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The Book of Judges 6

6 But then the Israelites once again did things that Yahweh had said were very wicked. So he allowed the people of Midian to conquer them and rule them for seven years. 2 The people of Midian treated the Israelites so cruelly that they hid from them. The Israelites made places where they could live on mountains, in caves, and in other safe locations. 3 This is what the enemies of the Israelites were doing to them. The Israelites would plant crops in their fields. Once those crops began to grow, enemies from Midian and Amalek and from desert tribes would come into Israel. 4 They set up their tents in the land, and their animals devoured the crops as far south as Gaza. They did not leave anything for the Israelites to eat. They also took away their sheep, cattle, and donkeys. 5 They came into Israel with their tents and their livestock. When they came, there were so many of them that they seemed like a huge swarm of locusts. One could hardly count how many of them arrived riding on their camels. They came into the land of Israel and ruined the land, so that crops could not grow there. 6 The people of Midian took almost everything the Israelites owned. So finally the Israelites pleaded for Yahweh to help them.

7 When the Israelites pleaded with Yahweh to help them because of what the people from Midian were doing to them, 8 Yahweh sent a prophet to them. He told them, “Yahweh is the God we Israelites are supposed to worship. He sent me to tell you, ‘I brought your ancestors out of Egypt. I rescued them from that place where they were slaves. 9 I made the Egyptian rulers who had made them slaves set them free. When you got to this land, I enabled you to defeat your enemies. I forced them to leave, and I allowed you to live here instead. 10 I told your ancestors, “I am Yahweh, the God whom you must worship. Once you Israelites are living in the land that belonged to the Amorites, you must not worship the gods that they worshiped.” But you have disobeyed what I told them.’ ”

11 One day an angel representing Yahweh came and sat under a big oak tree in the town of Ophrah. That tree belonged to Joash, who was from the clan of Abiezer. Joash’ s son Gideon was threshing wheat in the pit where they pressed grapes to make wine. He was threshing the grain there because it was a place where the people of Midian could not see him. 12 The angel representing Yahweh went over to Gideon and told him, “You mighty soldier, Yahweh is helping you!”

13 Gideon replied, “Pardon me for asking, sir, but if Yahweh is really helping us, then why have all these bad things happened to us? Yahweh is not doing any miracles for us like the ones that our ancestors have told us about. They have said that he rescued them from being slaves in Egypt. But now Yahweh has abandoned us. He is allowing the people from Midian to rule us.”

14 Then Yahweh looked right at him and said, “I have made you strong enough to rescue the Israelites from the people of Midian who are ruling you. So lead an army against them. I am commanding you to do that!”

15 Gideon replied, “I am sorry, sir, but I do not believe that I can rescue the Israelites. This is why I cannot: my clan is the smallest and weakest one in the whole tribe of Manasseh, and I am the least important person in my whole family!”

16 Yahweh said to him, “I will help you, and so you will be able to rescue the Israelites. I will enable you to defeat the entire Midianite army at one time.”

17 Gideon replied, “If you truly are pleased with me, then let me ask you to do something that will prove that you, Yahweh, really are the one who is speaking with me. 18 I would like to go and prepare a special meal and bring it to you. Please do not leave here until I get back.”

Yahweh answered, “I agree. I will wait here until you come back.”

19 So Gideon hurried to his home. He killed a young goat and cooked it. He also took about 22 liters of flour and baked some bread without yeast. Then he put the cooked meat in a basket, and he put the broth from the meat in a pot. He brought the meat and the bread to Yahweh, who was still sitting under the oak tree. Gideon invited him to eat these foods as a special meal.

20 But Yahweh told Gideon, “Put the meat and the bread on this rock. Then pour the broth on top of it.” So that is what Gideon did. 21 Then the angel representing Yahweh reached out and touched the meat and bread with the tip of the walking stick that he was holding. Flames came up from the rock and completely burned up the meat and the bread! And then the angel representing Yahweh disappeared. 22 Then Gideon realized that it had actually been an angel representing Yahweh who had come and spoken with him. He exclaimed, “Oh, no! Yahweh my Lord, I just saw your angel in person! No one can see you and live, so I am going to die!”

23 But Yahweh called to him and said, “You are safe. You do not have to be afraid. I am not going to kill you.”

24 Then Gideon built an altar there to worship Yahweh. He gave it the name Yahweh is Peace. That altar is still there at this time in the town of Ophrah in the land that belongs to the Abiezrite clan.

25 Then, that same night, Yahweh told Gideon, “Tear down the altar that your father built to worship the god Baal. Also cut down the pole for worshiping the goddess Asherah that is beside that altar. Use the young bull that your father owns to pull down the altar. But also bring another bull with you that your father owns, the one that is seven years old. 26 Build a plain stone altar here on this hill to worship me, your God Yahweh. Take the wood from the Asherah pole that you cut down and use it to make a fire. Then burn the meat of that seven-year-old bull on that fire as a burnt offering to me.”

27 Then Gideon got ten of his servants and together they did what Yahweh had commanded him to do. But he was afraid of what the other members of his family and the other people who lived in the town would do to him if they found out that he had done that. So they did it at night.

28 The next morning, when the people who lived in the town got up, they saw that the altar to Baal was in ruins. The Asherah pole that had been next to it was gone. They saw that there was a new altar on the hill above the town, and on it were the remains of a bull that someone had sacrificed.

29 The people asked each other, “Who did this?” When some of the town leaders investigated, someone finally told them. So they announced publicly, “It was Gideon son of Joash who did this.”

30 The men of the town came to the house of Joash. They told him, “Bring your son out here! We want to kill him to punish him for destroying the altar of our god Baal and for cutting down the Asherah pole where we worship!”

31 But Joash refused to bring Gideon out. He told the hostile crowd that had gathered around his house, “You should not have to argue a case on behalf of Baal! You should not have to defend him! Anyone who thinks he needs to defend Baal is the one whom we should execute. In fact, we should execute him right now! If Baal really is a god, he ought to be able to defend himself when someone tears down his altar!” 32 And that was how Gideon got the nickname Jerubbaal, which means, “Let Baal defend himself.” People said, “Yes, Baal should be the one to punish this man for tearing down his altar.”

33 Soon after that, the people of Midian and Amalek and the desert tribes that were their allies sent their armies together across the Jordan River to attack the Israelites. Their soldiers set up their camp in the Valley of Jezreel. 34 Then Yahweh’s Spirit gave Gideon special strength and courage. Gideon blew a ram’s horn to call the people of Israel to join him in fighting against these invaders. The men from his clan of Abiezer gathered to fight, with him as their commander. 35 Gideon also sent messengers throughout the territory of the tribe of Manasseh to tell its soldiers to come and fight under his command. He also sent messengers throughout the territories of the tribes of Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, and soldiers from those tribes came and joined his army.

36 Then Gideon said to God, “I want to be sure that you are truly going to enable me to rescue the Israelite people as you promised. 37 Please confirm that by doing something for me. Tonight I will put a dry wool fleece on this place where people thresh grain. Tomorrow morning, if only the fleece is wet with dew and the ground is dry, then I will know that you are going to enable me to rescue the people of Israel as you promised.” 38 And that is what happened. When Gideon got up the next morning, he picked up the fleece and he squeezed enough dew from it to fill a bowl with water! But the ground all around the fleece was dry.

39 Then Gideon said to God, “Please do not be angry with me, but I would like to ask you to do one more thing. Tonight let me put the fleece out again. This time, please let only the fleece remain dry, and let the whole ground become wet with dew.” 40 And that night God did what Gideon had asked him to do. The next morning only the fleece was dry, but the whole ground was wet with dew.

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