Chapter 6

Israel Oppressed by Midian

1 Then the sons of Israel adid what was evil in the sight of the Lord; and the Lord gave them into the hands of bMidian seven years.

2 The 1power of Midian prevailed against Israel. Because of Midian the sons of Israel made for themselves athe dens which were in the mountains and the caves and the strongholds.

3 For it was when Israel had sown, that the Midianites would come up with the Amalekites and the sons of the east and 1go against them.

4 So they would camp against them and adestroy the produce of the earth 1as far as Gaza, and bleave no sustenance in Israel as well as no sheep, ox, or donkey.

5 For they would come up with their livestock and their tents, they would come in alike locusts for number, both they and their camels were innumerable; and they came into the land to devastate it.

6 So Israel was brought avery low because of Midian, and the sons of Israel cried to the Lord.

7 Now it came about when the sons of Israel cried to the Lord on account of Midian,

8 that the Lord sent a prophet to the sons of Israel, and ahe said to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘It was I who brought you up from Egypt and brought you out from the house of 1slavery.

9 ‘I delivered you from the hands of the Egyptians and from the hands of all your oppressors, and dispossessed them before you and gave you their land,

10 and I said to you, “I am the Lord your God; you ashall not fear the gods of the Amorites in whose land you live. But you have not 1obeyed Me.” ’ ”

Gideon Is Visited

11 Then athe angel of the Lord came and sat under the 1oak that was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the bAbiezrite as his son cGideon was beating out wheat in the wine press in order to save it from the Midianites.

12 The angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, “The Lord is with you, O valiant warrior.”

13 Then Gideon said to him, “O my lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ But anow the Lord has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.”

14 The Lord 1looked at him and said, “aGo in this your strength and deliver Israel from the hand of Midian. Have I not sent you?”

15 aHe said to Him, “O Lord, 1how shall I deliver Israel? Behold, my family is the least in bManasseh, and I am the youngest in my father’s house.”

16 aBut the Lord said to him, “Surely I will be with you, and you shall 1defeat Midian as one man.”

17 So 1Gideon said to Him, “If now I have found favor in Your sight, then show me aa sign that it is You who speak with me.

18 “Please do not depart from here, until I come back to You, and bring out my offering and lay it before You.” And He said, “I will remain until you return.”

19 Then Gideon went in and aprepared a young goat and unleavened bread from an 1ephah of flour; he put the meat in a basket 2and the broth in a pot, and brought them out to him under the 3oak and presented them.

20 The angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened bread and lay them on this rock, and pour out the broth.” And he did so.

21 Then the angel of the Lord put out the end of the staff that was in his hand and touched the meat and the unleavened bread; and afire sprang up from the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened bread. Then the angel of the Lord 1vanished from his sight.

22 aWhen Gideon saw that he was the angel of the Lord, 1he said, “Alas, O Lord 2God! For now I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face.”

23 The Lord said to him, “Peace to you, do not fear; you shall not die.”

24 Then Gideon built an altar there to the Lord and named it 1The Lord is Peace. To this day it is still ain Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

25 Now on the same night the Lord said to him, “Take your father’s bull 1and a second bull seven years old, and pull down the altar of Baal which belongs to your father, and cut down the 2aAsherah that is beside it;

26 and build an altar to the Lord your God on the top of this stronghold in an orderly manner, and take a 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; and because he was too afraid of his father’s household and the men of the city to do it by day, he did it by night.

The Altar of Baal Destroyed

28 When the men of the city arose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was torn down, and the Asherah which was beside it was cut down, and the second bull was offered on the altar which had been built.

29 They said to one another, “Who did this thing?” And when they searched about and inquired, they said, “Gideon the son of Joash did this thing.”

30 Then the men of the city said to Joash, “Bring out your son, that he may die, for he has torn down the altar of Baal, and indeed, he has cut down the Asherah which was beside it.”

31 But Joash said to all who stood against him, “Will you contend for Baal, or will you deliver him? Whoever will 1plead for him shall be put to death by morning. If he is a god, let him contend for himself, because someone has torn down his altar.”

32 Therefore on that day he named him aJerubbaal, that is to say, “Let Baal contend against him,” because he had torn down his altar.

33 Then all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the sons of the east assembled themselves; and they crossed over and camped in athe valley of Jezreel.

34 So athe Spirit of the Lord 1came upon Gideon; and he bblew a trumpet, and the Abiezrites were called together to follow him.

35 He sent messengers throughout Manasseh, and they also were called together to follow him; and he sent messengers to Asher, aZebulun, and Naphtali, and bthey came up to meet them.

Sign of the Fleece

36 Then Gideon said to God, “aIf You will deliver Israel 1through me, as You have spoken,

37 behold, 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 will know that You will deliver Israel 1through me, as You have spoken.”

38 And it was so. When he arose early the next morning and squeezed the fleece, he drained the dew from the fleece, a bowl full of water.

39 Then Gideon said to God, “aDo not let Your anger burn against me that I may speak once more; please let me make a test once more with the fleece, let it now be dry only on the fleece, and let there be dew on all the ground.”

40 God did so that night; for it was dry only on the fleece, and dew was on all the ground.

Chapter 7

Gideon’s 300 Chosen Men

1 Then aJerubbaal (that is, Gideon) and all the people who were with him, rose early and camped beside 1the spring of Harod; and the camp of Midian was on the north side of 2them by the hill of bMoreh in the valley.

2 The Lord said to Gideon, “The people who are with you are too many for Me to give Midian into their hands, afor Israel 1would become boastful, saying, ‘My own 2power has delivered me.’

3 “Now therefore 1come, proclaim in the hearing of the people, saying, ‘aWhoever is afraid and trembling, let him return and depart from Mount Gilead.’ ” So 22,000 people returned, but 10,000 remained.

4 aThen the Lord said to Gideon, “The people are still too many; bring them down to the water and I will test them for you there. Therefore it shall be that he of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall go with you,’ he shall go with you; but everyone of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ he shall not go.”

5 So he brought the people down to the water. And the Lord said to Gideon, “You shall separate everyone who laps the water with his tongue as a dog laps, as well as everyone who kneels to drink.”

6 Now the number of those who lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, was 300 men; but all the rest of the people kneeled to drink water.

7 The Lord said to Gideon, “I will deliver you awith the 300 men who lapped and will give the Midianites into your hands; so let all the other people go, each man to his 1home.”

8 So 1the 300 men took the people’s provisions and their trumpets into their hands. And 2Gideon sent all the other men of Israel, each to his tent, but retained the 300 men; and the camp of Midian was below him in the valley.

9 Now the same night it came about that the Lord said to him, “Arise, go down against the camp, afor I have given it into your hands.

10 “But if you are afraid to go down, go with Purah your servant down to the camp,

11 and you will hear what they say; and aafterward your hands will be strengthened that you may go down against the camp.” So he went with Purah his servant down to the 1outposts of the army that was in the camp.

12 Now the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the sons of the east were lying in the valley aas numerous as locusts; and their camels were without number, bas numerous as the sand on the seashore.

13 When Gideon came, behold, a man was relating a dream to his friend. And he said, “Behold, I 1had a dream; 2a loaf of barley bread was tumbling into the camp of Midian, and it came to the tent and struck it so that it fell, and turned it 3upside down so that the tent lay flat.”

14 His friend replied, “This is nothing less than the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel; God has given Midian and all the camp ainto his hand.”

15 When Gideon heard the account of the dream and its interpretation, he bowed in worship. He returned to the camp of Israel and said, “Arise, for the Lord has given the camp of Midian into your hands.”

16 He divided the 300 men into three 1companies, and he put trumpets and empty pitchers into the hands of all of them, with torches inside the pitchers.

17 He said to them, “Look at me and do likewise. And behold, when I come to the outskirts of the camp, 1do as I do.

18 “When I and all who are with me blow the trumpet, then you also blow the trumpets all around the camp and say, ‘For the Lord and for Gideon.’ ”

Confusion of the Enemy

19 So Gideon and the hundred men who were with him came to the outskirts of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, when they had just posted the watch; and they blew the trumpets and smashed the pitchers that were in their hands.

20 When the three 1companies blew the trumpets and broke the pitchers, they held the torches in their left hands and the trumpets in their right hands for blowing, and cried, “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!”

21 Each stood in his place around the camp; and aall the 1army ran, crying out as they fled.

22 When they blew 300 trumpets, the aLord set the sword of one against another even throughout the whole 1army; and the 1army fled as far as Beth-shittah toward Zererah, as far as the edge of bAbel-meholah, by Tabbath.

23 The men of Israel were summoned from aNaphtali and Asher and all Manasseh, and they pursued Midian.

24 Gideon sent messengers throughout all the hill country of Ephraim, saying, “Come down 1against Midian and atake the waters before them, as far as Beth-barah and the Jordan.” So all the men of Ephraim were summoned and they took the waters as far as Beth-barah and the Jordan.

25 They captured the two leaders of Midian, aOreb and Zeeb, and they killed Oreb at the rock of Oreb, and they killed Zeeb at the wine press of Zeeb, while they pursued Midian; and they brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon bfrom across the Jordan.

Chapter 8

Zebah and Zalmunna Routed

1 Then the men of Ephraim said to him, “aWhat is this thing you have done to us, not calling us when you went to fight against Midian?” And they contended with him vigorously.

2 But he said to them, “What have I done now in comparison with you? Is not the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the vintage of Abiezer?

3 “God has given the leaders of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb into your hands; and what was I able to do in comparison with you?” Then their 1anger toward him subsided when he said 2that.

4 Then Gideon and the 300 men who were with him came ato the Jordan and crossed over, weary yet pursuing.

5 He said to the men of aSuccoth, “Please give loaves of bread to the people who are following me, for they are weary, and I am pursuing Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian.”

6 The leaders of Succoth said, “1aAre the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your hands, that we should give bread to your army?”

7 Gideon said, “1All right, awhen the Lord has given Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, then I will 2thrash your 3bodies with the thorns of the wilderness and with briers.”

8 He went up from there to 1aPenuel and spoke similarly to them; and the men of Penuel answered him just as the men of Succoth had answered.

9 So he spoke also to the men of Penuel, saying, “When I return safely, aI will tear down this tower.”

10 Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor, and their 1armies with them, about 15,000 men, all who were left of the entire 2army of the sons of the east; afor the fallen were 120,000 3swordsmen.

11 Gideon went up by the way of those who lived in tents on the east of Nobah and Jogbehah, and 1attacked the camp when the camp was 2unsuspecting.

12 When Zebah and Zalmunna fled, he pursued them and captured the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and routed the whole 1army.

13 Then Gideon the son of Joash returned from the battle 1by the ascent of Heres.

14 And he captured a youth 1from Succoth and questioned him. Then the youth wrote down for him the princes of Succoth and its elders, seventy-seven men.

15 He came to the men of Succoth and said, “Behold Zebah and Zalmunna, concerning whom you taunted me, saying, ‘1aAre the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your hand, that we should give bread to your men who are weary?’ ”

16 He took the elders of the city, and thorns of the wilderness and briers, and he 1disciplined the men of Succoth with them.

17 aHe tore down the tower of Penuel and killed the men of the city.

18 Then he said to Zebah and Zalmunna, “What kind of men were they whom you killed at Tabor?” And they said, “They were like you, each one 1resembling the son of a king.”

19 He said, “They were my brothers, the sons of my mother. As the Lord lives, if only you had let them live, I would not kill you.”

20 So he said to Jether his firstborn, “Rise, kill them.” But the youth did not draw his sword, for he was afraid, because he was still a youth.

21 Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, “Rise up yourself, and fall on us; for as the man, so is his strength.” aSo Gideon arose and killed Zebah and Zalmunna, and btook the crescent ornaments which were on their camels’ necks.

22 Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, “Rule over us, both you and your son, also your son’s son, for you have delivered us from the hand of Midian.”

23 But Gideon said to them, “I will not rule over you, nor shall my son rule over you; athe Lord shall rule over you.”

24 Yet Gideon said to them, “I would 1request of you, that each of you give me 2an earring from his spoil.” (For they had gold earrings, because they were aIshmaelites.)

25 They said, “We will surely give them.” So they spread out a garment, and every one of them threw an earring there from his spoil.

26 The weight of the gold earrings that he requested was 1,700 shekels of gold, besides the crescent ornaments and the pendants and the purple robes which were on the kings of Midian, and besides the neck bands that were on their camels’ necks.

27 Gideon made it into aan ephod, and placed it in his city, Ophrah, and all Israel played the harlot with it there, so that it became a snare to Gideon and his household.

Forty Years of Peace

28 So Midian was subdued before the sons of Israel, and they did not lift up their heads anymore. And the land was undisturbed for forty years in the days of Gideon.

29 Then aJerubbaal the son of Joash went and lived in his own house.

30 Now Gideon had aseventy sons who 1were his direct descendants, for he had many wives.

31 His concubine who was in Shechem also bore him a son, and he 1named him Abimelech.

32 And Gideon the son of Joash died at a ripe old age and was buried in the tomb of his father Joash, in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

33 Then it came about, as soon as Gideon was dead, athat the sons of Israel again played the harlot with the Baals, and made bBaal-berith their god.

34 Thus the sons of Israel adid not remember the Lord their God, who had delivered them from the hands of all their enemies on every side;

35 anor did they show kindness to the household of Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) in accord with all the good that he had done to Israel.