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 ¹²The angel of Yahweh appeared to him and said to him, “Yahweh is with you, you mighty warrior.”^u ¹³Gideon 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 ¹⁷And 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 ²²And 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

Read in Logos

Judges 6:13–14: And Gideon said to him, “… if the LORD is with us, why then has all this happened to us? … the LORD has forsaken us and given us into the hand of Midian.” And the LORD … said, “Go … and save Israel from the hand of Midian; do not I send you?”

Footnotes

rOr “terebinth”
sOr “keep it away”
tHebrew “Midianite”
uLiterally “strong/mighty of power”
vOr “fathers”
wLiterally “as one man”
xThat is, Gideon
yLiterally “make a sign for me”
zOr “in your presence”
aLiterally “a kid of goat”
bOr “terebinth”
cLiterally “from his eyes”
dHebrew “Abiezrite”