Judges 6:11–8:32

11 And there came an angel of the Lord, and sat under an oak which was in Ophrah, that pertained unto Joash lthe Abi-ezrite: and his son *Gideon mthreshed wheat by the winepress, †to hide it from the Midianites. 12 And the nangel of the Lord appeared unto him, and said unto him, The Lord is owith thee, thou mighty man of valour. 13 And Gideon said unto him, Oh my Lord, if the Lord be with us, why then is all this pbefallen us? and qwhere be all his miracles rwhich our fathers told us of, saying, Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt? but now the Lord hath forsaken us, and delivered us into the hands of the bMidianites. 14 And the Lord looked upon him, and said, sGo in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the bMidianites: thave not I sent thee? 15 And he said unto him, Oh my Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? behold, u||my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house. 16 And the Lord said unto him, wSurely I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite the bMidianites as one man. 17 And he said unto him, If now xI have found grace in thy sight, then yshew me a sign that thou talkest with me. 18 zDepart not hence, I pray thee, until I come unto thee, and bring forth my ||present, and set it before thee. And he said, I will tarry until thou come again.

19 aAnd 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 unto him under the oak, and presented it. 20 And the angel of God said unto him, Take the flesh and the unleavened cakes, and blay them upon this rock, and cpour 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 dthere 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 eperceived that he was an angel of the Lord, Gideon said, Alas, O Lord God! ffor because I have seen an angel of the Lord face to face. 23 And the Lord said unto him, gPeace be unto thee; fear not: thou shalt not die. 24 Then Gideon built an altar there unto the Lord, and called it ||Jehovah-shalom: unto this day it is yet in hOphrah of the Abi-ezrites.

25 And it came to pass the same night, that the Lord said unto him, Take thy father’s young bullock, ||even the second bullock of seven years old, and throw down the altar of Baal that thy father hath, and icut down the grove that is by it: 26 And build an altar unto the Lord thy God upon the top of this †rock, ||in the ordered place, and take the second bullock, and offer a burnt sacrifice with the wood of the grove which thou shalt cut down. 27 Then Gideon took ten men of his servants, and did as the Lord had said unto 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 cast 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 hath done this thing? And when they inquired and asked, they said, Gideon the son of Joash hath done this thing. 30 Then the men of the city said unto Joash, Bring out thy son, that he may die: because he hath cast down the altar of Baal, and because he hath cut down the grove that was by it. 31 And Joash said unto all that stood against him, Will ye plead for Baal? will ye save him? he that will plead for him, let him be put to death whilst it is yet morning: if he be a god, let him plead for himself, because one hath cast down his altar. 32 Therefore on that day he called him ||Jerubbaal, saying, Let Baal plead against him, because he hath thrown down his altar.

33 Then all lthe Midianites and the Amalekites and the children of the east were gathered together, and went over, and pitched in mthe valley of Jezreel. 34 *But nthe Spirit of the Lord †came upon Gideon, and he oblew a trumpet; and Abi-ezer †was gathered after him. 35 And he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh; who also †was gathered after him: and he sent messengers unto Asher, and unto Zebulun, and unto Naphtali; and they came up to meet them.

36 And Gideon said unto God, If thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as thou hast said, 37 pBehold, 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 thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as thou hast said. 38 And it was so: for he rose up early on the morrow, and thrust the fleece together, and wringed the dew out of the fleece, a qbowl full of water. 39 And Gideon said unto God, rLet not thine anger be hot against me, and I will speak but this once: let me prove, I pray thee, 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.

7 Then aJerubbaal, who is Gideon, and all the people that were with him, rose up early, and pitched beside bthe well of Harod: so that the host of the Midianites were on the north side of them, by the hill of cMoreh, bin the valley. 2 And the Lord said unto Gideon, The people that are with thee are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel dvaunt themselves against me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me. 3 Now therefore go to, proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, eWhosoever is fearful and bafraid, let him return and depart early from mount Gilead. And there returned of the people twenty and two thousand; and there remained ten thousand. 4 And the Lord said unto Gideon, The people are yet too many; bring them down unto the water, and I fwill try them for thee there: and it shall be, that of whom I say unto thee, This shall go with thee, the same shall go with thee; and of whomsoever I say unto thee, This shall not go with thee, the same shall not go. 5 So he brought down the people unto the water: and the Lord said unto Gideon, Every one that lappeth of the water with his tongue, as a dog lappeth, him shalt thou set by himself; likewise every one that boweth down upon his knees to drink. 6 And the number of them that lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, were three hundred men: but all the rest of the people bowed down upon their knees to drink water. 7 And the Lord said unto Gideon, gBy the three hundred men that lapped will I save you, and deliver the Midianites into thine hand: and let all the other people go every man unto his place. 8 So the people took victuals in their hand, and their trumpets: and he sent all the rest of Israel every man unto his tent, and retained those three hundred men: and the host of Midian was beneath him hin the valley.

9 And it came to pass the same inight, that the Lord said unto him, Arise, get thee down unto the host; for jI have delivered it into thine hand. 10 But if thou fear to go down, go thou with Phurah thy servant down to the host: 11 And thou shalt khear what they say; and afterward shall thine hands be strengthened to go down unto the host. Then went he down with Phurah his servant unto the outside of the ||armed men that were in the host. 12 And the Midianites and the Amalekites and lall the children of the east lay along hin the valley llike grasshoppers for multitude; and their camels were without number, mas the sand by the sea side for multitude. 13 And when Gideon was come, behold, there was a man that told a dream unto his fellow, and said, Behold, I dreamed a dream, and, lo, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the host of Midian, and came unto a tent, and smote it that it fell, and overturned it, that the tent lay along. 14 And his fellow answered and said, This is nothing else save the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel: for into his hand hath God delivered Midian, and all the host. 15 And it was so, when Gideon heard the telling of the dream, and †the interpretation thereof, that he worshipped, and returned into the host of Israel, and said, Arise; for the Lord hath delivered into your hand the host of Midian. 16 And he divided the three hundred men into three companies, and he put †a trumpet in every man’s hand, with empty pitchers, and ||lamps within the pitchers. 17 And he said unto them, Look on me, and do likewise: and, behold, when I come to the outside of the camp, it shall be that, as I do, so shall ye do. 18 When I blow with a trumpet, I and all that are with me, then blow ye the trumpets also on every side of all the camp, and say, nThe sword of the Lord, and of Gideon. 19 So Gideon, and othe hundred men that were with him, came unto the outside of the camp in the beginning of the middle watch; and they had but newly set the watch: and they blew the trumpets, and brake the pitchers that were in their hands. 20 And the three companies blew the trumpets, and brake the pitchers, and held the lamps in their left hands, and the trumpets in their right hands to blow withal: and they cried, The sword of the Lord, and of Gideon. 21 And they pstood every man qin his place round about the camp: and rall the host ran, and cried, and fled. 22 And the three hundred sblew the trumpets, and tthe Lord set uevery man’s sword against his fellow, even throughout all the host: and the host fled to Beth-shittah ||in wZererath, and to the †border of xAbel-meholah, unto Tabbath. 23 And the men of Israel ygathered themselves together zout of Naphtali, and out of Asher, and out of all Manasseh, and pursued after the Midianites.

24 And Gideon sent messengers throughout all amount Ephraim, saying, Come down against the Midianites, and take before them the waters unto Beth-barah and Jordan. Then all the men of Ephraim ygathered themselves together, and btook the …