The Call of Gideon

¹¹ Now the angel of the Lord came and sat under the oak at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, as his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites.^(A)

² And allotments were made to the rest of the tribe of Manasseh by their families, Abiezer, Helek, Asriel, Shechem, Hepher, and Shemida; these were the male descendants of Manasseh son of Joseph by their families.^(A)

³² And what more should I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets,

³ And the angel of the Lord appeared to the woman and said to her, “Although you are barren, having borne no children, you shall conceive and bear a son.^(A)

² So he said to them, “What have I done now in comparison with you? Is not the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the vintage of Abiezer?

¹⁸ But the angel of the Lord said to him, “Why do you ask my name? It is too wonderful.”^(A)

¹⁹ So Manoah took the kid with the grain offering and offered it on the rock to the Lord, to him who works^[a] wonders.^{[b](B) 20} When the flame went up toward heaven from the altar, the angel of the Lord ascended in the flame of the altar while Manoah and his wife looked on, and they fell on their faces to the ground.^(C)

¹⁴ Then the Lord turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours and deliver Israel from the hand of Midian; I hereby commission you.”^{(A) 15} He responded, “But sir, how can I deliver Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.”^{(B) 16} The Lord said to him, “But I will be with you, and you shall strike down the Midianites, every one of them.”^(C)

Israel’s Disobedience

2 Now the angel of the Lord went up from Gilgal to Bochim and said, “I brought you up from Egypt and brought you into the land that I had promised to your ancestors. I said, ‘I will never break my covenant with you.^{(A) 2} For your part, do not make a covenant with the inhabitants of this land; tear down their altars.’ But you have not obeyed my command. See what you have done!^{(B) 3} So now I say, I will not drive them out before you, but they shall become adversaries^[a] to you, and their gods shall be a snare to you.”^{(C) 4} When the angel of the Lord spoke these words to all the Israelites, the people lifted up their voices and wept. ⁵ So they named that place Bochim,^[b] and there they sacrificed to the Lord.