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

The Sign of the Fleece

36 (G)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, (H)“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.

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33 Then all the Midianites,[a] Amalekites,[b] 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[c] Gideon, and he blew on the trumpet, and the Abiezrites[d] 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[e] 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.

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Footnotes

  1. Judges 6:33 Hebrew “Midianite”
  2. Judges 6:33 Hebrew “Amalekite”
  3. Judges 6:34 Literally “clothed”
  4. Judges 6:34 Hebrew “Abiezerite”
  5. Judges 6:39 Literally “Do not let your nose become hot”