Israel Oppressed by Midian

6 Then the sons of Israel ^(A)did what was evil in the sight of the Lord; and the Lord handed them over to ^(B)Midian for seven years. ² The ^[a]power of Midian prevailed against Israel. Because of Midian the sons of Israel made for themselves ^(C)the dens which were in the mountains and the caves and the strongholds. ³ For whenever Israel had sown, the Midianites would come up with the Amalekites and the ^[b]people of the east and ^[c]march against them. ⁴ So they would camp against them and ^(D)destroy the produce of the earth ^[d]as far as Gaza, and ^(E)leave no sustenance in Israel, nor a sheep, ox, or donkey. ⁵ For they would come up with their livestock and their tents, they would come in ^(F)like locusts in number, and both they and their camels were innumerable; and they came into the land to ruin it. ⁶ So Israel was brought ^(G)very low because of Midian, and the sons of Israel cried out to the Lord.

⁷ Now it came about, when the sons of Israel cried out to the Lord on account of Midian, ⁸ that the Lord sent a prophet to the sons of Israel, and ^(H)he said to them, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: ‘It was I who brought you up from Egypt, and brought you out of the house of ^[e]slavery. ⁹ And I rescued you from the hands of the Egyptians, and from the hands of all your oppressors, and I drove them out from you and gave you their land, ¹⁰ and I said to you, “I am the Lord your God; you ^(I)shall not fear the gods of the Amorites in whose land you live.” But you have not ^[f]obeyed Me.’”

Gideon Is Visited

¹¹ Then ^(J)the angel of the Lord came and sat under the ^[g]oak that was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the ^(K)Abiezrite, as his son ^(L)Gideon was beating out wheat in the wine press in order to save it from the Midianites. ¹² And the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, “The Lord is with you, valiant warrior.” ¹³ Then Gideon said to him, “O my lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, ‘Did the Lord not bring us up from Egypt?’ But ^(M)now the Lord has abandoned us and handed us over to Midian.” ¹⁴ And the Lord ^[h]looked at him and said, “^(N)Go in this strength of yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian. Have I not sent you?” ^15 (O)But he said to Him, “O Lord, ^[i]how am I to save Israel? Behold, my family is the least in ^(P)Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my father’s house.” ^16 (Q)Yet the Lord said to him, “I will certainly be with you, and you will ^[j]defeat Midian as one man.” ¹⁷ So ^[k]Gideon said to Him, “If now I have found favor in Your sight, then perform for me ^(R)a sign that it is You speaking with me. ¹⁸ Please do not depart from here until I come back to You, and bring out my offering and lay it before You.” And He said, “I will remain until you return.”

¹⁹ Then Gideon went in and ^(S)prepared a young goat and unleavened bread from an ^[l]ephah of flour; he put the meat in a basket ^[m]and the broth in a pot, and brought them out to him under the ^[n]oak and presented them. ²⁰ And the angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened bread and lay them on this rock, and pour out the broth.” And he did so. ²¹ Then the angel of the Lord put out the end of the staff that was in his hand and touched the meat and the unleavened bread; and ^(T)fire came up from the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened bread. Then the angel of the Lord ^[o]vanished from his sight. ^22 (U)When Gideon perceived that he was the angel of the Lord, ^[p]he said, “Oh, Lord ^[q]God! For I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face!” ²³ But the Lord said to him, “Peace to you, do not be afraid; you shall not die.” ²⁴ Then Gideon built an altar there to the Lord and named it ^[r]The Lord is Peace. To this day it is still ^(V)in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

²⁵ Now on the same night the Lord said to him, “Take your father’s bull ^[s]and a second bull seven years old, and tear down the altar of Baal which belongs to your father, and cut down the ^[t](W)Asherah that is beside it; ²⁶ and build an altar to the Lord your God on the top of this stronghold in an orderly way, and take a second bull and offer a burnt offering with the wood of the Asherah which you shall cut down.” ²⁷ Then Gideon took ten men from his servants and did as the Lord had spoken to him; and because he was too afraid of his father’s household and the men of the city to do it by day, he did it by night.

The Altar of Baal Destroyed

²⁸ When the people of the city got up early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal had been torn down, and the Asherah which had been beside it had been cut down, and the second bull had been offered on the altar which had been built. ²⁹ So they said to one another, “Who did this thing?” And when they searched and inquired, they said, “Gideon the son of Joash did this thing.” ³⁰ Then the men of the city said to Joash, “Bring out your son, that he may die, for he has torn down the altar of Baal, and indeed, he has cut down the Asherah which was beside it.” ³¹ But Joash said to all who stood against him, “Will you contend for Baal, or will you save him? Whoever will contend for him shall be put to death by morning. If he is a god, let him contend for himself, since someone has torn down his altar!” ³² Therefore on that day he named ^[u]Gideon ^(X)Jerubbaal, that is to say, “Let Baal contend against him,” because he had torn down his altar.

³³ Then all the Midianites, the Amalekites, and the ^[v]people of the east assembled together; and they crossed over and camped in ^(Y)the Valley of Jezreel. ³⁴ So ^(Z)the Spirit of the Lord ^[w]covered Gideon like clothing; and he ^(AA)blew a trumpet, and the Abiezrites were called together to follow him. ³⁵ And he sent messengers throughout Manasseh, and they also were called together to follow him; and he sent messengers to Asher, ^(AB)Zebulun, and Naphtali, and ^(AC)they came up to meet them.

Sign of the Fleece

³⁶ Then Gideon said to God, “^(AD)If You are going to save Israel ^[x]through me, as You have spoken, ³⁷ behold, I am putting a fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If there is dew on the fleece only, and it is dry on all the ground, then I will know that You will save Israel ^[y]through me, as You have spoken.” ³⁸ And it was so. When he got up early the next morning and wrung out the fleece, he wrung the dew from the fleece, a bowl full of water. ³⁹ Then Gideon said to God, “^(AE)Do not let Your anger burn against me, so that I may speak only one more time; please let me put You to the test only one more time with the fleece: let it now be dry only on the fleece, and let there be dew on all the ground.” ⁴⁰ And God did so that night; for it was dry only on the fleece, and dew was on all the ground.

Cornelius’ Vision

10 Now there was a man in ^(A)Caesarea named Cornelius, a centurion of what was ^(B)called the Italian ^[a]cohort, ² a devout man and ^(C)one who feared God with all his household, and ^(D)made many charitable contributions to the Jewish people and prayed to God continually. ³ About ^(E)the ^[b]ninth hour of the day he clearly saw ^(F)in a vision ^(G)an angel of God who had just come in and said to him, “Cornelius!” ⁴ And he ^(H)looked at him intently and became terrified, and said, “What is it, lord?” And he said to him, “Your prayers and charitable gifts ^(I)have ascended ^(J)as a memorial offering before God. ⁵ Now dispatch some men to ^(K)Joppa and send for a man named Simon, who is also called Peter; ⁶ he is staying with a tanner named ^(L)Simon, whose house is by the sea.” ⁷ When the angel who *spoke to him left, he summoned two of his ^[c]servants and a devout soldier from his personal attendants, ⁸ and after he had explained everything to them, he sent them to ^(M)Joppa.

⁹ On the next day, as they were on their way and approaching the city, ^(N)Peter went up on ^(O)the ^[d]housetop about ^[e](P)the sixth hour to pray. ¹⁰ But he became hungry and wanted to eat; but while they were making preparations, he ^(Q)fell into a trance; ¹¹ and he *saw ^(R)the sky opened up, and an ^[f]object like a great sheet coming down, lowered by four corners to the ground, ¹² and on it were all kinds of four-footed animals and ^[g]crawling creatures of the earth and birds of the sky. ¹³ A voice came to him, “Get up, Peter, ^[h]kill and eat!” ¹⁴ But Peter said, “By no means, ^(S)Lord, for ^(T)I have never eaten anything ^[i]unholy and unclean.” ¹⁵ Again a voice came to him a second time, “^(U)What God has cleansed, no longer ^[j]consider unholy.” ¹⁶ This happened three times, and immediately the ^[k]object was taken up into the sky.

¹⁷ Now while Peter was greatly perplexed in ^[l]mind as to what ^(V)the vision which he had seen might ^[m]mean, behold, ^(W)the men who had been sent by Cornelius had asked directions to Simon’s house, and they appeared at the gate; ¹⁸ and calling out, they were asking whether Simon, who was also called Peter, was staying there. ¹⁹ While Peter was reflecting on ^(X)the vision, ^(Y)the Spirit said to him, “Behold, ^[n]three men are looking for you. ²⁰ But get up, go downstairs and ^(Z)accompany them ^[o]without misgivings, for I have sent them Myself.” ²¹ Peter went down to the men and said, “Behold, I am the one you are looking for; what is the reason for which you have come?” ²² They said, “Cornelius, a centurion, a righteous and ^(AA)God-fearing man well spoken of by the entire nation of the Jews, ^(AB)was divinely directed by a ^(AC)holy angel to send for you to come to his house and hear ^[p](AD)a message from you.” ²³ So he invited them in and gave them lodging.

Peter in Caesarea

Now on the next day he got ready and went away with them, and ^(AE)some of ^(AF)the brothers from ^(AG)Joppa accompanied him. ²⁴ On the following day he entered ^(AH)Caesarea. Now Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends. ²⁵ When Peter entered, Cornelius met him, and fell at his feet and ^[q](AI)worshiped him. ²⁶ But Peter helped him up, saying, “^(AJ)Stand up; I, too, am just a man.” ²⁷ As he talked with him, he entered and *found ^(AK)many people assembled. ²⁸ And he said to them, “You yourselves know that it is ^(AL)forbidden for a Jewish man to associate with or visit a ^[r]foreigner; and yet ^(AM)God has shown me that I am not to call any person ^[s]unholy or unclean. ²⁹ That is why I came without even raising any objection when I was sent for. So I ask, for what reason did you send for me?”

³⁰ Cornelius said, “^(AN)Four days ago to this hour, I was praying in my house during ^(AO)the ^[t]ninth hour; and behold, ^(AP)a man stood before me in shining clothing, ³¹ and he *said, ‘Cornelius, your prayer has been heard and your charitable gifts have been remembered before God. ³² Therefore send some men to ^(AQ)Joppa and invite Simon, who is also called Peter, to come to you; he is staying at the house of Simon the tanner, by the sea.’ ³³ So I sent men to you immediately, and you have ^[u]been kind enough to come. Now then, we are all here present before God to hear everything that you have been commanded by the Lord.”

Gentiles Hear Good News

^34 (AR)Opening his mouth, Peter said:

“I most certainly understand now that ^(AS)God is not one to show partiality, ³⁵ but ^(AT)in every nation the one who ^[v](AU)fears Him and ^[w]does what is right is acceptable to Him. ³⁶ The word which He sent to the sons of Israel, ^(AV)preaching ^[x](AW)peace through Jesus Christ (He is ^(AX)Lord of all)— ³⁷ you yourselves know the thing that happened throughout Judea, starting from Galilee, after the baptism which John proclaimed. ^38 [y]You know of ^(AY)Jesus of Nazareth, how God ^(AZ)anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, ^[z](BA)and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for ^(BB)God was with Him. ³⁹ We are ^(BC)witnesses of all the things that He did both in the ^[aa]country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They also put Him to death by hanging Him on ^[ab](BD)a cross. ^40 (BE)God raised Him up on the third day and granted that He ^[ac]be revealed, ^41 (BF)not to all the people, but to ^(BG)witnesses who had been chosen beforehand by God, that is, to us ^(BH)who ate and drank with Him after He arose from the dead. ⁴² And He ^(BI)ordered us to ^[ad]preach to the people, and to ^(BJ)testify solemnly that this is the One who has been ^(BK)appointed by God as ^(BL)Judge of the living and the dead. ^43 (BM)All the prophets testify of Him, that through ^(BN)His name everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins.”

⁴⁴ While Peter was still speaking these words, ^(BO)the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who were listening to the ^[ae]message. ^45 (BP)All the ^[af]Jewish believers who came with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had also been ^(BQ)poured out on the Gentiles. ⁴⁶ For they were hearing them ^(BR)speaking with tongues and exalting God. Then Peter responded, ⁴⁷ “^(BS)Surely no one can refuse the water for these to be baptized, who ^(BT)have received the Holy Spirit just as we did, can he?” ⁴⁸ And he ^(BU)ordered them to be baptized ^(BV)in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to stay on for a few days.