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Judges 3:31-6:40
English Standard Version
Judges 3:31-6:40
English Standard Version
Shamgar
31 After him was (A)Shamgar the son of Anath, who killed 600 of the Philistines (B)with an oxgoad, and he also (C)saved Israel.
Deborah and Barak
4 (D)And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord after Ehud died. 2 And the Lord (E)sold them into the hand of (F)Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in (G)Hazor. The commander of his army was (H)Sisera, who lived in (I)Harosheth-hagoyim. 3 Then the people of Israel (J)cried out to the Lord for help, for he had (K)900 chariots of iron and he oppressed the people of Israel cruelly for twenty years.
4 Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel at that time. 5 She used to sit under the palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in (L)the hill country of Ephraim, and the people of Israel came up to her for judgment. 6 She sent and summoned (M)Barak the son of Abinoam from (N)Kedesh-naphtali and said to him, “Has not the Lord, the God of Israel, commanded you, ‘Go, gather your men at Mount (O)Tabor, taking 10,000 from the people of Naphtali and the people of Zebulun. 7 And I will draw out Sisera, the general of Jabin's army, to meet you by (P)the river Kishon with his chariots and his troops, (Q)and I will give him into your hand’?” 8 Barak said to her, “If you will go with me, I will go, but if you will not go with me, I will not go.” 9 And she said, “I will surely go with you. Nevertheless, the road on which you are going will not lead to your glory, for the Lord will (R)sell Sisera into the hand of a woman.” Then Deborah arose and went with Barak to Kedesh. 10 And Barak called out (S)Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh. And 10,000 men went up at his heels, and Deborah went up with him.
11 Now Heber (T)the Kenite had separated from the Kenites, the descendants of (U)Hobab the father-in-law of Moses, and had pitched his tent as far away as the oak in (V)Zaanannim, which is near Kedesh.
12 When Sisera was told that Barak the son of Abinoam had gone up to Mount Tabor, 13 Sisera called out all his chariots, (W)900 chariots of iron, and all the men who were with him, from Harosheth-hagoyim to the river Kishon. 14 And Deborah said to Barak, “Up! For this is the day in which (X)the Lord has given Sisera into your hand. (Y)Does not the Lord go out before you?” So Barak went down from Mount Tabor with 10,000 men following him. 15 (Z)And the Lord routed Sisera and all his chariots and all his army before Barak by the edge of the sword. And Sisera got down from his chariot and fled away on foot. 16 And Barak pursued the chariots and the army to Harosheth-hagoyim, and all the army of Sisera fell by the edge of the sword; not a man was left.
17 But Sisera fled away on foot to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, for there was peace between Jabin the king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite. 18 And Jael came out to meet Sisera and said to him, “Turn aside, my lord; turn aside to me; do not be afraid.” So he turned aside to her into the tent, and she covered him with a rug. 19 And he said to her, “Please give me a little water to drink, for I am thirsty.” So she opened (AA)a skin of milk and gave him a drink and covered him. 20 And he said to her, “Stand at the opening of the tent, and if any man comes and asks you, ‘Is anyone here?’ say, ‘No.’” 21 But Jael the wife of Heber took a tent peg, and took a hammer in her hand. Then she went softly to him and drove the peg into his temple until it went down into the ground while he was lying fast asleep from weariness. So he died. 22 And behold, as Barak was pursuing Sisera, Jael went out to meet him and said to him, “Come, and I will show you the man whom you are seeking.” So he went in to her tent, and there lay Sisera dead, with the tent peg in his temple.
23 (AB)So on that day God subdued Jabin the king of Canaan before the people of Israel. 24 And the hand of the people of Israel pressed harder and harder against Jabin the king of Canaan, until they destroyed Jabin king of Canaan.
The Song of Deborah and Barak
5 (AC)Then sang Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam on that day:
2 “That the leaders took the lead in Israel,
that (AD)the people offered themselves willingly,
bless the Lord!
3 “Hear, O kings; give ear, O princes;
to the Lord I will sing;
I will make melody to the Lord, the God of Israel.
4 “Lord, (AE)when you went out from Seir,
when you marched from the region of Edom,
(AF)the earth trembled
and the heavens dropped,
yes, the clouds dropped water.
5 The mountains (AG)quaked before the Lord,
(AH)even Sinai before the Lord,[a] the God of Israel.
6 “In the days of (AI)Shamgar, son of Anath,
in the days of (AJ)Jael, (AK)the highways were abandoned,
and travelers kept to the byways.
7 The villagers ceased in Israel;
they ceased to be until I arose;
I, Deborah, arose as a mother in Israel.
8 (AL)When new gods were chosen,
then war was in the gates.
(AM)Was shield or spear to be seen
among forty thousand in Israel?
9 My heart goes out to the commanders of Israel
who (AN)offered themselves willingly among the people.
Bless the Lord.
10 “Tell of it, (AO)you who ride on white donkeys,
you who sit on rich carpets[b]
and you who walk by the way.
11 To the sound of musicians[c] at the watering places,
there they repeat the righteous triumphs of the Lord,
the righteous triumphs of his villagers in Israel.
“Then down to the gates marched the people of the Lord.
12 (AP)“Awake, awake, Deborah!
Awake, awake, break out in a song!
Arise, Barak, (AQ)lead away your captives,
O son of Abinoam.
13 Then down marched the remnant of the noble;
the people of the Lord marched down for me against the mighty.
14 From (AR)Ephraim their root (AS)they marched down into the valley,[d]
following you, Benjamin, with your kinsmen;
from (AT)Machir marched down the commanders,
and from Zebulun those who bear the lieutenant's[e] staff;
15 the princes of Issachar came with Deborah,
and Issachar faithful to (AU)Barak;
into the valley they rushed at his heels.
Among the clans of Reuben
there were great searchings of heart.
16 Why did you sit still (AV)among the sheepfolds,
to hear the whistling for the flocks?
Among the clans of Reuben
there were great searchings of heart.
17 (AW)Gilead stayed beyond the Jordan;
(AX)and Dan, why did he stay with the ships?
(AY)Asher sat still (AZ)at the coast of the sea,
staying by his landings.
18 (BA)Zebulun is a people who risked their lives to the death;
(BB)Naphtali, too, on the heights of the field.
19 “The kings came, they fought;
then fought the kings of Canaan,
at (BC)Taanach, by the waters of (BD)Megiddo;
(BE)they got no spoils of silver.
20 (BF)From heaven the stars fought,
from their courses they fought against Sisera.
21 (BG)The torrent Kishon swept them away,
the ancient torrent, the torrent Kishon.
March on, my soul, with might!
22 “Then loud beat the horses' hoofs
with the galloping, galloping of his steeds.
23 “Curse Meroz, says the angel of the Lord,
curse its inhabitants thoroughly,
(BH)because they did not come to the help of the Lord,
to the help of the Lord against the mighty.
24 “Most blessed of women be (BI)Jael,
the wife of Heber the Kenite,
of tent-dwelling women most blessed.
25 (BJ)He asked for water and she gave him milk;
she brought him curds in a noble's bowl.
26 (BK)She sent her hand to the tent peg
and her right hand to the workmen's mallet;
she struck Sisera;
she crushed his head;
she shattered and pierced his temple.
27 Between her feet
he sank, he fell, he lay still;
between her feet
he sank, he fell;
where he sank,
there he fell—dead.
28 (BL)“Out of the window she peered,
the mother of Sisera wailed through (BM)the lattice:
‘Why is his chariot so long in coming?
Why tarry the hoofbeats of his chariots?’
29 Her wisest princesses answer,
indeed, she answers herself,
30 ‘Have they not found and (BN)divided the spoil?—
A womb or two for every man;
spoil of dyed materials for Sisera,
spoil of dyed materials embroidered,
two pieces of dyed work embroidered for the neck as spoil?’
31 (BO)“So may all your enemies perish, O Lord!
But your friends be (BP)like the sun (BQ)as he rises in his might.”
(BR)And the land had rest for forty years.
Midian Oppresses Israel
6 (BS)The people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord gave them into the hand of (BT)Midian seven years. 2 And the hand of Midian overpowered Israel, and because of Midian the people of Israel made for themselves the dens that are in the mountains and (BU)the caves and the strongholds. 3 For whenever the Israelites planted crops, the Midianites and (BV)the Amalekites and (BW)the people of the East would come up against them. 4 They would encamp against them (BX)and devour the produce of the land, as far as Gaza, and leave no sustenance in Israel and no sheep or ox or donkey. 5 For they would come up with their livestock and their tents; they would come (BY)like locusts in number—both they and their camels could not be counted—so that they laid waste the land as they came in. 6 And Israel was brought very low because of Midian. And the people of Israel (BZ)cried out for help to the Lord.
7 When the people of Israel cried out to the Lord on account of the Midianites, 8 the Lord sent a prophet to the people of Israel. And he said to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: (CA)I led you up from Egypt and brought you out of the house of slavery. 9 And I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of all who oppressed you, and (CB)drove them out before you and gave you their land. 10 And I said to you, ‘I am the Lord your God; (CC)you shall not fear the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell.’ But you have not obeyed my voice.”
The Call of Gideon
11 Now the angel of the Lord came and sat under the terebinth at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash (CD)the Abiezrite, while his son (CE)Gideon was beating out wheat in the winepress to hide it from the Midianites. 12 And (CF)the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, (CG)“The Lord is with you, O mighty man of valor.” 13 And Gideon said to him, “Please, my lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are (CH)all his wonderful deeds (CI)that our fathers recounted to us, saying, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has forsaken us and given us into the hand of Midian.” 14 And the Lord[f] turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian; (CJ)do not I send you?” 15 And he said to him, (CK)“Please, Lord, how can I save Israel? Behold, (CL)my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house.” 16 And the Lord said to him, (CM)“But I will be with you, and you shall strike the Midianites as one man.” 17 And he said to him, (CN)“If now I have found favor in your eyes, then (CO)show me a sign that it is you who speak with me. 18 Please (CP)do not depart from here until I come to you and bring out my present and set it before you.” And he said, “I will stay till you return.”
19 So Gideon went into his house (CQ)and prepared a young goat and unleavened cakes from an ephah[g] of flour. The meat he put in a basket, and the broth he put in a pot, and brought them to him under the terebinth and presented them. 20 And the angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened cakes, and put them (CR)on this rock, and (CS)pour the broth over them.” And he did so. 21 Then the angel of the Lord reached out the tip of the staff that was in his hand and touched the meat and the unleavened cakes. (CT)And fire sprang up from the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened cakes. And the angel of the Lord vanished from his sight. 22 Then Gideon perceived that he was the angel of the Lord. And Gideon said, (CU)“Alas, O Lord God! For now I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face.” 23 But the Lord said to him, (CV)“Peace be to you. Do not fear; you shall not die.” 24 Then Gideon built an altar there to the Lord and called it, (CW)The Lord Is Peace. To this day it still stands at (CX)Ophrah, which belongs to the Abiezrites.
25 That night the Lord said to him, “Take your father's bull, and the second bull seven years old, and pull down the altar of Baal that your father has, and cut down (CY)the Asherah that is beside it 26 and build an altar to the Lord your God on the top of the (CZ)stronghold here, with stones laid in due order. Then take the second bull and offer it as a burnt offering with the wood of the Asherah that you shall cut down.” 27 So Gideon took ten men of his servants and did as the Lord had told him. But because he was too afraid of his family and the men of the town to do it by day, he did it by night.
Gideon Destroys the Altar of Baal
28 When the men of the town rose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was broken down, and the Asherah beside it was cut down, and the second bull was offered on the altar that had been built. 29 And they said to one another, “Who has done this thing?” And after they had searched and inquired, they said, “Gideon the son of Joash has done this thing.” 30 Then the men of the town said to Joash, “Bring out your son, that he may die, for he has broken down the altar of Baal and cut down the Asherah beside it.” 31 But Joash said to all who stood against him, “Will you contend for Baal? Or will you save him? Whoever contends for him shall be put to death by morning. If he is a god, let him contend for himself, because his altar has been broken down.” 32 Therefore on that day Gideon[h] was called (DA)Jerubbaal, that is to say, “Let Baal contend against him,” because he broke down his altar.
33 Now (DB)all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the people of the East came together, and they crossed the Jordan and encamped in (DC)the Valley of Jezreel. 34 But (DD)the Spirit of the Lord clothed Gideon, (DE)and he sounded the trumpet, and the Abiezrites were called out to follow him. 35 (DF)And he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh, and they too were called out to follow him. (DG)And he sent messengers to Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, and they went up to meet them.
The Sign of the Fleece
36 (DH)Then Gideon said to God, “If you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said, 37 behold, I am laying a fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If there is dew on the fleece alone, and it is dry on all the ground, then I shall know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said.” 38 And it was so. When he rose early next morning and squeezed the fleece, he wrung enough dew from the fleece to fill a bowl with water. 39 Then Gideon said to God, (DI)“Let not your anger burn against me; let me speak just once more. Please let me test just once more with the fleece. Please let it be dry on the fleece only, and on all the ground let there be dew.” 40 And God did so that night; and it was dry on the fleece only, and on all the ground there was dew.
Footnotes
- Judges 5:5 Or before the Lord, the One of Sinai, before the Lord
- Judges 5:10 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain; it may connote saddle blankets
- Judges 5:11 Or archers; the meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain
- Judges 5:14 Septuagint; Hebrew in Amalek
- Judges 5:14 Hebrew commander's
- Judges 6:14 Septuagint the angel of the Lord; also verse 16
- Judges 6:19 An ephah was about 3/5 bushel or 22 liters
- Judges 6:32 Hebrew he
Judges 3:31-6:40
New International Version
Judges 3:31-6:40
New International Version
Shamgar
31 After Ehud came Shamgar son of Anath,(A) who struck down six hundred(B) Philistines(C) with an oxgoad. He too saved Israel.
Deborah
4 Again the Israelites did evil(D) in the eyes of the Lord,(E) now that Ehud(F) was dead. 2 So the Lord sold them(G) into the hands of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor.(H) Sisera,(I) the commander of his army, was based in Harosheth Haggoyim. 3 Because he had nine hundred chariots fitted with iron(J) and had cruelly oppressed(K) the Israelites for twenty years, they cried to the Lord for help.
4 Now Deborah,(L) a prophet,(M) the wife of Lappidoth, was leading[a] Israel at that time. 5 She held court(N) under the Palm of Deborah between Ramah(O) and Bethel(P) in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites went up to her to have their disputes decided. 6 She sent for Barak son of Abinoam(Q) from Kedesh(R) in Naphtali and said to him, “The Lord, the God of Israel, commands you: ‘Go, take with you ten thousand men of Naphtali(S) and Zebulun(T) and lead them up to Mount Tabor.(U) 7 I will lead Sisera, the commander of Jabin’s(V) army, with his chariots and his troops to the Kishon River(W) and give him into your hands.(X)’”
8 Barak said to her, “If you go with me, I will go; but if you don’t go with me, I won’t go.”
9 “Certainly I will go with you,” said Deborah. “But because of the course you are taking, the honor will not be yours, for the Lord will deliver Sisera into the hands of a woman.” So Deborah went with Barak to Kedesh.(Y) 10 There Barak summoned(Z) Zebulun and Naphtali, and ten thousand men went up under his command. Deborah also went up with him.
11 Now Heber the Kenite had left the other Kenites,(AA) the descendants of Hobab,(AB) Moses’ brother-in-law,[b] and pitched his tent by the great tree(AC) in Zaanannim(AD) near Kedesh.
12 When they told Sisera that Barak son of Abinoam had gone up to Mount Tabor,(AE) 13 Sisera summoned from Harosheth Haggoyim to the Kishon River(AF) all his men and his nine hundred chariots fitted with iron.(AG)
14 Then Deborah said to Barak, “Go! This is the day the Lord has given Sisera into your hands.(AH) Has not the Lord gone ahead(AI) of you?” So Barak went down Mount Tabor, with ten thousand men following him. 15 At Barak’s advance, the Lord routed(AJ) Sisera and all his chariots and army by the sword, and Sisera got down from his chariot and fled on foot.
16 Barak pursued the chariots and army as far as Harosheth Haggoyim, and all Sisera’s troops fell by the sword; not a man was left.(AK) 17 Sisera, meanwhile, fled on foot to the tent of Jael,(AL) the wife of Heber the Kenite,(AM) because there was an alliance between Jabin king of Hazor(AN) and the family of Heber the Kenite.
18 Jael(AO) went out to meet Sisera and said to him, “Come, my lord, come right in. Don’t be afraid.” So he entered her tent, and she covered him with a blanket.
19 “I’m thirsty,” he said. “Please give me some water.” She opened a skin of milk,(AP) gave him a drink, and covered him up.
20 “Stand in the doorway of the tent,” he told her. “If someone comes by and asks you, ‘Is anyone in there?’ say ‘No.’”
21 But Jael,(AQ) Heber’s wife, picked up a tent peg and a hammer and went quietly to him while he lay fast asleep,(AR) exhausted. She drove the peg through his temple into the ground, and he died.(AS)
22 Just then Barak came by in pursuit of Sisera, and Jael(AT) went out to meet him. “Come,” she said, “I will show you the man you’re looking for.” So he went in with her, and there lay Sisera with the tent peg through his temple—dead.(AU)
23 On that day God subdued(AV) Jabin(AW) king of Canaan before the Israelites. 24 And the hand of the Israelites pressed harder and harder against Jabin king of Canaan until they destroyed him.(AX)
The Song of Deborah
5 On that day Deborah(AY) and Barak son of Abinoam(AZ) sang this song:(BA)
2 “When the princes in Israel take the lead,
when the people willingly offer(BB) themselves—
praise the Lord!(BC)
3 “Hear this, you kings! Listen, you rulers!
I, even I, will sing to[c] the Lord;(BD)
I will praise the Lord, the God of Israel, in song.(BE)
4 “When you, Lord, went out(BF) from Seir,(BG)
when you marched from the land of Edom,
the earth shook,(BH) the heavens poured,
the clouds poured down water.(BI)
5 The mountains quaked(BJ) before the Lord, the One of Sinai,
before the Lord, the God of Israel.
6 “In the days of Shamgar son of Anath,(BK)
in the days of Jael,(BL) the highways(BM) were abandoned;
travelers took to winding paths.(BN)
7 Villagers in Israel would not fight;
they held back until I, Deborah,(BO) arose,
until I arose, a mother in Israel.
8 God chose new leaders(BP)
when war came to the city gates,(BQ)
but not a shield or spear(BR) was seen
among forty thousand in Israel.
9 My heart is with Israel’s princes,
with the willing volunteers(BS) among the people.
Praise the Lord!
10 “You who ride on white donkeys,(BT)
sitting on your saddle blankets,
and you who walk along the road,
consider 11 the voice of the singers[d] at the watering places.
They recite the victories(BU) of the Lord,
the victories of his villagers in Israel.
“Then the people of the Lord
went down to the city gates.(BV)
12 ‘Wake up,(BW) wake up, Deborah!(BX)
Wake up, wake up, break out in song!
Arise, Barak!(BY)
Take captive your captives,(BZ) son of Abinoam.’
13 “The remnant of the nobles came down;
the people of the Lord came down to me against the mighty.
14 Some came from Ephraim,(CA) whose roots were in Amalek;(CB)
Benjamin(CC) was with the people who followed you.
From Makir(CD) captains came down,
from Zebulun those who bear a commander’s[e] staff.
15 The princes of Issachar(CE) were with Deborah;(CF)
yes, Issachar was with Barak,(CG)
sent under his command into the valley.
In the districts of Reuben
there was much searching of heart.
16 Why did you stay among the sheep pens[f](CH)
to hear the whistling for the flocks?(CI)
In the districts of Reuben
there was much searching of heart.
17 Gilead(CJ) stayed beyond the Jordan.
And Dan, why did he linger by the ships?
Asher(CK) remained on the coast(CL)
and stayed in his coves.
18 The people of Zebulun(CM) risked their very lives;
so did Naphtali(CN) on the terraced fields.(CO)
19 “Kings came(CP), they fought,
the kings of Canaan fought.
At Taanach, by the waters of Megiddo,(CQ)
they took no plunder of silver.(CR)
20 From the heavens(CS) the stars fought,
from their courses they fought against Sisera.
21 The river Kishon(CT) swept them away,
the age-old river, the river Kishon.
March on, my soul; be strong!(CU)
22 Then thundered the horses’ hooves—
galloping, galloping go his mighty steeds.(CV)
23 ‘Curse Meroz,’ said the angel of the Lord.
‘Curse its people bitterly,
because they did not come to help the Lord,
to help the Lord against the mighty.’
24 “Most blessed of women(CW) be Jael,(CX)
the wife of Heber the Kenite,(CY)
most blessed of tent-dwelling women.
25 He asked for water, and she gave him milk;(CZ)
in a bowl fit for nobles she brought him curdled milk.
26 Her hand reached for the tent peg,
her right hand for the workman’s hammer.
She struck Sisera, she crushed his head,
she shattered and pierced his temple.(DA)
27 At her feet he sank,
he fell; there he lay.
At her feet he sank, he fell;
where he sank, there he fell—dead(DB).
28 “Through the window(DC) peered Sisera’s mother;
behind the lattice she cried out,(DD)
‘Why is his chariot so long in coming?
Why is the clatter of his chariots delayed?’
29 The wisest of her ladies answer her;
indeed, she keeps saying to herself,
30 ‘Are they not finding and dividing the spoils:(DE)
a woman or two for each man,
colorful garments as plunder for Sisera,
colorful garments embroidered,
highly embroidered garments(DF) for my neck—
all this as plunder?(DG)’
31 “So may all your enemies perish,(DH) Lord!
But may all who love you be like the sun(DI)
when it rises in its strength.”(DJ)
Then the land had peace(DK) forty years.
Gideon
6 The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord,(DL) and for seven years he gave them into the hands of the Midianites.(DM) 2 Because the power of Midian was so oppressive,(DN) the Israelites prepared shelters for themselves in mountain clefts, caves(DO) and strongholds.(DP) 3 Whenever the Israelites planted their crops, the Midianites, Amalekites(DQ) and other eastern peoples(DR) invaded the country. 4 They camped on the land and ruined the crops(DS) all the way to Gaza(DT) and did not spare a living thing for Israel, neither sheep nor cattle nor donkeys. 5 They came up with their livestock and their tents like swarms of locusts.(DU) It was impossible to count them or their camels;(DV) they invaded the land to ravage it. 6 Midian so impoverished the Israelites that they cried out(DW) to the Lord for help.
7 When the Israelites cried out(DX) to the Lord because of Midian, 8 he sent them a prophet,(DY) who said, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I brought you up out of Egypt,(DZ) out of the land of slavery.(EA) 9 I rescued you from the hand of the Egyptians. And I delivered you from the hand of all your oppressors;(EB) I drove them out before you and gave you their land.(EC) 10 I said to you, ‘I am the Lord your God; do not worship(ED) the gods of the Amorites,(EE) in whose land you live.’ But you have not listened to me.”
11 The angel of the Lord(EF) came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah(EG) that belonged to Joash(EH) the Abiezrite,(EI) where his son Gideon(EJ) was threshing(EK) wheat in a winepress(EL) to keep it from the Midianites. 12 When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, “The Lord is with you,(EM) mighty warrior.(EN)”
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(EO) that our ancestors told(EP) us about when they said, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned(EQ) us and given us into the hand of Midian.”
14 The Lord turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have(ER) and save(ES) 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(ET) is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.(EU)”
16 The Lord answered, “I will be with you(EV), and you will strike down all the Midianites, leaving none alive.”
17 Gideon replied, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, give me a sign(EW) that it is really you talking to me. 18 Please 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.”
19 Gideon went inside, prepared a young goat,(EX) and from an ephah[g](EY) 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.(EZ)
20 The angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened bread, place them on this rock,(FA) and pour out the broth.” And Gideon did so. 21 Then the angel of the Lord touched the meat and the unleavened bread(FB) with the tip of the staff(FC) that was in his hand. Fire flared from the rock, consuming the meat and the bread. And the angel of the Lord disappeared. 22 When Gideon realized(FD) that it was the angel of the Lord, he exclaimed, “Alas, Sovereign Lord! I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face!”(FE)
23 But the Lord said to him, “Peace! Do not be afraid.(FF) You are not going to die.”(FG)
24 So Gideon built an altar to the Lord there and called(FH) it The Lord Is Peace. To this day it stands in Ophrah(FI) of the Abiezrites.
25 That same night the Lord said to him, “Take the second bull from your father’s herd, the one seven years old.[h] Tear down your father’s altar to Baal and cut down the Asherah pole[i](FJ) beside it. 26 Then build a proper kind of[j] altar to the Lord your God on the top of this height. Using the wood of the Asherah pole that you cut down, offer the second[k] bull as a burnt offering.(FK)”
27 So Gideon took ten of his servants and did as the Lord told him. But because he was afraid of his family and the townspeople, he did it at night rather than in the daytime.
28 In the morning when the people of the town got up, there was Baal’s altar,(FL) demolished, with the Asherah pole beside it cut down and the second bull sacrificed on the newly built altar!
29 They asked each other, “Who did this?”
When they carefully investigated, they were told, “Gideon son of Joash(FM) did it.”
30 The people of the town demanded of Joash, “Bring out your son. He must die, because he has broken down Baal’s altar(FN) and cut down the Asherah pole beside it.”
31 But Joash replied to the hostile crowd around him, “Are you going to plead Baal’s cause?(FO) Are you trying to save him? Whoever fights for him shall be put to death by morning! If Baal really is a god, he can defend himself when someone breaks down his altar.” 32 So because Gideon broke down Baal’s altar, they gave him the name Jerub-Baal[l](FP) that day, saying, “Let Baal contend with him.”
33 Now all the Midianites, Amalekites(FQ) and other eastern peoples(FR) joined forces and crossed over the Jordan and camped in the Valley of Jezreel.(FS) 34 Then the Spirit of the Lord came on(FT) Gideon, and he blew a trumpet,(FU) summoning the Abiezrites(FV) to follow him. 35 He sent messengers throughout Manasseh, calling them to arms, and also into Asher,(FW) Zebulun and Naphtali,(FX) so that they too went up to meet them.(FY)
36 Gideon said to God, “If you will save(FZ) Israel by my hand as you have promised— 37 look, I will place a wool fleece(GA) on the threshing floor.(GB) If there is dew only on the fleece and all the ground is dry, then I will know(GC) that you will save Israel by my hand, as you said.” 38 And that is what happened. Gideon rose early the next day; he squeezed the fleece and wrung out the dew—a bowlful of water.
39 Then Gideon said to God, “Do not be angry with me. Let me make just one more request.(GD) Allow me one more test with the fleece, but this time make the fleece dry and let the ground be covered with dew.” 40 That night God did so. Only the fleece was dry; all the ground was covered with dew.(GE)
Footnotes
- Judges 4:4 Traditionally judging
- Judges 4:11 Or father-in-law
- Judges 5:3 Or of
- Judges 5:11 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
- Judges 5:14 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
- Judges 5:16 Or the campfires; or the saddlebags
- Judges 6:19 That is, probably about 36 pounds or about 16 kilograms
- Judges 6:25 Or Take a full-grown, mature bull from your father’s herd
- Judges 6:25 That is, a wooden symbol of the goddess Asherah; also in verses 26, 28 and 30
- Judges 6:26 Or build with layers of stone an
- Judges 6:26 Or full-grown; also in verse 28
- Judges 6:32 Jerub-Baal probably means let Baal contend.
English Standard Version (ESV) 
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
New International Version (NIV) 
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NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.