THE BOOK OF
JUDGES
Judges 6 ©
Israel is grievously punished for their sins by the Midianites, v. 1, etc. They cry unto the Lord, Who by a prophet shows them the cause of these miseries, 6. The Angel of the Lord comes to Gideon, and calls him to Israel’s deliverance from the power of the Midianites, 11. The relation of a miracle that happened about the meat which Gideon set before the Angel, 17. Gideon builds an altar unto the Lord, and breaks down, by the command of God, the altar of Baal, for which he comes in danger of the inhabitants, but is protected by Joash, 24. Gideon prepares to fight against the Midianites, and is strengthened of God in his calling by a miracle, 33.
AND the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD: and the LORD delivered them into the hand of 1Midian seven years.
And the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel: and because of the Midianites the children of Israel 2made them 3the dens which are in the mountains, and caves, and strong holds.
And so it was, when Israel had sown, that the Midianites 4came up, and the Amalekites, and the children of the 5east, even they came up against 6them;
And they encamped against them, and destroyed the increase of the earth, till thou come unto 7Gaza, and left no sustenance for Israel, neither sheep, nor ox, nor ass.
For they came up with their cattle and their tents, and they came as 8grasshoppers for multitude; for both they and their camels were 9without number: and they entered into the land to destroy it.
And Israel was greatly impoverished 10because of the Midianites; and the children of Israel cried unto the LORD.
¶And it came to pass, when the children of Israel cried unto the LORD because of the Midianites,
That the LORD sent a 11prophet unto the children of Israel, which said unto them, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I brought you up from Egypt, and brought you forth out of the house of bondage;
And I delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of all that oppressed you, and drave them out from before you, and gave you their land;
And I said unto you, I am the LORD your God; feara not the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but ye have not obeyed my voice.
¶And there came an 12angel of the LORD, and sat under an oak which was in Ophrah, that pertained unto 13Joash the 14Abi-ezrite: and his son Gideon 15threshed wheat 16by the winepress, 17to hide it from the 18Midianites.
And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him, and said unto him, The LORD is with thee, thou mighty man of valour.
And Gideon said unto him, 19Oh my 20Lord, if the LORD be with us, why then is all this 21befallen us? and where be all his miracles which 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 Midianites.
And the LORD 22looked upon him, and said, Gob in 23this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites: 24have not I sent thee?
And he said unto him, 25Oh my Lord, 26wherewith shall I save Israel? behold, my 27family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house.
And the LORD said unto him, Surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite the Midianites as 28one man.
And he said unto him, If now I have found grace in thy sight, then shew me a 29sign that thou talkest with me.
Depart not hence, I pray thee, until I come unto thee, and bring forth 30my present, and set it before thee. And he said, I will tarry until thou come again.
¶And Gideon went in, and made ready a kid, and unleavened cakes of an 31ephah 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.
And the angel of God said unto him, Take the flesh and the unleavened cakes, and lay them upon this rock, and 32pour out the broth. And he did so.
¶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 there rose up 33fire out of the rock, and consumed the flesh and the unleavened cakes. Then the angel of the LORD departed 34out of his sight.
And when Gideon perceived that he was an angel of the LORD, Gideon said, Alas, O Lord GOD! 35for because I have seen an angel of the LORD 36face to face.
And the LORD said unto him, Peace be unto thee; fear not: thou shalt not die.
Then Gideon built an altar there unto the LORD, and called it 37Jehovah-shalom: unto this day it is yet in Ophrah of the 38Abi-ezrites.
¶And it came to pass the same night, that the LORD said unto him, Take thy father's young bullock, 39even the second bullock of 40seven years old, and throw down the altar of Baal that thy father hath, and 41cut down the grove that is by it:
And build an altar unto the LORD thy God upon the 42top of this 43rock, in the 44ordered place, and take the second bullock, and 45offer a burnt sacrifice with the wood of the grove which thou shalt cut down.
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.
¶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.
And they said 46one to another, Who hath done this 47thing? And when they enquired and asked, they said, Gideon the son of Joash hath done this thing.
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.
And Joash said unto all that stood against him, Will ye 48plead for Baal? will ye save him? he that 49will plead for him, let him be put to death whilst it is yet morning: if he be a god, let him plead 50for himself, because one hath cast down his altar.
Therefore on that day 51he called him Jerubbaal, saying, Let Baal 52plead against him, because he hath thrown down his altar.
¶Then all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the children of the east were gathered together, and went 53over, and pitched in the valley of 54Jezreel.
But the Spirit of the LORD 55came upon Gideon, and he 56blew a trumpet; and 57Abi-ezer was gathered after him.
And he sent messengers throughout 58all Manasseh; who also was gathered after him: and he sent messengers unto 59Asher, and unto Zebulun, and unto Naphtali; and they came up to meet them.
¶And Gideon 60said unto God, If thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as thou hast said,
Behold, I will put a 61fleece of wool in the floor; and if the dew be on the fleece only, and it be dry upon 62all the earth beside, then shall I know that thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as thou hast said.
And it was so: for he rose up early on the morrow, and thrust the fleece together, and wringedc the dew out of the fleece, a bowl full of water.
And Gideon said unto God, Letd 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.
And God did so that night: for it was dry upon the fleece only, and there was dew on all the ground.