The Call of Gideon

Then the angel[fn] of the LORD came and sat down under the oak[fn] in Ophrah that belonged to Joash vvv the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to hide it from the Midianites. 12 And the angel of the LORD appeared to [Gideon] and said“The LORD is with you, O mighty man of valor.”

13 

“Please, my Lord,” Gideon replied“if the LORD is with us, why has all this happened to us? And where are all His wonders of which our fathers told us, saying,‘Has not the LORD brought us up out of Egypt?’ But now the LORD has forsaken us and delivered us into the hand of Midian.”

14 

The LORD[fn] turned to him and said,“Go in the strength you have and save Israel from the hand of Midian. Am I not sending you?”

15 

“Please, my Lord,” [Gideon] replied“how can I save Israel? Indeed, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my father’s house.”

16 

“Surely I will be with you,” the LORD replied“and you will strike down [all] the Midianites as one man.”

17 

Gideon answered“If I have found favor in Your sight, give me a sign that [it is] You speaking with me. 18 Please do not depart from this [place] until I return to You. Let me bring my offering and set [it] before You.”

And [the LORD] said,“I will stay until you return.”

19 

So Gideon went in and prepared a young goat and unleavened bread and an ephah of flour.[fn] He placed the meat in a basket and the broth in a pot and brought them out to present to Him under the oak.

20 

And the angel of God said to him,“Take the meat and the unleavened bread, lay [them] on this rock, and pour out the broth.” And [Gideon] did so.

21 

Then the angel of the LORD extended the tip of the staff that was in his hand and touched the meat and the unleavened bread. And fire flared from the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened bread. Then the angel of the LORD vanished from his sight.

22 

When Gideon realized that it [was] the angel of the LORD, he said,“Oh no, Lord GOD! I have seen the angel of the LORD face to face!”

23 

But the LORD said to him,“Peace [be] with you. Do not be afraid, for you will not die.”

24 

So Gideon built an altar to the LORD there and called it The LORD Is Peace.[fn] To this day it stands in Ophrah vvv of the Abiezrites.

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