Judges 6:11–18
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
15 He 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 family.”
16 “But I will be with you,”r the Lord said to him. “You will strike Midian down as if it were one man.”
17 Then he said to him, “If I have found favor with you,s give me a signt that you are speaking with me. 18 Please do not leave this place until I return to you. Let me bring my gift and set it before you.”