Judges 6 — Chapter 6

¹And the children of Yashar'el (Israel) did evil in the sight of Yahuah (LORD): and Yahuah (LORD) delivered them into the hand of Midian seven years.

²And the hand of Midian prevailed against Yashar'el (Israel): and because of the Midianites the children of Yashar'el (Israel) made them the dens which are in the mountains, and caves, and strong holds.

³And so it was, when Yashar'el (Israel) had sown, that the Midianites came up, and the Amalekites, and the children of the east, even they came up against them;

⁴And they encamped against them, and destroyed the increase of the earth, till you come unto Gaza, and left no sustenance for Yashar'el (Israel), neither sheep, nor ox, nor ass.

⁵For they came up with their cattle and their tents, and they came as grasshoppers for multitude; for both they and their camels were without number: and they entered into the land to destroy it.

⁶And Yashar'el (Israel) was greatly impoverished because of the Midianites; and the children of Yashar'el (Israel) cried unto Yahuah (LORD).

⁷And it came to pass, when the children of Yashar'el (Israel) cried unto Yahuah (LORD) because of the Midianites,

⁸That Yahuah (LORD) sent a prophet unto the children of Yashar'el (Israel), which said unto them, Thus says Yahuah Elohim (the LORD God) of Yashar'el (Israel), I brought you up from Egypt, and brought you forth out of the house of bondage;

⁹And I delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of all that oppressed you, and drave them out from before you, and gave you their land;

¹⁰And I said unto you, I am Yahuah Elohaychem (the LORD your God); fear not the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell: but you have not obeyed my voice.

¹¹And there came an angel of Yahuah (LORD), and sat under an oak which was in Ophrah, that pertained unto Joash the Abi-ezrite: and his son Gideon threshed wheat by the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites.

¹²And the angel of Yahuah (LORD) appeared unto him, and said unto him, Yahuah (LORD) is with you, you mighty man of valour.

¹³And Gideon said unto him, Oh my Lord, if Yahuah (LORD) be with us, why then is all this befallen us? and where be all his miracles which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not Yahuah (LORD) bring us up from Egypt? but now Yahuah (LORD) has forsaken us, and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.

¹⁴And Yahuah (LORD) looked upon him, and said, Go in this your might, and you shall save Yashar'el (Israel) from the hand of the Midianites: have not I sent you?

¹⁵And he said unto him, Oh my Lord, wherewith shall I save Yashar'el (Israel)? behold, my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.

¹⁶And Yahuah (LORD) said unto him, Surely I will be with you, and you shall smite the Midianites as one man.

¹⁷And he said unto him, If now I have found grace in your sight, then shew me a sign that you talkest with me.

¹⁸Depart not hence, I pray you, until I come unto you, and bring forth my present, and set it before you. And he said, I will tarry until you come again.

¹⁹And Gideon went in, and made ready a kid, and unleavened cakes of an ephah of flour: the flesh he put in a basket, and he put the broth in a pot, and brought it out unto him under the oak, and presented it.

²⁰And the angel of Elohim (God) said unto him, Take the flesh and the unleavened cakes, and lay them upon this rock, and pour out the broth. And he did so.

²¹Then the angel of Yahuah (LORD) put forth the end of the staff that was in his hand, and touched the flesh and the unleavened cakes; and there rose up fire out of the rock, and consumed the flesh and the unleavened cakes. Then the angel of Yahuah (LORD) departed out of his sight.

²²And when Gideon perceived that he was an angel of Yahuah (LORD), Gideon said, Alas, O Adonai (Lord) GOD! for because I have seen an angel of Yahuah (LORD) face to face.

²³And Yahuah (LORD) said unto him, Peace be unto you; fear not: you shall not die.

²⁴Then Gideon built an altar there unto Yahuah (LORD), and called it Yahuah Shalom (Jehovah-shalom): unto this day it is yet in Ophrah of the Abi-ezrites.

²⁵And it came to pass the same night, that Yahuah (LORD) said unto him, Take your father’s young bullock, even the second bullock of seven years old, and throw down the altar of Baal that your father has, and cut down the grove that is by it:

²⁶And build an altar unto Yahuah Elohayka (the LORD thy God) upon the top of this rock, in the ordered place, and take the second bullock, and offer a burnt sacrifice with the wood of the grove which you shall cut down.

²⁷Then Gideon took ten men of his servants, and did as Yahuah (LORD) had said unto him: and so it was, because he feared his father’s household, and the men of the city, that he could not do it by day, that he did it by night.

²⁸And when the men of the city arose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was cast down, and the grove was cut down that was by it, and the second bullock was offered upon the altar that was built.

²⁹And they said one to another, Who has done this thing? And when they enquired and asked, they said, Gideon the son of Joash has done this thing.

³⁰Then the men of the city said unto Joash, Bring out your son, that he may die: because he has cast down the altar of Baal, and because he has cut down the grove that was by it.

³¹And Joash said unto all that stood against him, Will you plead for Baal? will you save him? he that will plead for him, let him be put to death whilst it is yet morning: if he be a god, let him plead for himself, because one has cast down his altar.

³²Therefore on that day he called him Jerubbaal, saying, Let Baal plead against him, because he has thrown down his altar.

³³Then all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the children of the east were gathered together, and went over, and pitched in the valley of Jezreel.

³⁴But the Spirit of Yahuah (LORD) came upon Gideon, and he blew a trumpet; and Abi-ezer was gathered after him.

³⁵And he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh; who also was gathered after him: and he sent messengers unto Asher, and unto Zebulun, and unto Naphtali; and they came up to meet them.

³⁶And Gideon said unto Elohim (God), If you will save Yashar'el (Israel) by my hand, as you have said,

³⁷Behold, I will put a fleece of wool in the floor; and if the dew be on the fleece only, and it be dry upon all the earth beside, then shall I know that you will save Yashar'el (Israel) by my hand, as you have said.

³⁸And it was so: for he rose up early on the morrow, and thrust the fleece together, and wringed the dew out of the fleece, a bowl full of water.

³⁹And Gideon said unto Elohim (God), Let not your anger be hot against me, and I will speak but this once: let me prove, I pray you, but this once with the fleece; let it now be dry only upon the fleece, and upon all the ground let there be dew.

⁴⁰And Elohim (God) did so that night: for it was dry upon the fleece only, and there was dew on all the ground.