Judges 6:25-32

Evangelical Heritage Version

²⁵ On that same night the Lord said to him, “Take a bull from your father’s herd of cattle, the second bull, the one that is seven years old.^[a] Tear down your father’s altar to Baal. Then cut down the Asherah pole that is next to it. ²⁶ In its place, build an altar to the Lord your God in the proper way, on top of this stronghold.^[b] Then take the second bull and send up a burnt offering using the wood from the Asherah pole that you cut down.

²⁷ So Gideon took ten of his servants and carried out the word of the Lord. Yet because he was too afraid of the household of his father and the men of the town to do it by day, he did it by night.

²⁸ When the men of the city got up early in the morning, they were surprised to see that the altar of Baal had been thrown down, the Asherah pole next to it had been cut down, and the second bull was being offered up as a sacrifice upon the altar that had been built there.

²⁹ The people were asking each other, “Who did this?” They searched and investigated until they concluded, “Gideon son of Joash did this.”

³⁰ So the men of the city said to Joash, “Bring out your son. He must die, because he broke down the altar of Baal and because he cut down the Asherah pole next to it.”

³¹ But Joash said to all those who opposed him, “Will you contend for Baal? Will you save him? Whoever contends for him will be put to death by morning. If he is a god, let him contend for himself if someone broke down his altar.” ³² From that day on they called Gideon “Jerubbaal,”^[c] saying, “Let Baal contend with him, if he broke down his altar.”