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Judges 6
English Standard Version

Midian Oppresses Israel

6 (A)The people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord gave them into the hand of (B)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 (C)the caves and the strongholds. 3 For whenever the Israelites planted crops, the Midianites and (D)the Amalekites and (E)the people of the East would come up against them. 4 They would encamp against them (F)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 (G)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 (H)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: (I)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 (J)drove them out before you and gave you their land. 10 And I said to you, ‘I am the Lord your God; (K)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 (L)the Abiezrite, while his son (M)Gideon was beating out wheat in the winepress to hide it from the Midianites. 12 And (N)the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, (O)“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 (P)all his wonderful deeds (Q)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[a] turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian; (R)do not I send you?” 15 And he said to him, (S)“Please, Lord, how can I save Israel? Behold, (T)my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house.” 16 And the Lord said to him, (U)“But I will be with you, and you shall strike the Midianites as one man.” 17 And he said to him, (V)“If now I have found favor in your eyes, then (W)show me a sign that it is you who speak with me. 18 Please (X)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 (Y)and prepared a young goat and unleavened cakes from an ephah[b] 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 (Z)on this rock, and (AA)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. (AB)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, (AC)“Alas, O Lord God! For now I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face.” 23 But the Lord said to him, (AD)“Peace be to you. Do not fear; you shall not die.” 24 Then Gideon built an altar there to the Lord and called it, (AE)The Lord Is Peace. To this day it still stands at (AF)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 (AG)the Asherah that is beside it 26 and build an altar to the Lord your God on the top of the (AH)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[c] was called (AI)Jerubbaal, that is to say, “Let Baal contend against him,” because he broke down his altar.

33 Now (AJ)all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the people of the East came together, and they crossed the Jordan and encamped in (AK)the Valley of Jezreel. 34 But (AL)the Spirit of the Lord clothed Gideon, (AM)and he sounded the trumpet, and the Abiezrites were called out to follow him. 35 (AN)And he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh, and they too were called out to follow him. (AO)And he sent messengers to Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, and they went up to meet them.

The Sign of the Fleece

36 (AP)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, (AQ)“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

  1. Judges 6:14 Septuagint the angel of the Lord; also verse 16
  2. Judges 6:19 An ephah was about 3/5 bushel or 22 liters
  3. Judges 6:32 Hebrew he
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Judges 6
Lexham English Bible

The Midianites Oppresses Israel

6 The Israelites[a] did evil in the eyes of Yahweh, and Yahweh gave them into the hand of the Midianites[b] for seven years. 2 The hand of the Midianites[c] prevailed over Israel; because of the presence of the Midianites,[d] the Israelites[e] made for themselves hiding places that were in the mountains, caves, and strongholds. 3 And whenever Israel sowed seed, the Midianites,[f] Amalekites,[g] and the people of the east would come up against them. 4 They would camp against them and destroy the produce of the land as far as[h] Gaza; they left no produce in Israel, or sheep, ox, or donkey. 5 For they, their livestock, and their tents would come up like a great number of locusts; they and their camels could not be counted; they came into the land and devoured it. 6 Israel was very poor because of the presence of the Midianites,[i] and the Israelites[j] cried out to Yahweh.

7 When the Israelites[k] cried out to Yahweh on account of the Midianites,[l] 8 Yahweh sent a prophet to the Israelites,[m] and he said to them, “Thus says Yahweh the God of Israel: ‘I brought you up from Egypt; I brought you from the house of slavery.[n] 9 I delivered you from the hand of Egypt and from the hand of all your oppressors, and drove them out from before you;[o] and I gave you their land. 10 And I said to you, ‘I am Yahweh your God; do not fear[p] the gods of the Amorites,[q] in whose land you are living.’ But you have not listened to my voice.”

The Angel of Yahweh Calls Gideon

11 The angel of Yahweh came and sat under the oak[r] that was at Ophrah that belonged to Jehoash the Abiezrite; and Gideon his son was threshing wheat in the winepress to hide it[s] from the Midianites.[t] 12 The angel of Yahweh appeared to him and said to him, “Yahweh is with you, you mighty warrior.”[u] 13 Gideon said to him, “Excuse me, my lord. If Yahweh is with us, why then has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonderful deeds that our ancestors[v] recounted to us, saying, ‘Did not Yahweh bring us up from Egypt?’ But now Yahweh has forsaken us; he has given us into the palm of Midian.” 14 And Yahweh turned to him and said, “Go in this your strength, and you will deliver Israel from the palm of Midian. Did I not send you?” 15 He said to him, “Excuse me, my lord. How will I deliver Israel? Look, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my father’s house.” 16 And Yahweh said to him, “But I will be with you, and you will defeat Midian as if they are one man.”[w] 17 And he[x] said to him, “Please, if I have found favor in your eyes, show me a sign[y] that you are speaking with me. 18 Please, do not depart from here until I come back to you and bring out my gift and set it out before you.”[z] And he said, “I will stay until you return.”

19 And Gideon went and prepared a young goat[aa] and unleavened cakes from an ephah of flour; he put meat in a basket, and the broth he put in a pot, and he brought them to him under the oak[ab] and presented them. 20 The angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened cakes and put them on this rock; pour the broth over it.” And he did so. 21 Then the angel of Yahweh reached out the tip of the staff that was in his hand, and he touched the meat and the unleavened cakes; and fire went up from the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened cakes. And the angel of Yahweh went from his sight.[ac] 22 And Gideon realized that he was the angel of Yahweh; and Gideon said, “Oh, my lord Yahweh! For now I have seen the angel of Yahweh face to face.” 23 And Yahweh said to him, “Peace be with you. Do not fear; you will not die.” 24 And Gideon built there an altar to Yahweh, and he called it “Yahweh is peace.” To this day it is still in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.[ad]

25 Now on that same night Yahweh said to him, “Take the bull of the cattle that belongs to your father, and a second bull seven years old, and pull down the altar of Baal that belongs to your father, and cut down the Asherah[ae] that is beside it; 26 and build an altar to Yahweh your God on the top of this stronghold in the proper arrangement, and take a second bull and offer it as a burnt offering with the wood of the Asherah[af] that you will cut down. 27 Gideon took ten men from his servants, and he did just as Yahweh told him;[ag] and because he was too afraid of his father’s family[ah] and the men of the city to do it during the day, he did it during night.

Gideon Destroys the Altar of Baal

28 When the men of the city got up early in the morning, look, the altar of Baal and the Asherah[ai] that was beside it were cut down, and the second bull was offered on the altar that had been built. 29 And they said to one another,[aj] “Who did this thing?” So they searched and inquired, and they said, “Gideon son of Jehoash did this thing.” 30 And the men of the city said to Jehoash, “Bring out your son so that he may die, for he has pulled down the altar of Baal and cut down the Asherah that was beside it.” 31 But Jehoash said to all who stood against him,[ak] “Will you contend for Baal? Will you rescue him? Whoever contends for him will be put to death by the morning. If he is a god, let him contend for himself because his altar has been pulled down.”[al] 32 Thus, on that day he[am] was called Jerub-Baal, which means,[an] “Let Baal contend against him,” because he had pulled down his altar.

33 Then all the Midianites,[ao] Amalekites,[ap] and the people of the east gathered together and crossed the Jordan; and they camped in the valley of Jezreel. 34 So the Spirit of Yahweh took possession of[aq] Gideon, and he blew on the trumpet, and the Abiezrites[ar] were called to follow him. 35 He sent messengers throughout all Manasseh, and they were also called to follow him; and he sent messengers throughout Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, and they went up to meet them.

Gideon Tests Yahweh With the Fleece

36 Then Gideon said to God, “In order to see that you will deliver Israel by my hand, just as you have said, 37 I will place a fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If there is dew on the fleece only, and all of the ground is dry, I will know that you will deliver Israel by my hand, just as you have said.” 38 And it was so. He arose early the next day and squeezed the fleece, and he wrung out dew from the fleece, a full drinking bowl of water. 39 And Gideon said to God, “Do not let your anger burn[as] against me; let me speak once more. Please let me test once more with the fleece; let the fleece be dry, and let there be dew on the ground.” 40 And God did so that night; only the fleece was dry, and dew was on all the ground.

Footnotes

  1. Judges 6:1 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
  2. Judges 6:1 Hebrew “Midianite”
  3. Judges 6:2 Hebrew “Midianite”
  4. Judges 6:2 Hebrew “Midianite”
  5. Judges 6:2 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
  6. Judges 6:3 Hebrew “Midianite”
  7. Judges 6:3 Hebrew “Amalekite”
  8. Judges 6:4 Literally “until your coming to”
  9. Judges 6:6 Hebrew “Midianite”
  10. Judges 6:6 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
  11. Judges 6:7 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
  12. Judges 6:7 Hebrew “Midianite”
  13. Judges 6:8 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
  14. Judges 6:8 Hebrew “slaves”
  15. Judges 6:9 Literally “your face/presence”
  16. Judges 6:10 Or “revere”
  17. Judges 6:10 Hebrew “Amorite”
  18. Judges 6:11 Or “terebinth”
  19. Judges 6:11 Or “keep it away”
  20. Judges 6:11 Hebrew “Midianite”
  21. Judges 6:12 Literally “strong/mighty of power”
  22. Judges 6:13 Or “fathers”
  23. Judges 6:16 Literally “as one man”
  24. Judges 6:17 That is, Gideon
  25. Judges 6:17 Literally “make a sign for me”
  26. Judges 6:18 Or “in your presence”
  27. Judges 6:19 Literally “a kid of goat”
  28. Judges 6:19 Or “terebinth”
  29. Judges 6:21 Literally “from his eyes”
  30. Judges 6:24 Hebrew “Abiezrite”
  31. Judges 6:25 An Asherah is a cultic pole set up next to an altar symbolizing the goddess Asherah
  32. Judges 6:26 An Asherah is a cultic pole set up next to an altar symbolizing the goddess Asherah
  33. Judges 6:27 Or “spoke to him”
  34. Judges 6:27 Literally “father’s house”
  35. Judges 6:28 An Asherah is a cultic pole set up next to an altar symbolizing the goddess Asherah
  36. Judges 6:29 Literally “And each man to his neighbor said”
  37. Judges 6:31 Or “who arrayed against him”
  38. Judges 6:31 Literally “because he has pulled down his altar”; the subject in Hebrew has not been specified
  39. Judges 6:32 That is, Gideon
  40. Judges 6:32 Literally “saying”
  41. Judges 6:33 Hebrew “Midianite”
  42. Judges 6:33 Hebrew “Amalekite”
  43. Judges 6:34 Literally “clothed”
  44. Judges 6:34 Hebrew “Abiezerite”
  45. Judges 6:39 Literally “Do not let your nose become hot”
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Judges 5
Judges 7
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The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

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