Judges 6:11–24

Gideon Is Chosen to Be a Judge

¹¹The Messenger of the Lord came and sat under the oak tree in Ophrah that belonged to Joash from Abiezer’s family. Joash’s son Gideon was beating out wheat in a winepress to hide it from the Midianites. ¹²The Messenger of the Lord appeared to Gideon and said, “The Lord is with you, brave man.” 

¹³Gideon responded, “Excuse me, sir! But if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all the miracles our ancestors have told us about? Didn’t they say, ‘The Lord brought us out of Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and has handed us over to Midian.” 

¹⁴The Lord turned to him and said, “You will rescue Israel from Midian with the strength you have. I am sending you.” 

¹⁵Gideon said to him, “Excuse me, sir! How can I rescue Israel? Look at my whole family. It’s the weakest one in Manasseh. And me? I’m the least important member of my family.” 

¹⁶The Lord replied, “I will be with you. You will defeat Midian as if it were ⸤only⸥ one man.” 

¹⁷Gideon said to him, “If you find me acceptable, give me a sign that it is really you speaking to me. ¹⁸Don’t leave until I come back. I want to bring my gift and set it in front of you.” 

“I will stay until you come back,” he said. 

¹⁹Then Gideon went into ⸤his house⸥ and prepared a young goat and unleavened bread made with 18 quarts of flour. He put the meat in a basket and the broth in a pot. Then he went out and presented them to the Messenger of the Lord under the oak tree. 

²⁰The Messenger of the Lord told him, “Take the meat and the unleavened bread, put them on this rock, and pour the broth over them.” Gideon did so. ²¹Then the Messenger of the Lord touched the meat and the bread with the tip of the staff that was in his hand. Fire flared up from the rock and burned the meat and the bread. Then the Messenger of the Lord disappeared. ²²That’s when Gideon realized that this had been the Messenger of the Lord. So he said, “Lord God! I have seen the Messenger of the Lord face to face.” 

²³The Lord said to him, “Calm down! Don’t be afraid. You will not die.” ²⁴So Gideon built an altar there to the Lord. He called it The Lord Calms. To this day it is still in Ophrah, which belongs to Abiezer’s family.