²⁵ Later that very night, the Lord told Gideon,^[a] “Take the bull that belongs to your father, along with a second bull that’s seven years old. Then tear down the altar to Baal^[b] that your father owns, cut down the Asherah^[c] that’s beside it, ²⁶ and build an altar to the Lord your God on top of this stronghold in an orderly manner. Then take the second bull and offer it as a burnt offering using the wood from the Asherah that you’ll be cutting down.”

Gideon Destroys His Father’s Altar

²⁷ So Gideon went with ten men who were his servants and did just what the Lord had told him to do, though he did it at night because he was too afraid of his father’s family and the leading^[d] men of the city to do it during the day. ²⁸ When the leading^[e] men of the city got up early the next morning, the altar to Baal had been torn down, along with the Asherah that had stood beside it, and the second bull had been offered on the altar that had been erected.

²⁹ They asked each other, “Who did this thing?” When they looked into it and asked around, they concluded, “Joash’s son Gideon did it.”^{[f] 30} So the leading^[g] men of the city ordered Joash, “Bring us that son of yours. He’s going to die, because he tore down the altar to Baal and cut down the Asherah that stood beside it!”

³¹ But Joash responded to everyone who was opposing him, “Do you really intend to fight on Baal’s behalf? Do you really intend to rescue him by ordering^[h] that whoever fights him will be executed by morning? If Baal^[i] is a god, let him fight for himself. After all, it was his altar that was torn down.” ³² So that very day he named Gideon^[j] Jerubbaal, that is, “Let Baal fight,” since he had torn down his altar.