³³ Then all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the people of the east came together, and they crossed over and encamped in the Valley of Jezreel.^{(A) 34} But the spirit of the Lord took possession of Gideon, and he sounded the trumpet, and the Abiezrites were called out to follow him.^{(B) 35} He sent messengers throughout all Manasseh, and they, too, were called out to follow him. He also sent messengers to Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, and they went up to meet them.

The Sign of the Fleece

³⁶ Then Gideon said to God, “In order to see whether you will deliver Israel by my hand, as you have said, ³⁷ I am going to lay 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 deliver Israel by my hand, as you have said.”^{(C) 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, “Do not let your anger burn against me, but let me speak one more time; let me, please, make trial with the fleece just once more; let it be dry only on the fleece, and on all the ground let there be dew.”^{(D) 40} And God did so that night. It was dry on the fleece only, and on all the ground there was dew.