20 And the angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened cakes, and put them (A)on this rock, and (B)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. (C)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, (D)“Alas, O Lord God! For now I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face.” 23 But the Lord said to him, (E)“Peace be to you. Do not fear; you shall not die.” 24 Then Gideon built an altar there to the Lord and called it, (F)The Lord Is Peace. To this day it still stands at (G)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 (H)the Asherah that is beside it 26 and build an altar to the Lord your God on the top of the (I)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.”

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20 The angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened bread, place them on this rock,(A) and pour out the broth.” And Gideon did so. 21 Then the angel of the Lord touched the meat and the unleavened bread(B) with the tip of the staff(C) 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(D) that it was the angel of the Lord, he exclaimed, “Alas, Sovereign Lord! I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face!”(E)

23 But the Lord said to him, “Peace! Do not be afraid.(F) You are not going to die.”(G)

24 So Gideon built an altar to the Lord there and called(H) it The Lord Is Peace. To this day it stands in Ophrah(I) 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.[a] Tear down your father’s altar to Baal and cut down the Asherah pole[b](J) beside it. 26 Then build a proper kind of[c] 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[d] bull as a burnt offering.(K)

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Footnotes

  1. Judges 6:25 Or Take a full-grown, mature bull from your father’s herd
  2. Judges 6:25 That is, a wooden symbol of the goddess Asherah; also in verses 26, 28 and 30
  3. Judges 6:26 Or build with layers of stone an
  4. Judges 6:26 Or full-grown; also in verse 28