¹¹The angel of the Lord came and sat down under the oak tree at Ophrah that belonged to Joash, one of the Abiezrite people. Gideon, Joash’s son, was separating some wheat from the chaff in a winepress to keep the wheat from the Midianites. ¹²The angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon and said, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior!”

¹³Then Gideon said, “Sir, if the Lord is with us, why are we having so much trouble? Where are the miracles our ancestors told us he did when the Lord brought them out of Egypt? But now he has left us and has handed us over to the Midianites.”

¹⁴The Lord turned to Gideon and said, “Go with your strength and save Israel from the Midianites. I am the one who is sending you.”

¹⁵But Gideon answered, “Lord, how can I save Israel? My family group is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least important member of my family.”

¹⁶The Lord answered him, “I will be with you. It will seem as if the Midianites you are fighting are only one man.”

¹⁷Then Gideon said to the Lord, “If you are pleased with me, give me proof that it is really you talking with me. ¹⁸Please wait here until I come back to you. Let me bring my offering and set it in front of you.”

And the Lord said, “I will wait until you return.”

¹⁹So Gideon went in and cooked a young goat, and with twenty quarts of flour, made bread without yeast. Then he put the meat into a basket and the broth into a pot. He brought them out and gave them to the angel under the oak tree.

²⁰The angel of God said to Gideon, “Put the meat and the bread without yeast on that rock over there. Then pour the broth on them.” And Gideon did as he was told. ²¹The angel of the Lord touched the meat and the bread with the end of the stick that was in his hand. Then fire jumped up from the rock and completely burned up the meat and the bread! And the angel of the Lord disappeared! ²²Then Gideon understood he had been talking to the angel of the Lord. So Gideon cried out, “Lord God! I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face!”

²³But the Lord said to Gideon, “Calm down! Don’t be afraid! You will not die!”

²⁴So Gideon built an altar there to worship the Lord and named it The Lord Is Peace. It still stands at Ophrah, where the Abiezrites live.

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?”