Judges 6:11–23

¹¹The angel of the Lord^t came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah^u that belonged to Joash^v the Abiezrite,^w where his son Gideon^x was threshing^y wheat in a winepress^z to keep it from the Midianites. ¹²When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, “The Lord is with you,^a mighty warrior.^b”

¹³“Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders^c that our ancestors told^d us about when they said, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned^e us and given us into the hand of Midian.”

¹⁴The Lord turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have^f and save^g Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?”

¹⁵“Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but how can I save Israel? My clan^h is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.ⁱ”

¹⁶The Lord answered, “I will be with you^j, and you will strike down all the Midianites, leaving none alive.”

¹⁷Gideon replied, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, give me a sign^k that it is really you talking to me. ¹⁸Please do not go away until I come back and bring my offering and set it before you.”

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

¹⁹Gideon went inside, prepared a young goat,^l and from an ephah^am of flour he made bread without yeast. Putting the meat in a basket and its broth in a pot, he brought them out and offered them to him under the oak.ⁿ

²⁰The angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened bread, place them on this rock,^o and pour out the broth.” And Gideon did so. ²¹Then the angel of the Lord touched the meat and the unleavened bread^p with the tip of the staff^q that was in his hand. Fire flared from the rock, consuming the meat and the bread. And the angel of the Lord disappeared. ²²When Gideon realized^r that it was the angel of the Lord, he exclaimed, “Alas, Sovereign Lord! I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face!”^s

²³But the Lord said to him, “Peace! Do not be afraid.^t You are not going to die.”^u