Judges 6-9

Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition

The Midianite Oppression

6 The people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of he Lord; and the Lord gave them into the hand of Mid′ian seven years. ² And the hand of Mid′ian prevailed over Israel; and because of Mid′ian the people of Israel made for themselves the dens which are in the mountains, and the caves and the strongholds. ³ For whenever the Israelites put in seed the Mid′ianites and the Amal′ekites and the people of the East would come up and attack them; ⁴ they would encamp against them and destroy the produce of the land, as far as the neighborhood of Gaza, and leave no sustenance in Israel, and no sheep or ox or ass. ⁵ For they would come up with their cattle and their tents, coming like locusts for number; both they and their camels could not be counted; so that they wasted the land as they came in. ⁶ And Israel was brought very low because of Mid′ian; and the people of Israel cried for help to the Lord.

⁷ When the people of Israel cried to the Lord on account of the Mid′ianites, 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 led you up from Egypt, and brought you out of the house of bondage; ⁹ and I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians, and from the hand of all who oppressed you, and drove them out before you, and gave you their land; ¹⁰ and I said to you, ‘I am the Lord your God; you shall not pay reverence to the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell.’ But you have not given heed to my voice.”

The Call of Gideon

¹¹ Now the angel of the Lord came and sat under the oak at Ophrah, which belonged to Jo′ash the Abiez′rite, as his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the wine press, to hide it from the Mid′ianites. ¹² And the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, “The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor.” ¹³ And Gideon said to him, “Pray, sir, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this befallen us? And where are all his wonderful deeds which our fathers recounted to us, saying, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has cast us off, and given us into the hand of Mid′ian.” ¹⁴ And the Lord turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours and deliver Israel from the hand of Mid′ian; do not I send you?” ¹⁵ And he said to him, “Pray, Lord, how can I deliver Israel? Behold, my clan is the weakest in Manas′seh, and I am the least in my family.” ¹⁶ And the Lord said to him, “But I will be with you, and you shall smite the Mid′ianites as one man.” ¹⁷ And he said to him, “If now I have found favor with thee, then show me a sign that it is thou who speakest with me. ¹⁸ Do not depart from here, I pray thee, until I come to thee, and bring out my present, and set it before thee.” And he said, “I will stay till you return.”

¹⁹ So Gideon went into his house and prepared a kid, and unleavened cakes from an ephah of flour; the meat he put in a basket, and the broth he put in a pot, and brought them to him under the oak and presented them. ²⁰ And the angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened cakes, and put them on this rock, and 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; and there sprang up fire from the rock and consumed the flesh 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, “Alas, O Lord God! For now I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face.” ²³ But the Lord said to him, “Peace be to you; do not fear, you shall not die.” ²⁴ Then Gideon built an altar there to the Lord, and called it, The Lord is peace. To this day it still stands at Ophrah, which belongs to the Abiez′rites.

²⁵ That night the Lord said to him, “Take your father’s bull, the second bull seven years old, and pull down the altar of Ba′al which your father has, and cut down the Ashe′rah that is beside it; ²⁶ and build an altar to the Lord your God on the top of the 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 Ashe′rah which 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 Ba′al was broken down, and the Ashe′rah beside it was cut down, and the second bull was offered upon the altar which had been built. ²⁹ And they said to one another, “Who has done this thing?” And after they had made search and inquired, they said, “Gideon the son of Jo′ash has done this thing.” ³⁰ Then the men of the town said to Jo′ash, “Bring out your son, that he may die, for he has pulled down the altar of Ba′al and cut down the Ashe′rah beside it.” ³¹ But Jo′ash said to all who were arrayed against him, “Will you contend for Ba′al? Or will you defend his cause? 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 pulled down.” ³² Therefore on that day he was called Jerubba′al, that is to say, “Let Ba′al contend against him,” because he pulled down his altar.

³³ Then all the Mid′ianites and the Amal′ekites and the people of the East came together, and crossing the Jordan they encamped in the Valley of Jezreel. ³⁴ But the Spirit of the Lord took possession of Gideon; and he sounded the trumpet, and the Abiez′rites were called out to follow him. ³⁵ And he sent messengers throughout all Manas′seh; and they too were called out to follow him. And he sent messengers to Asher, Zeb′ulun, and Naph′tali; and they went up to meet them.

The Sign of the Fleece

³⁶ Then Gideon said to God, “If thou wilt deliver Israel by my hand, as thou hast 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 thou wilt deliver Israel by my hand, as thou hast 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, “Let not thy anger burn against me, let me speak but this once; pray, let me make trial only this once with the fleece; pray, let it be dry only on the fleece, and on all the ground let there be dew.” ⁴⁰ And God did so that night; for it was dry on the fleece only, and on all the ground there was dew.

Gideon Surprises and Routs the Midianites

7 Then Jerubba′al (that is, Gideon) and all the people who were with him rose early and encamped beside the spring of Harod; and the camp of Mid′ian was north of them, by the hill of Moreh, in the valley.

² The Lord said to Gideon, “The people with you are too many for me to give the Mid′ianites into their hand, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, ‘My own hand has delivered me.’ ³ Now therefore proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, ‘Whoever is fearful and trembling, let him return home.’” And Gideon tested them;^[a] twenty-two thousand returned, and ten thousand remained.

⁴ And the Lord said to Gideon, “The people are still too many; take them down to the water and I will test them for you there; and he of whom I say to you, ‘This man shall go with you,’ shall go with you; and any of whom I say to you, ‘This man shall not go with you,’ shall not go.” ⁵ So he brought the people down to the water; and the Lord said to Gideon, “Every one that laps the water with his tongue, as a dog laps, you shall set by himself; likewise every one that kneels down to drink.” ⁶ And the number of those that lapped, putting their hands to their mouths, was three hundred men; but all the rest of the people knelt down to drink water. ⁷ And the Lord said to Gideon, “With the three hundred men that lapped I will deliver you, and give the Mid′ianites into your hand; and let all the others go every man to his home.” ⁸ So he took the jars of the people from their hands,^[b] and their trumpets; and he sent all the rest of Israel every man to his tent, but retained the three hundred men; and the camp of Mid′ian was below him in the valley.

⁹ That same night the Lord said to him, “Arise, go down against the camp; for I have given it into your hand. ¹⁰ But if you fear to go down, go down to the camp with Purah your servant; ¹¹ and you shall hear what they say, and afterward your hands shall be strengthened to go down against the camp.” Then he went down with Purah his servant to the outposts of the armed men that were in the camp. ¹² And the Mid′ianites and the Amal′ekites and all the people of the East lay along the valley like locusts for multitude; and their camels were without number, as the sand which is upon the seashore for multitude. ¹³ When Gideon came, behold, a man was telling a dream to his comrade; and he said, “Behold, I dreamed a dream; and lo, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the camp of Mid′ian, and came to the tent, and struck it so that it fell, and turned it upside down, so that the tent lay flat.” ¹⁴ And his comrade answered, “This is no other than the sword of Gideon the son of Jo′ash, a man of Israel; into his hand God has given Mid′ian and all the host.”

¹⁵ When Gideon heard the telling of the dream and its interpretation, he worshiped; and he returned to the camp of Israel, and said, “Arise; for the Lord has given the host of Mid′ian into your hand.” ¹⁶ And he divided the three hundred men into three companies, and put trumpets into the hands of all of them and empty jars, with torches inside the jars. ¹⁷ And he said to them, “Look at me, and do likewise; when I come to the outskirts of the camp, do as I do. ¹⁸ When I blow the trumpet, I and all who are with me, then blow the trumpets also on every side of all the camp, and shout, ‘For the Lord and for Gideon.’”

¹⁹ So Gideon and the hundred men who were with him came to the outskirts of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, when they had just set the watch; and they blew the trumpets and smashed the jars that were in their hands. ²⁰ And the three companies blew the trumpets and broke the jars, holding in their left hands the torches, and in their right hands the trumpets to blow; and they cried, “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!” ²¹ They stood every man in his place round about the camp, and all the army ran; they cried out and fled. ²² When they blew the three hundred trumpets, the Lord set every man’s sword against his fellow and against all the army; and the army fled as far as Beth-shit′tah toward Zer′erah,^[c] as far as the border of A′bel-meho′lah, by Tabbath. ²³ And the men of Israel were called out from Naph′tali and from Asher and from all Manas′seh, and they pursued after Mid′ian.

²⁴ And Gideon sent messengers throughout all the hill country of E′phraim, saying, “Come down against the Mid′ianites and seize the waters against them, as far as Beth-bar′ah, and also the Jordan.” So all the men of E′phraim were called out, and they seized the waters as far as Beth-bar′ah, and also the Jordan. ²⁵ And they took the two princes of Mid′ian, Oreb and Zeeb; they killed Oreb at the rock of Oreb, and Zeeb they killed at the wine press of Zeeb, as they pursued Mid′ian; and they brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon beyond the Jordan.

Gideon’s Triumph and Vengeance

8 And the men of E′phraim said to him, “What is this that you have done to us, not to call us when you went to fight with Mid′ian?” And they upbraided him violently. ² And he said to them, “What have I done now in comparison with you? Is not the gleaning of the grapes of E′phraim better than the vintage of Abi-e′zer? ³ God has given into your hands the princes of Mid′ian, Oreb and Zeeb; what have I been able to do in comparison with you?” Then their anger against him was abated, when he had said this.

⁴ And Gideon came to the Jordan and passed over, he and the three hundred men who were with him, faint yet pursuing. ⁵ So he said to the men of Succoth, “Pray, give loaves of bread to the people who follow me; for they are faint, and I am pursuing after Zebah and Zalmun′na, the kings of Mid′ian.” ⁶ And the officials of Succoth said, “Are Zebah and Zalmun′na already in your hand, that we should give bread to your army?” ⁷ And Gideon said, “Well then, when the Lord has given Zebah and Zalmun′na into my hand, I will flail your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness and with briers.” ⁸ And from there he went up to Penu′el, and spoke to them in the same way; and the men of Penu′el answered him as the men of Succoth had answered. ⁹ And he said to the men of Penu′el, “When I come again in peace, I will break down this tower.”

¹⁰ Now Zebah and Zalmun′na were in Karkor with their army, about fifteen thousand men, all who were left of all the army of the people of the East; for there had fallen a hundred and twenty thousand men who drew the sword. ¹¹ And Gideon went up by the caravan route east of Nobah and Jog′behah, and attacked the army; for the army was off its guard. ¹² And Zebah and Zalmun′na fled; and he pursued them and took the two kings of Mid′ian, Zebah and Zalmun′na, and he threw all the army into a panic.

¹³ Then Gideon the son of Jo′ash returned from the battle by the ascent of Heres. ¹⁴ And he caught a young man of Succoth, and questioned him; and he wrote down for him the officials and elders of Succoth, seventy-seven men. ¹⁵ And he came to the men of Succoth, and said, “Behold Zebah and Zalmun′na, about whom you taunted me, saying, ‘Are Zebah and Zalmun′na already in your hand, that we should give bread to your men who are faint?’” ¹⁶ And he took the elders of the city and he took thorns of the wilderness and briers and with them taught the men of Succoth. ¹⁷ And he broke down the tower of Penu′el, and slew the men of the city.

¹⁸ Then he said to Zebah and Zalmun′na, “Where are the men whom you slew at Tabor?” They answered, “As you are, so were they, every one of them; they resembled the sons of a king.” ¹⁹ And he said, “They were my brothers, the sons of my mother; as the Lord lives, if you had saved them alive, I would not slay you.” ²⁰ And he said to Jether his first-born, “Rise, and slay them.” But the youth did not draw his sword; for he was afraid, because he was still a youth. ²¹ Then Zebah and Zalmun′na said, “Rise yourself, and fall upon us; for as the man is, so is his strength.” And Gideon arose and slew Zebah and Zalmun′na; and he took the crescents that were on the necks of their camels.

Gideon’s Idolatry

²² Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, “Rule over us, you and your son and your grandson also; for you have delivered us out of the hand of Mid′ian.” ²³ Gideon said to them, “I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you; the Lord will rule over you.”^{[d] 24} And Gideon said to them, “Let me make a request of you; give me every man of you the earrings of his spoil.” (For they had golden earrings, because they were Ish′maelites.) ²⁵ And they answered, “We will willingly give them.” And they spread a garment, and every man cast in it the earrings of his spoil. ²⁶ And the weight of the golden earrings that he requested was one thousand seven hundred shekels of gold; besides the crescents and the pendants and the purple garments worn by the kings of Mid′ian, and besides the collars that were about the necks of their camels. ²⁷ And Gideon made an ephod of it and put it in his city, in Ophrah; and all Israel played the harlot after it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and to his family. ²⁸ So Mid′ian was subdued before the people of Israel, and they lifted up their heads no more. And the land had rest forty years in the days of Gideon.

Death of Gideon

²⁹ Jerubba′al the son of Jo′ash went and dwelt in his own house. ³⁰ Now Gideon had seventy sons, his own offspring, for he had many wives. ³¹ And his concubine who was in Shechem also bore him a son, and he called his name Abim′elech. ³² And Gideon the son of Jo′ash died in a good old age, and was buried in the tomb of Jo′ash his father, at Ophrah of the Abiez′rites.

³³ As soon as Gideon died, the people of Israel turned again and played the harlot after the Ba′als, and made Ba′al-be′rith their god. ³⁴ And the people of Israel did not remember the Lord their God, who had rescued them from the hand of all their enemies on every side; ³⁵ and they did not show kindness to the family of Jerubba′al (that is, Gideon) in return for all the good that he had done to Israel.

Abimelech Attempts to Establish a Monarchy

9 Now Abim′elech the son of Jerubba′al went to Shechem to his mother’s kinsmen and said to them and to the whole clan of his mother’s family, ² “Say in the ears of all the citizens of Shechem, ‘Which is better for you, that all seventy of the sons of Jerubba′al rule over you, or that one rule over you?’ Remember also that I am your bone and your flesh.” ³ And his mother’s kinsmen spoke all these words on his behalf in the ears of all the men of Shechem; and their hearts inclined to follow Abim′elech, for they said, “He is our brother.” ⁴ And they gave him seventy pieces of silver out of the house of Ba′al-be′rith with which Abim′elech hired worthless and reckless fellows, who followed him. ⁵ And he went to his father’s house at Ophrah, and slew his brothers the sons of Jerubba′al, seventy men, upon one stone; but Jotham the youngest son of Jerubba′al was left, for he hid himself. ⁶ And all the citizens of Shechem came together, and all Beth-millo, and they went and made Abim′elech king, by the oak of the pillar at Shechem.

The Parable of the Trees

⁷ When it was told to Jotham, he went and stood on the top of Mount Geri′zim, and cried aloud and said to them, “Listen to me, you men of Shechem, that God may listen to you. ⁸ The trees once went forth to anoint a king over them; and they said to the olive tree, ‘Reign over us.’ ⁹ But the olive tree said to them, ‘Shall I leave my fatness, by which gods and men are honored, and go to sway over the trees?’ ¹⁰ And the trees said to the fig tree, ‘Come you, and reign over us.’ ¹¹ But the fig tree said to them, ‘Shall I leave my sweetness and my good fruit, and go to sway over the trees?’ ¹² And the trees said to the vine, ‘Come you, and reign over us.’ ¹³ But the vine said to them, ‘Shall I leave my wine which cheers gods and men, and go to sway over the trees?’ ¹⁴ Then all the trees said to the bramble, ‘Come you, and reign over us.’ ¹⁵ And the bramble said to the trees, ‘If in good faith you are anointing me king over you, then come and take refuge in my shade; but if not, let fire come out of the bramble and devour the cedars of Lebanon.’

¹⁶ “Now therefore, if you acted in good faith and honor when you made Abim′elech king, and if you have dealt well with Jerubba′al and his house, and have done to him as his deeds deserved— ¹⁷ for my father fought for you, and risked his life, and rescued you from the hand of Mid′ian; ¹⁸ and you have risen up against my father’s house this day, and have slain his sons, seventy men on one stone, and have made Abim′elech, the son of his maidservant, king over the citizens of Shechem, because he is your kinsman— ¹⁹ if you then have acted in good faith and honor with Jerubba′al and with his house this day, then rejoice in Abim′elech, and let him also rejoice in you; ²⁰ but if not, let fire come out from Abim′elech, and devour the citizens of Shechem, and Beth-millo; and let fire come out from the citizens of Shechem, and from Beth-millo, and devour Abim′elech.” ²¹ And Jotham ran away and fled, and went to Beer and dwelt there, for fear of Abim′elech his brother.

The Downfall of Abimelech

²² Abim′elech ruled over Israel three years. ²³ And God sent an evil spirit between Abim′elech and the men of Shechem; and the men of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abim′elech; ²⁴ that the violence done to the seventy sons of Jerubba′al might come and their blood be laid upon Abim′elech their brother, who slew them, and upon the men of Shechem, who strengthened his hands to slay his brothers. ²⁵ And the men of Shechem put men in ambush against him on the mountain tops, and they robbed all who passed by them along that way; and it was told Abim′elech.

²⁶ And Ga′al the son of Ebed moved into Shechem with his kinsmen; and the men of Shechem put confidence in him. ²⁷ And they went out into the field, and gathered the grapes from their vineyards and trod them, and held festival, and went into the house of their god, and ate and drank and reviled Abim′elech. ²⁸ And Ga′al the son of Ebed said, “Who is Abim′elech, and who are we of Shechem, that we should serve him? Did not the son of Jerubba′al and Zebul his officer serve the men of Hamor the father of Shechem? Why then should we serve him? ²⁹ Would that this people were under my hand! then I would remove Abim′elech. I would say^[e] to Abim′elech, ‘Increase your army, and come out.’”

³⁰ When Zebul the ruler of the city heard the words of Ga′al the son of Ebed, his anger was kindled. ³¹ And he sent messengers to Abim′elech at Aru′mah,^[f] saying, “Behold, Ga′al the son of Ebed and his kinsmen have come to Shechem, and they are stirring up^[g] the city against you. ³² Now therefore, go by night, you and the men that are with you, and lie in wait in the fields. ³³ Then in the morning, as soon as the sun is up, rise early and rush upon the city; and when he and the men that are with him come out against you, you may do to them as occasion offers.”

³⁴ And Abim′elech and all the men that were with him rose up by night, and laid wait against Shechem in four companies. ³⁵ And Ga′al the son of Ebed went out and stood in the entrance of the gate of the city; and Abim′elech and the men that were with him rose from the ambush. ³⁶ And when Ga′al saw the men, he said to Zebul, “Look, men are coming down from the mountain tops!” And Zebul said to him, “You see the shadow of the mountains as if they were men.” ³⁷ Ga′al spoke again and said, “Look, men are coming down from the center of the land, and one company is coming from the direction of the Diviners’ Oak.” ³⁸ Then Zebul said to him, “Where is your mouth now, you who said, ‘Who is Abim′elech, that we should serve him?’ Are not these the men whom you despised? Go out now and fight with them.” ³⁹ And Ga′al went out at the head of the men of Shechem, and fought with Abim′elech. ⁴⁰ And Abim′elech chased him, and he fled before him; and many fell wounded, up to the entrance of the gate. ⁴¹ And Abim′elech dwelt at Aru′mah; and Zebul drove out Ga′al and his kinsmen, so that they could not live on at Shechem.

⁴² On the following day the men went out into the fields. And Abim′elech was told. ⁴³ He took his men and divided them into three companies, and laid wait in the fields; and he looked and saw the men coming out of the city, and he rose against them and slew them. ⁴⁴ Abim′elech and the company^[h] that was with him rushed forward and stood at the entrance of the gate of the city, while the two companies rushed upon all who were in the fields and slew them. ⁴⁵ And Abim′elech fought against the city all that day; he took the city, and killed the people that were in it; and he razed the city and sowed it with salt.

⁴⁶ When all the people of the Tower of Shechem heard of it, they entered the stronghold of the house of El-be′rith. ⁴⁷ Abim′elech was told that all the people of the Tower of Shechem were gathered together. ⁴⁸ And Abim′elech went up to Mount Zalmon, he and all the men that were with him; and Abim′elech took an axe in his hand, and cut down a bundle of brushwood, and took it up and laid it on his shoulder. And he said to the men that were with him, “What you have seen me do, make haste to do, as I have done.” ⁴⁹ So every one of the people cut down his bundle and following Abim′elech put it against the stronghold, and they set the stronghold on fire over them, so that all the people of the Tower of Shechem also died, about a thousand men and women.

⁵⁰ Then Abim′elech went to Thebez, and encamped against Thebez, and took it. ⁵¹ But there was a strong tower within the city, and all the people of the city fled to it, all the men and women, and shut themselves in; and they went to the roof of the tower. ⁵² And Abim′elech came to the tower, and fought against it, and drew near to the door of the tower to burn it with fire. ⁵³ And a certain woman threw an upper millstone upon Abim′elech’s head, and crushed his skull. ⁵⁴ Then he called hastily to the young man his armor-bearer, and said to him, “Draw your sword and kill me, lest men say of me, ‘A woman killed him.’” And his young man thrust him through, and he died. ⁵⁵ And when the men of Israel saw that Abim′elech was dead, they departed every man to his home. ⁵⁶ Thus God requited the crime of Abim′elech, which he committed against his father in killing his seventy brothers; ⁵⁷ and God also made all the wickedness of the men of Shechem fall back upon their heads, and upon them came the curse of Jotham the son of Jerubba′al.