as the LORD had said to him: and so it was, because he feared his father's household, and the men of the city, that he could not do it by day, that he did it by night.
28. And when the men of the city arose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was thrown down, and the grove was cut down that was by it, and the second bullock was offered upon the altar that was built.
29. And 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.
30. Then the men of the city said to Joash, Bring out your son, that he may die: because he has thrown down the altar of Baal, and because he has cut down the grove that was by it.
31. And Joash said to all that stood against him, Will you plead for Baal? will you save him? he that will plead for him, let him be put to death while it is yet morning: if he is a god, let him plead for himself, because one has thrown down his altar.
32. Therefore on that day he called him Jerubbaal, saying, Let Baal plead against him, because he has thrown down his altar.
33. Then all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the children of the east were gathered together, and went over, and pitched in the valley of Jezreel.
34. But the Spirit of the LORD came upon Gideon, and he blew a trumpet; and Abi-ezer was gathered to him.
35. And he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh; which also was gathered to him: and he sent messengers to Asher, and to Zebulun, and to Naphtali; and they came up to meet them.
36. And Gideon said to God, If you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said,
37. Behold, I will put a fleece of wool in the floor; and if the dew be on the fleece only, and it be dry upon all the earth beside, then shall I know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said.
38. And it was so: for he rose up early on the morrow, and squeezed the fleece together, and wrung the dew out of the fleece, a bowl full of water.
39. And Gideon said unto God, Let not your anger be hot against me, and I will speak but this once: let me test, I pray you, but this once with the fleece; let it now be dry only upon the fleece, and upon all the ground let there be dew.
40. And God did so that night: for it was dry upon the fleece only, and there was dew on all the ground.
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