Judges 6:1–32

The Midianites Oppresses Israel

6The Israelites^a did evil in the eyes of Yahweh, and Yahweh gave them into the hand of the Midianites^b for seven years. ²The hand of the Midianites^c prevailed over Israel; because of the presence of the Midianites,^d the Israelites^e made for themselves hiding places that were in the mountains, caves, and strongholds. ³And whenever Israel sowed seed, the Midianites,^f Amalekites,^g and the people of the east would come up against them. ⁴They would camp against them and destroy the produce of the land as far as^h Gaza; they left no produce in Israel, or sheep, ox, or donkey. ⁵For they, their livestock, and their tents would come up like a great number of locusts; they and their camels could not be counted; they came into the land and devoured it. ⁶Israel was very poor because of the presence of the Midianites,ⁱ and the Israelites^j cried out to Yahweh.

⁷When the Israelites^k cried out to Yahweh on account of the Midianites,^{l 8}Yahweh sent a prophet to the Israelites,^m and he said to them, “Thus says Yahweh the God of Israel: ‘I brought you up from Egypt; I brought you from the house of slavery.^{n 9}I delivered you from the hand of Egypt and from the hand of all your oppressors, and drove them out from before you;^o and I gave you their land. ¹⁰And I said to you, ‘I am Yahweh your God; do not fear^p the gods of the Amorites,^q in whose land you are living.’ But you have not listened to my voice.”

The Angel of Yahweh Calls Gideon

¹¹The angel of Yahweh came and sat under the oak^r that was at Ophrah that belonged to Jehoash the Abiezrite; and Gideon his son was threshing wheat in the winepress to hide it^s from the Midianites.^{t 12}The angel of Yahweh appeared to him and said to him, “Yahweh is with you, you mighty warrior.”^{u 13}Gideon said to him, “Excuse me, my lord. If Yahweh is with us, why then has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonderful deeds that our ancestors^v recounted to us, saying, ‘Did not Yahweh bring us up from Egypt?’ But now Yahweh has forsaken us; he has given us into the palm of Midian.” ¹⁴And Yahweh turned to him and said, “Go in this your strength, and you will deliver Israel from the palm of Midian. Did I not send you?” ¹⁵He said to him, “Excuse me, my lord. How will I deliver Israel? Look, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my father’s house.” ¹⁶And Yahweh said to him, “But I will be with you, and you will defeat Midian as if they are one man.”^{w 17}And he^x said to him, “Please, if I have found favor in your eyes, show me a sign^y that you are speaking with me. ¹⁸Please, do not depart from here until I come back to you and bring out my gift and set it out before you.”^z And he said, “I will stay until you return.”

¹⁹And Gideon went and prepared a young goat^a and unleavened cakes from an ephah of flour; he put meat in a basket, and the broth he put in a pot, and he brought them to him under the oak^b and presented them. ²⁰The angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened cakes and put them on this rock; pour the broth over it.” And he did so. ²¹Then the angel of Yahweh reached out the tip of the staff that was in his hand, and he touched the meat and the unleavened cakes; and fire went up from the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened cakes. And the angel of Yahweh went from his sight.^{c 22}And Gideon realized that he was the angel of Yahweh; and Gideon said, “Oh, my lord Yahweh! For now I have seen the angel of Yahweh face to face.” ²³And Yahweh said to him, “Peace be with you. Do not fear; you will not die.” ²⁴And Gideon built there an altar to Yahweh, and he called it “Yahweh is peace.” To this day it is still in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.^d

²⁵Now on that same night Yahweh said to him, “Take the bull of the cattle that belongs to your father, and a second bull seven years old, and pull down the altar of Baal that belongs to your father, and cut down the Asherah^e that is beside it; ²⁶and build an altar to Yahweh your God on the top of this stronghold in the proper arrangement, and take a second bull and offer it as a burnt offering with the wood of the Asherah^f that you will cut down. ²⁷Gideon took ten men from his servants, and he did just as Yahweh told him;^g and because he was too afraid of his father’s family^h and the men of the city to do it during the day, he did it during night.

Gideon Destroys the Altar of Baal

²⁸When the men of the city got up early in the morning, look, the altar of Baal and the Asherahⁱ that was beside it were cut down, and the second bull was offered on the altar that had been built. ²⁹And they said to one another,^j “Who did this thing?” So they searched and inquired, and they said, “Gideon son of Jehoash did this thing.” ³⁰And the men of the city said to Jehoash, “Bring out your son so that he may die, for he has pulled down the altar of Baal and cut down the Asherah that was beside it.” ³¹But Jehoash said to all who stood against him,^k “Will you contend for Baal? Will you rescue him? Whoever contends for him will be put to death by the morning. If he is a god, let him contend for himself because his altar has been pulled down.”^{l 32}Thus, on that day he^m was called Jerub-Baal, which means,ⁿ “Let Baal contend against him,” because he had pulled down his altar.