Judges 6-8

Tree of Life Version

Midianite Oppression

6 Then Bnei-Yisrael did what was evil in Adonai’s eyes, so Adonai gave them into the hand of Midian for seven years. ² Midian maintained an upper hand over Israel, and because of Midian Bnei-Yisrael made themselves hideouts in the mountains—caves and strongholds. ³ Whenever Israel had done their sowing, the Midianites, Amalekites and people from the east would come up and raid them. ⁴ They would set up camp by them, destroy the produce of the land as far as Gaza, and leave nothing in Israel to live on—not a sheep, ox or donkey. ⁵ For they would come up with their cattle and their tents, invade like a multitude of locusts. Both they and their camels were innumerable, and they would come to the land to ruin it. ⁶ So Israel was brought very low because of Midian, and Bnei-Yisrael cried out to Adonai.

⁷ Now it came about when Bnei-Yisrael cried out to Adonai because of Midian, ⁸ that Adonai sent a prophet to Bnei-Yisrael, and he said to them, “Thus says Adonai, God of Israel, ‘It was I who brought you up from Egypt, and brought you out of the house of bondage. ⁹ Then I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of all your oppressors, and drove them out from before you and gave you their land. ¹⁰ Then I said to you, “I am Adonai your God. You are not to fear the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are dwelling. But you have not obeyed My voice.’”

Calling of Gideon

¹¹ Then the angel of Adonai came and sat under the terebinth that was at Ophrah, that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the winepress—in order to hide it from the Midianites. ¹² Then the angel of Adonai appeared to him and said to him, “Adonai is with you, O mighty man of valor.”

¹³ But Gideon said to him, “O my lord, if Adonai is with us, then why has all this befallen us? So where are all His wonders that our fathers told us about saying ‘Didn’t Adonai bring us up from Egypt?’ But now Adonai has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.”

¹⁴ Then Adonai turned toward him and said, “Go in this might of yours and deliver Israel from the hand of Midian. Have not I sent you?”^[a]

¹⁵ Then he said to him, “Me, my Lord? With what would I deliver Israel? Look, my family is the poorest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.”

¹⁶ But Adonai said to him, “Surely I will be with you, and you will strike down Midian as if it were one man.”

¹⁷ Then he said to Him, “If now I have found favor in Your eyes, then please, show me a sign that it is really You talking with me. ¹⁸ Please, don’t leave from here, until I come to You and bring out my offering and lay it before You.”

So He said, “I will stay until you come back.”

¹⁹ Then Gideon went in and prepared a kid and matzot from an ephah of flour. He put the meat in a basket and the broth in a pot, and brought them out to Him under the terebinth and presented them. ²⁰ Then the angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the matzah and lay them on this rock, and pour out the broth.” So he did so. ²¹ Then the angel of Adonai put out the end of the staff that was in His hand and touched the meat and the matzah. Fire sprang up from the rock and consumed the meat and the matzah. Then the angel of Adonai vanished from his sight.

²² When Gideon realized that He was the angel of Adonai, Gideon said, “Alas, my Lord Adonai! For I have seen the angel of Adonai face to face!”

²³ But Adonai said to him, “Shalom to you. Fear not, you will not die.” ²⁴ So Gideon built an altar there to Adonai and called it “Adonai-shalom.” To this day it is yet in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

²⁵ Now it came to pass the same night that Adonai said to him, “Take the young bull that belongs to your father and a second bull of seven years old, pull down the altar of Baal that belongs to your father, cut down the Asherah that is beside it, ²⁶ build an altar to Adonai your God on the top of this stronghold in an orderly manner, and take the second bull and offer a burnt offering with the wood of the Asherah pole that you will cut down.” ²⁷ So Gideon took ten of his male servants and did as Adonai had spoken to him. But since he was too afraid of his father’s household and the townspeople to do it by day, he did it at night.

²⁸ Now when the townspeople arose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was broken down, the Asherah pole that was beside it was cut down, and the second bull was offered up on the altar that was built. ²⁹ So they said one to another, “Who did this thing?” And when they inquired and asked around, they said: “Gideon son of Joash did this thing.” ³⁰ Then the townspeople said to Joash, “Bring out your son, that he may die, because he has broken down the altar of Baal, and even cut down the Asherah pole that was beside it.”

³¹ But Joash said to all who stood against him, “So you’re going to defend Baal? You’re going to rescue him? Whoever defends him will be put to death in the morning! If he is a god, let him defend himself—since someone has broken down his altar.” ³² So on that day he was called Jerubbaal saying, “Let Baal contend with him, since he broke down his altar.”

³³ Now all the Midianites, the Amalekites and the people of the east gathered together, crossed over and camped in the valley of Jezreel. ³⁴ But the Ruach Adonai clothed Gideon, and he blew the shofar, and Abiezer rallied behind him. ³⁵ Then he sent messengers throughout Manasseh, and they also rallied behind him. Then he sent messengers to Asher, Zebulun and Naphtali, and they came up to join them.

Signs of the Fleece

³⁶ Then Gideon said to God, “If You are going to deliver Israel by my hand, as You have spoken, ³⁷ see, I am putting a fleece of wool on the threshing-floor. If there is dew only on the fleece, and all the ground is dry, then I will know that You will deliver Israel by my hand, as You have spoken.” ³⁸ And it was so. When he rose up early next day, he squeezed the fleece and wrung dew out of the fleece, a bowlful of water.

³⁹ Then Gideon said to God, “Let not Your anger burn against me if I speak once more. Let me please test once more with the fleece—let it now be dry only on the fleece, but let there be dew over all the ground.” ⁴⁰ God did so that night, since it was dry only on the fleece, and there was dew over all the ground.

7 Then Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) and all the people who were with him, rose up early and camped beside En-harod, while the camp of Midian was north of them, by Gibeath-moreh, in the valley.

² But Adonai said to Gideon, “Too many are the people who are with you, for Me to give the Midianites into their hand. Otherwise Israel would glorify itself against Me saying, ‘My own hand has delivered me.’ ^{[b] 3} So now, make proclamation in the ears of the people saying, ‘Whoever is afraid or anxious may turn back and leave from Mount Gilead.’” So 22,000 people turned back, while ten thousand remained.

⁴ But Adonai said to Gideon, “The people are still too many. Bring them down to the water and I will test them for you there. Now it will be that he of whom I say to you, ‘This will go with you,’ he will go with you, but anyone of whom I say to you, ‘This one will not go with you,’ he will not go.” ⁵ So he brought the troops down to the water, and Adonai said to Gideon, “You are to set apart everyone who laps the water with his tongue, as a dog laps, and everyone who bows down on his knees to drink.” ⁶ Now the number of those who lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, was 300 men, but all the rest of the people bowed down on their knees to drink water. ⁷ Then Adonai said to Gideon, “With the 300 men who lapped I will deliver you and give the Midianites into your hand. So let all the other people go, every man to his place.” ⁸ So the 300 took provisions and their shofarot in their hands. He sent all the other men of Israel each to his tent, but he kept the 300 men.

Now the camp of Midian was below him in the valley. ⁹ It came to pass the same night that Adonai said to him, “Arise, get down against the camp, for I have given it into your hand. ¹⁰ But if you are afraid to go down, first go down to the camp with your attendant Purah. ¹¹ Then you will hear what they are saying, and after that your hands will be strengthened to attack the camp.” So he went down with his attendant Purah to an outpost of the army that was in camp.

¹² Now the Midianites, the Amalekites and all the people of the east were lying in the valley as numerous as locusts; and their camels were countless, as numerous as the sand on the seashore. ¹³ Yet when Gideon came, behold, there was a man relating a dream to his fellow, saying, “Listen, I just now had a dream: there was a loaf of barley bread that came tumbling into the camp of Midian, came up to a tent and struck it so it fell, and turned it upside down, so that the tent lay flat.”

¹⁴ His companion answered and said, “This is nothing less than the sword of Gideon son of Joash, a man of Israel—God has delivered Midian and all the camp into his hand!”

¹⁵ Now when Gideon heard the account of the dream and its interpretation, he bowed in worship. Then he returned to the camp of Israel and said, “Arise! For Adonai has given into your hand the camp of Midian.” ¹⁶ Then he divided the 300 men into three columns, and he put into the hands of all of them shofarot and empty pitchers, with torches inside the pitchers. ¹⁷ Then he said to them, “Watch me and do likewise. So behold, when I come to the outskirts of the camp, do just as I do. ¹⁸ When I and all that are with me blow the shofar, then you also blow the shofarot all around the camp, and say, ‘For Adonai and for Gideon!’”

¹⁹ So Gideon and the 300 men who were with him came up to the outermost part of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, when they had just posted the watch. Then they blew the shofarot and smashed the pitchers that were in their hands. ²⁰ When the three columns blew the shofarot and broke the pitchers, they held the torches in their left hands and the shofarot in their right hands to blow, and they shouted, “A sword for Adonai and for Gideon!” ²¹ Each one stood in his place around the camp, and then the entire army ran, shouting as they fled. ²² Now when they blew the 300 shofarot, Adonai set every man’s sword against his fellow throughout the entire army. So the army fled as far as Beth-shittah toward Zererah, as far as the border of Abel-meholah, by Tabbath.

²³ Then men of Israel were summoned from Naphtali, Asher and all Manasseh, and they pursued Midian. ²⁴ Gideon sent messengers throughout all the hill country of Ephraim saying, “Come down against Midian and seize the waters down to Beth-barah, all along the Jordan.” So all the men of Ephraim were summoned and took control of the waterside as far as Beth-barah by the Jordan. ²⁵ Then they captured the two princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb; they slew Oreb at the Rock of Oreb and they slew Zeeb at the Winepress of Zeeb. They kept pursuing Midian, and they brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon from across the Jordan.

Gideon’s Victories, Ephod and Death

8 Now the men of Ephraim said to him, “What is this thing you have done to us, not calling us when you went to fight against Midian?” So they criticized him sharply.

² But he said to them, “What have I now done compared to you? Is not the gleaning of Ephraim better than the vintage of Abiezer? ³ God has given into your hand the princes of Midian—Oreb and Zeeb—so what was I able to do compared to you?” Their anger with him subsided after he said this.

⁴ Then Gideon reached the Jordan and crossed over. He and the 300 men with him were exhausted, yet still pursuing. ⁵ He said to the men of Succoth, “Please, give loaves of bread to the people on foot with me, for they are exhausted, and I am chasing Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian.”

⁶ But the officials of Succoth said, “Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in your hand? So why we should give bread to your army?”

⁷ Gideon replied, “Therefore when Adonai delivers Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, then I will thresh your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness and briers.” ⁸ From there he went up to Penuel and spoke to them similarly, but the men of Penuel answered him just as the men of Succoth had answered. ⁹ So he spoke also to the men of Penuel saying, “When I come back safely, I will tear down this tower.”

¹⁰ Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor, and with them their armies of about 15,000 men, all who were left of all the army of the people of the east—the fallen were 120,000 swordsmen. ¹¹ Now Gideon went up by the road of the tent dwellers on the east of Nobah and Jogbehah, and ambushed the camp when it was off guard. ¹² When Zebah and Zalmunna fled, he pursued them and captured the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and routed the whole army.

¹³ Gideon son of Joash returned from the battle by the Ascent of Heres. ¹⁴ He captured a boy from the people of Succoth and questioned him, so he wrote down for him the officials of Succoth and its elders—77 men. ¹⁵ When he came to the men of Succoth, he said, “Behold Zebah and Zalmunna—about whom you mocked me saying, ‘Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your hand? Why should we give bread to your exhausted men?’” ¹⁶ Then he seized the elders of the city, and thorns of the wilderness and briers, and with them he punished the men of Succoth. ¹⁷ He also tore down the tower of Penuel and slew the men of the city.

¹⁸ Then he asked Zebah and Zalmunna, “What kind of men did you kill at Tabor?”

“As you are, so they were,” they answered. “Each one looked like the children of a king.”

¹⁹ “They were my brothers, the sons of my mother,” he said. “As Adonai lives, if only you had let them live, I would not kill you.” ²⁰ Then he said to Jeter his first-born, “Arise, kill them!” But the boy could not draw his sword, for he was afraid, since he was still a youth.

²¹ Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, “Rise up yourself and fall on us—for as the man is, so is his strength.” So Gideon arose and killed Zebah and Zalmunna, and took the crescent ornaments that were on their camels’ necks.

²² Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, “Rule over us—you, your son, and your grandson as well. For you have delivered us from the hand of Midian.”

²³ But Gideon replied to them, “I will not rule over you, nor will my son rule over you. Adonai alone will rule over you.” ^{[c] 24} Yet Gideon said to them, “I would make a request of you, that you would give me every man an earring from his spoil.” (For they had golden earrings, because they were Ishmaelites.)

²⁵ “We’ll certainly give them!” they replied. So they spread out a robe, and each one of them threw an earring from his spoil. ²⁶ So the weight of the golden earrings that he requested was 1,700 shekels of gold—besides the crescent ornaments, the pendants and the purple robes that were on the kings of Midian, and besides the chains that were on their camels’ necks. ²⁷ Gideon made it into an ephod, and put it in his town Ophrah. But all Israel prostituted themselves after it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and his household.

²⁸ So Midian was subdued before Bnei-Yisrael, and they lifted up their heads no more. The land had tranquility for 40 years in the days of Gideon. ²⁹ Jerubbaal son of Joash went and lived in his own house. ³⁰ Now Gideon had 70 sons of his own issue, for he had many wives. ³¹ Also his concubine who was in Shechem also bore him a son—he called his name Abimelech.

³² Then Gideon son of Joash died at a good old age, and was buried in the tomb of Joash his father, in Ophrah of the Abiezrites. ³³ But it came to pass, as soon as Gideon was dead, that Bnei-Yisrael again prostituted themselves after the Baalim, and made Baal-berith their god. ³⁴ So Bnei-Yisrael did not remember Adonai their God, who had delivered them from the hand of all their enemies on every side. ³⁵ Nor did they show kindness to the household of Jerubbaal, namely Gideon, in accord with all the goodness which he had done for Israel.