Judges 6
Christian Standard Bible
Midian Oppresses Israel
6 The Israelites did what was evil in the sight of the Lord.(A) So the Lord handed(B) them over to Midian seven years, 2 and they oppressed Israel.(C) Because of Midian, the Israelites made hiding places(D) for themselves in the mountains, caves, and strongholds. 3 Whenever the Israelites planted crops, the Midianites, Amalekites, and the people of the east(E) came and attacked them. 4 They encamped against them and destroyed the produce of the land, even as far as Gaza. They left nothing for Israel to eat, as well as no sheep, ox, or donkey. 5 For the Midianites came with their cattle and their tents like a great swarm of locusts.(F) They and their camels were without number, and they entered the land to lay waste to it. 6 So Israel became poverty-stricken because of Midian, and the Israelites cried out to the Lord.(G)
7 When the Israelites cried out to him because of Midian, 8 the Lord sent a prophet(H) to them. He said to them, “This is what the Lord(I) God of Israel says: ‘I brought you out of Egypt and out of the place of slavery.(J) 9 I rescued you from the power of Egypt and the power of all who oppressed(K) you. I drove them out before you and gave you their land. 10 I said to you: I am the Lord your God. Do not fear the gods of the Amorites whose land you live in.(L) But you did not obey me.’”
The Lord Calls Gideon
11 The angel of the Lord(M) came, and he sat under the oak that was in Ophrah,(N) which belonged to Joash, the Abiezrite. His son Gideon was threshing wheat in the winepress in order to hide it from the Midianites. 12 Then the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said, “The Lord is with you, valiant warrior.”(O)
13 Gideon said to him, “Please, my lord, if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened? And where are all his wonders that our ancestors told us about? They said, ‘Hasn’t the Lord brought us out of Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and handed us over to Midian.”
14 The Lord turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and deliver Israel from the grasp of Midian. I am sending you!” (P)
15 He said to him, “Please, Lord, how can I deliver Israel? Look, my family is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my father’s family.”
16 “But I will be with you,”(Q) the Lord said to him. “You will strike Midian down as if it were one man.”
17 Then he said to him, “If I have found favor with you,(R) give me a sign(S) that you are speaking with me. 18 Please do not leave this place until I return to you. Let me bring my gift and set it before you.”
And he said, “I will stay until you return.”
19 So Gideon went and prepared a young goat and unleavened bread from a half bushel[a] of flour. He placed the meat in a basket and the broth in a pot. He brought them out and offered them to him under the oak.
20 The angel of God(T) said to him, “Take the meat with the unleavened bread, put it on this stone, and pour the broth on it.” So he did that.
21 The angel of the Lord extended the tip of the staff that was in his hand and touched the meat and the unleavened bread. Fire came up from the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened bread. Then the angel of the Lord vanished from his sight.
22 When Gideon realized that he was the angel of the Lord, he said, “Oh no, Lord God!(U) I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face!” (V)
23 But the Lord said to him, “Peace to you. Don’t be afraid, for you will not die.” 24 So Gideon built an altar to the Lord there and called it The Lord Is Peace.[b] It is still in Ophrah of the Abiezrites today.
Gideon Tears Down a Baal Altar
25 On that very night the Lord said to him, “Take your father’s young bull and a second bull seven years old. Then tear down the altar of Baal(W) that belongs to your father and cut down the Asherah pole beside it. 26 Build a well-constructed altar to the Lord your God on the top of this mound.(X) Take the second bull and offer it as a burnt offering with the wood of the Asherah pole you cut down.” 27 So Gideon took ten of his male servants and did as the Lord had told him. But because he was too afraid of his father’s family and the men of the city to do it in the daytime, he did it at night.
28 When the men of the city got up in the morning, they found Baal’s altar torn down, the Asherah pole beside it cut down, and the second bull offered up on the altar that had been built. 29 They said to each other, “Who did this?” After they made a thorough investigation, they said, “Gideon son of Joash did it.”
30 Then the men of the city said to Joash, “Bring out your son. He must die, because he tore down Baal’s altar and cut down the Asherah pole beside it.”
31 But Joash said to all who stood against him, “Would you plead Baal’s case for him? Would you save him? Whoever pleads his case will be put to death by morning! If he is a god, let him plead his own case because someone tore down his altar.” 32 That day Gideon was called Jerubbaal, since Joash said, “Let Baal contend with him,” because he tore down his altar.
The Sign of the Fleece
33 All the Midianites, Amalekites, and people of the east gathered together, crossed over the Jordan, and camped in the Jezreel Valley.(Y)
34 The Spirit of the Lord enveloped[c] Gideon,(Z) and he blew the ram’s horn and the Abiezrites rallied behind him. 35 He sent messengers throughout all of Manasseh, who rallied behind him. He also sent messengers throughout Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, who also came to meet him.
36 Then Gideon said to God, “If you will deliver Israel by me, as you said, 37 I will put a wool fleece here on the threshing floor. If dew is only on the fleece, and all the ground is dry, I will know that you will deliver Israel by me, as you said.” 38 And that is what happened. When he got up early in the morning, he squeezed the fleece and wrung dew out of it, filling a bowl with water.
39 Gideon then said to God, “Don’t be angry with me; let me speak one more time. Please allow me to make one more test with the fleece. Let it remain dry, and the dew be all over the ground.” 40 That night God did as Gideon requested: only the fleece was dry, and dew was all over the ground.
Judges 6
International Standard Version
Gideon, Israel’s Fifth Judge
6 Later on, the Israelis practiced what the Lord considered to be evil, so the Lord handed them over to the domination of Midian for seven years. 2 Midian’s control predominated throughout Israel, and because of Midian the Israelis went out to find temporary hiding places for themselves in the mountains, caves, and fortified places.
3 Whenever the Israelis sowed their crops,[a] the Midianites, the Amalekites, and certain groups[b] from the east would come up and invade them. 4 They set up their military encampments to fight them, destroyed the harvest of the land as far as Gaza, and left nothing in Israel, whether harvested grain, sheep, oxen, or donkeys. 5 They would invade with their livestock and tents, swooping in as numerous as locusts. It was impossible to count them or their camels—and they came into the land to destroy it. 6 Because Israel was deeply impoverished due to the Midianites, they[c] cried out to the Lord.
7 When the Israelis cried out to him about Midian, 8 the Lord sent a man who was a prophet to the Israelis and told them, “This is what the Lord God of Israel says: ‘I was the one who brought you up from the land of Egypt, delivering you from the house of servitude. 9 I delivered you from the domination of Egypt and from the domination of all of your oppressors, expelling them right in front of you and giving their land to you. 10 I told you, “I am the Lord your God. You are not to fear the gods of the Amorites in whose land you’ll be living.”’ But you haven’t obeyed what I said.”
Gideon is Visited by the Angel of the Lord
11 After this, the angel of the Lord arrived and sat down in the shade of[d] the oak tree in Ophrah that belonged to Joash, a descendant of Abiezer, while his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a wine press in order to safeguard it[e] from the Midianites. 12 The angel of the Lord appeared to him and told him, “The Lord is with you, you valiant warrior!”
13 But Gideon replied, “Right… Sir, if the Lord is with us, then why has all of this happened to us? And where are all of his miraculous works that our ancestors recounted to us when they said, ‘The Lord brought us up from Egypt, didn’t he?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and given us over to Midian!”
14 The Lord looked straight at him and replied, “Go with this determination[f] of yours and deliver Israel from Midian’s domination. I’ve directed[g] you, haven’t I?”
15 “Right…,” Gideon[h] responded. “Sir, how will I deliver Israel? Look—my family is the weakest in Manasseh, and I’m the youngest in my father’s household.”
16 The Lord told him, “Because I’ll be with you, and you’ll defeat Midian—every single one of them!”
17 So Gideon asked him, “Please, if I have received favor from you, then do a miracle for me that shows that you’re making this[i] promise to me. 18 And please don’t leave here until I’ve come back to you, brought my offering, and set it down in front of you.”
The Lord[j] replied, “I’ll stay until you return.”
19 Then Gideon went and prepared a young goat and unleavened bread from an ephah of flour. He put the meat in a basket and poured the broth into a pot, and brought them to the angel[k] right under the oak tree. Then he made his offering. 20 The angel, who was God,[l] replied, “Take the meat and the unleavened bread and lay them on this boulder. Then pour out the broth.” So he did that. 21 The angel of the Lord extended the tip of the staff that was in his hand and touched the meat and unleavened bread. Fire broke out from inside the boulder, consuming the meat and unleavened bread. Then the angel of the Lord vanished in front of him.[m]
God Reassures Gideon
22 When Gideon realized that he had seen the angel of the Lord himself, he cried out, “Oh no! Lord God! I’ve been looking right at the angel of the Lord—and face-to-face at that!”
23 “Calm down![n] Don’t be afraid.” the Lord replied. “You’re not going to die!” 24 So Gideon built an altar right there to the Lord and called it “The Lord is peace.” (To this very day it still stands in Ophrah, which belongs to the descendants of Abiezer.)
25 Later that very night, the Lord told Gideon,[o] “Take the bull that belongs to your father, along with a second bull that’s seven years old. Then tear down the altar to Baal[p] that your father owns, cut down the Asherah[q] that’s beside it, 26 and build an altar to the Lord your God on top of this stronghold in an orderly manner. Then take the second bull and offer it as a burnt offering using the wood from the Asherah that you’ll be cutting down.”
Gideon Destroys His Father’s Altar
27 So Gideon went with ten men who were his servants and did just what the Lord had told him to do, though he did it at night because he was too afraid of his father’s family and the leading[r] men of the city to do it during the day. 28 When the leading[s] men of the city got up early the next morning, the altar to Baal had been torn down, along with the Asherah that had stood beside it, and the second bull had been offered on the altar that had been erected.
29 They asked each other, “Who did this thing?” When they looked into it and asked around, they concluded, “Joash’s son Gideon did it.”[t] 30 So the leading[u] men of the city ordered Joash, “Bring us that son of yours. He’s going to die, because he tore down the altar to Baal and cut down the Asherah that stood beside it!”
31 But Joash responded to everyone who was opposing him, “Do you really intend to fight on Baal’s behalf? Do you really intend to rescue him by ordering[v] that whoever fights him will be executed by morning? If Baal[w] is a god, let him fight for himself. After all, it was his altar that was torn down.” 32 So that very day he named Gideon[x] Jerubbaal, that is, “Let Baal fight,” since he had torn down his altar.
33 Then all the Midianites, Amalekites, and certain groups[y] from the east gathered together, crossed the Jordan River, and set up camp in the Jezreel Valley. 34 So the Spirit of the Lord took control of[z] Gideon, who blew a trumpet, mustering the descendants of Abiezer to follow him into battle.[aa] 35 He sent messengers to the entire tribe of Manasseh, calling them to follow him, and he also sent word to the tribes of Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, calling them to meet him.
Gideon Asks for a Sign from God
36 Then Gideon told God, “If you intend to deliver Israel by my efforts[ab] as you’ve said, 37 then take a look at this wool fleece that I’m placing on the threshing floor. If dew appears only on the fleece—and it’s dry on the ground all around it—then I’ll know that you’ll deliver Israel by my efforts[ac] like you’ve said.” 38 And that is what happened:[ad] When he got up early the next morning, he wrung out the fleece to drain the dew from it and extracted[ae] a bowl full of water.
39 Then Gideon told God, “Don’t let yourself be angry with me! I want to ask you once again: please let me make a test with the fleece just once more. Cause it to be dry only on the fleece, but let there be dew all around on the ground.” 40 And God did it just like that later that night. It was dry only on the fleece, but dew was all around on the ground.
Footnotes
- Judges 6:3 The Heb. lacks their crops
- Judges 6:3 Lit. and sons
- Judges 6:6 Lit. Midianites, the Israelis
- Judges 6:11 The Heb. lacks the shade of
- Judges 6:11 The Heb. lacks it
- Judges 6:14 Or strength
- Judges 6:14 Or sent
- Judges 6:15 Lit. he
- Judges 6:17 The Heb. lacks this
- Judges 6:18 Lit. So he
- Judges 6:19 Lit. to him
- Judges 6:20 Or angel of God
- Judges 6:21 Lit. Lord left his eyes
- Judges 6:23 Lit. Peace to you!
- Judges 6:25 Lit. him
- Judges 6:25 I.e. the supreme male deity of the Canaanites
- Judges 6:25 I.e. a carved wooden pillar dedicated to various female deities of the Canaanites, and so throughout the book
- Judges 6:27 The Heb. lacks leading
- Judges 6:28 The Heb. lacks leading
- Judges 6:29 Lit. did this thing
- Judges 6:30 The Heb. lacks leading
- Judges 6:31 The Heb. lacks by ordering
- Judges 6:31 Lit. he
- Judges 6:32 Lit. him
- Judges 6:33 Lit. and sons
- Judges 6:34 Lit. Lord clothed himself with
- Judges 6:34 The Heb. lacks into battle
- Judges 6:36 Lit. hand
- Judges 6:37 Lit. hand
- Judges 6:38 Lit. And so it was
- Judges 6:38 The Heb. lacks and extracted
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