7 When the Israelites cried out to him because of Midian, 8 the Lord sent a propheti to them. He said to them, “This is what the Lordj God of Israel says: ‘I brought you out of Egypt and out of the place of slavery.k 9 I rescued you from the power of Egypt and the power of all who oppressedl you. I drove them out before you and gave you their land. 10 I said to you: I am the Lord your God. Do not fear the gods of the Amorites whose land you live in.m But you did not obey me.’ ”

THE LORD CALLS GIDEON

11 The angel of the Lordn came, and he sat under the oak that was in Ophrah,o which belonged to Joash, the Abiezrite. His son Gideon was threshing wheat in the winepress in order to hide it from the Midianites. 12 Then the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said, “The Lord is with you, valiant warrior.”p

13 Gideon said to him, “Please, my lord, if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened? And where are all his wonders that our ancestors 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.”

14 The Lord turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and deliver Israel from the grasp of Midian. I am sending you!”q