¹ And the sons of Israel do the evil thing in the eyes of Jehovah, and Jehovah giveth them into the hand of Midian seven years,

² and the hand of Midian is strong against Israel, from the presence of Midian have the sons of Israel made for themselves the flowings which [are] in the mountains, and the caves, and the strongholds.

³ And it hath been, if Israel hath sowed, that Midian hath come up, and Amalek, and the sons of the east, yea, they have come up against him,

⁴ and encamp against them, and destroy the increase of the land till thine entering Gaza; and they leave no sustenance in Israel, either sheep, or ox, or ass;

⁵ for they and their cattle come up, with their tents; they come in as the fulness of the locust for multitude, and of them and of their cattle there is no number, and they come into the land to destroy it.

⁶ And Israel is very weak from the presence of Midian, and the sons of Israel cry unto Jehovah.

⁷ And it cometh to pass when the sons of Israel have cried unto Jehovah, concerning Midian,

⁸ that Jehovah sendeth a man, a prophet, unto the sons of Israel, and he saith to them, `Thus said Jehovah, God of Israel, I -- I have brought you up out of Egypt, and I bring you out from a house of servants,

⁹ and I deliver you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of all your oppressors, and I cast them out from your presence, and I give to you their land,

¹⁰ and I say to you, I [am] Jehovah your God, ye do not fear the gods of the Amorite in whose land ye are dwelling: -- and ye have not hearkened to My voice.'

¹¹ And the messenger of Jehovah cometh and sitteth under the oak which [is] in Ophrah, which [is] to Joash the Abi-Ezrite, and Gideon his son is beating out wheat in the wine-press, to remove [it] from the presence of the Midianites;

¹² and the messenger of Jehovah appeareth unto him, and saith unto him, `Jehovah [is] with thee, O mighty one of valour.'

¹³ And Gideon saith unto him, `O, my lord -- and Jehovah is with us! -- and why hath all this found us? and where [are] all His wonders which our fathers recounted to us, saying, Hath not Jehovah brought us up out of Egypt? and now Jehovah hath left us, and doth give us into the hand of Midian.'

¹⁴ And Jehovah turneth unto him and saith, `Go in this -- thy power; and thou hast saved Israel out of the hand of Midian -- have not I sent thee.'

¹⁵ And he saith unto him, `O, my lord, wherewith do I save Israel? lo, my chief [is] weak in Manasseh, and I the least in the house of my father.'

¹⁶ And Jehovah saith unto him, `Because I am with thee -- thou hast smitten the Midianites as one man.'

¹⁷ And he saith unto Him, `If, I pray Thee, I have found grace in Thine eyes, then Thou hast done for me a sign that Thou art speaking with me.

¹⁸ Move not, I pray Thee, from this, till my coming in unto Thee, and I have brought out my present, and put it before Thee;' and he saith, `I -- I do abide till thy return.'

¹⁹ And Gideon hath gone in, and prepareth a kid of the goats, and of an ephah of flour unleavened things; the flesh he hath put in a basket, and the broth he hath put in a pot, and he bringeth out unto Him, unto the place of the oak, and bringeth [it] nigh.

²⁰ And the messenger of God saith unto him, `Take the flesh and the unleavened things, and place on this rock -- and the broth pour out;' and he doth so.

²¹ And the messenger of Jehovah putteth forth the end of the staff which [is] in His hand, and cometh against the flesh, and against the unleavened things, and the fire goeth up out of the rock and consumeth the flesh and the unleavened things -- and the messenger of Jehovah hath gone from his eyes.

²² And Gideon seeth that He [is] a messenger of Jehovah, and Gideon saith, `Alas, Lord Jehovah! because that I have seen a messenger of Jehovah face to face!'

²³ And Jehovah saith to him, `Peace to thee; fear not; thou dost not die.'

²⁴ And Gideon buildeth there an altar to Jehovah, and calleth it Jehovah-Shalom, unto this day it [is] yet in Ophrah of the Abi-Ezrites.

²⁵ And it cometh to pass, on that night, that Jehovah saith to him, `Take the young ox which [is] to thy father, and the second bullock of seven years, and thou hast thrown down the altar of Baal which [is] to thy father, and the shrine which [is] by it thou dost cut down,

²⁶ and thou hast built an altar to Jehovah thy God on the top of this stronghold, by the arrangement, and hast taken the second bullock, and caused to ascend a burnt-offering with the wood of the shrine which thou cuttest down.'

²⁷ And Gideon taketh ten men of his servants, and doth as Jehovah hath spoken unto him, and it cometh to pass, because he hath been afraid of the house of his father, and the men of the city, to do [it] by day, that he doth [it] by night.

²⁸ And the men of the city rise early in the morning, and lo, broken down hath been the altar of Baal, and the shrine which is by it hath been cut down, and the second bullock hath been offered on the altar which is built.

²⁹ And they say one to another, `Who hath done this thing?' and they inquire and seek, and they say, `Gideon son of Joash hath done this thing.'

³⁰ And the men of the city say unto Joash, `Bring out thy son, and he dieth, because he hath broken down the altar of Baal, and because he hath cut down the shrine which [is] by it.'

³¹ And Joash saith to all who have stood against him, `Ye, do ye plead for Baal? ye -- do ye save him? he who pleadeth for him is put to death during the morning; if he [is] a god he himself doth plead against him, because he hath broken down his altar.'

³² And he calleth him, on that day, Jerubbaal, saying, `The Baal doth plead against him, because he hath broken down his altar.'

³³ And all Midian and Amalek and the sons of the east have been gathered together, and pass over, and encamp in the valley of Jezreel,

³⁴ and the Spirit of Jehovah hath clothed Gideon, and he bloweth with a trumpet, and Abi-Ezer is called after him;

³⁵ and messengers he hath sent into all Manasseh, and it also is called after him; and messengers he hath sent into Asher, and into Zebulun, and into Naphtali, and they come up to meet them.

³⁶ And Gideon saith unto God, `If Thou art Saviour of Israel by my hand, as Thou hast spoken,

³⁷ lo, I am placing the fleece of wool in the threshing-floor: if dew is on the fleece alone, and on all the earth drought -- then I have known that Thou dost save Israel by my hand, as Thou hast spoken;'

³⁸ and it is so, and he riseth early on the morrow, and presseth the fleece, and wringeth dew out of the fleece -- the fulness of the bowl, of water.

³⁹ And Gideon saith unto God, `Let not Thine anger burn against me, and I speak only this time; let me try, I pray Thee, only this time with the fleece -- let there be, I pray Thee, drought on the fleece alone, and on all the earth let there be dew.'

⁴⁰ And God doth so on that night, and there is drought on the fleece alone, and on all the earth there hath been dew.

¹ And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD: and the LORD delivered them into the hand of Midian seven years.

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

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

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

⁵ For 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.

⁶ And Israel was greatly impoverished because of the Midianites; and the children of Israel cried unto the LORD.

⁷ And it came to pass, when the children of Israel cried unto the LORD because of the Midianites,

⁸ That the LORD sent a prophet unto the children of Israel, which said unto them, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I brought you up from Egypt, and brought you forth out of the house of bondage;

⁹ And 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;

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

¹¹ And there came an angel of the 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.

¹² And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him, and said unto him, the LORD is with thee, thou mighty man of valour.

¹³ And Gideon said unto him, Oh my Lord, if the 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 the LORD bring us up from Egypt? but now the LORD hath forsaken us, and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.

¹⁴ And the LORD looked upon him, and said, Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites: have not I sent thee?

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

¹⁶ And the LORD said unto him, Surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man.

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

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

¹⁹ And 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.

²⁰ And the angel of 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.

²¹ Then the angel of the 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 the LORD departed out of his sight.

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

²³ And the LORD said unto him, Peace be unto thee; fear not: thou shalt not die.

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

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

²⁶ And build an altar unto 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 thou shalt cut down.

²⁷ Then Gideon took ten men of his servants, and did as the 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.

²⁸ And 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.

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

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

³¹ And Joash said unto all that stood against him, Will ye plead for Baal? will ye 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 hath cast down his altar.

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

³³ Then 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.

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

³⁵ And 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.

³⁶ And Gideon said unto God, If thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as thou hast said,

³⁷ Behold, 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 thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as thou hast said.

³⁸ And 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.

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

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