Judges 6:22-35

New American Standard Bible 1995

^22 (A)When Gideon saw that he was the angel of the Lord, ^[a]he said, “Alas, O Lord ^[b]God! For now I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face.” ²³ The Lord said to him, “Peace to you, do not fear; you shall not die.” ²⁴ Then Gideon built an altar there to the Lord and named it ^[c]The Lord is Peace. To this day it is still ^(B)in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

²⁵ Now on the same night the Lord said to him, “Take your father’s bull ^[d]and a second bull seven years old, and pull down the altar of Baal which belongs to your father, and cut down the ^[e](C)Asherah that is beside it; ²⁶ and build an altar to the Lord your God on the top of this stronghold in an orderly manner, and take a second bull and offer a burnt offering with the wood of the Asherah which you shall cut down.” ²⁷ Then Gideon took ten men of his servants and did as the Lord had spoken to him; and because he was too afraid of his father’s household and the men of the city to do it by day, he did it by night.

The Altar of Baal Destroyed

²⁸ When the men of the city arose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was torn down, and the Asherah which was beside it was cut down, and the second bull was offered on the altar which had been built. ²⁹ They said to one another, “Who did this thing?” And when they searched about and inquired, they said, “Gideon the son of Joash did this thing.” ³⁰ Then the men of the city said to Joash, “Bring out your son, that he may die, for he has torn down the altar of Baal, and indeed, he has cut down the Asherah which was beside it.” ³¹ But Joash said to all who stood against him, “Will you contend for Baal, or will you deliver him? Whoever will ^[f]plead for him shall be put to death by morning. If he is a god, let him contend for himself, because someone has torn down his altar.” ³² Therefore on that day he named him ^(D)Jerubbaal, that is to say, “Let Baal contend against him,” because he had torn down his altar.

³³ Then all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the sons of the east assembled themselves; and they crossed over and camped in ^(E)the valley of Jezreel. ³⁴ So ^(F)the Spirit of the Lord ^[g]came upon Gideon; and he ^(G)blew a trumpet, and the Abiezrites were called together to follow him. ³⁵ He sent messengers throughout Manasseh, and they also were called together to follow him; and he sent messengers to Asher, ^(H)Zebulun, and Naphtali, and ^(I)they came up to meet them.