Midian Oppresses Israel

1And the sons of Israel did evil in the eyes of YHWH, and YHWH delivered them into the hand of Midian seven years. 2And the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel. From the faces of the Midianite, the sons of Israel made for themselves the dens that are in the mountains and the caves and the strongholds.

3And it came to pass, when Israel had sown, that Midian came up, and Amalek and the sons of the East, and they came up against him. 4And they would encamp against them and destroy the produce of the earth, as far as Gaza, and leave no sustenance for Israel, either sheep, or ox, or donkey. 5For they and their livestock and their tents would come up, and they would come as the fullness of the locust for multitude. And of them and their camels was no number, and they would enter the land to destroy it.

6And Israel was greatly impoverished because of the Midianite, and the sons of Israel cried out to YHWH.

7And it came to pass, when the sons of Israel cried out to YHWH on account of the Midianite, 8that YHWH sent a prophet to the sons of Israel, who said to them, “Thus says YHWH, God of Israel: I brought you⁺ up from Egypt and brought you⁺ out of the house of slavery. 9And I delivered you⁺ out of the hand of Egypt and out of the hand of all who oppressed you⁺, and I drove them out before your⁺ faces, and I gave to you⁺ their land. 10And I said to you⁺, ‘I am YHWH your⁺ God. Do not fear the gods of the Amorite, in whose land you⁺ dwell.’ You⁺ have not listened to My voice.”

The Call of Gideon

11And the angel† of YHWH came and sat under the oak† that was in Ophrah, which was unto Joash the Abi-ezrite, and Gideon his son threshed wheat in the winepress to hide it from the face of the Midianite. 12And the angel of YHWH appeared to him and said to him, “YHWH is with you, O mighty man of valor.”

13And Gideon said to Him, “Please, my Lord, if YHWH is with us, why has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles about which our fathers told us, saying, ‘Did not YHWH bring us up from Egypt?’ And YHWH has forsaken us and given us into the palm of Midian.”

14And YHWH† turned to him and said, “Go in this strength of yours, and you shall save Israel from the palm of Midian. Have not I sent you?”

15And he said to Him, “Please, my Lord, how can I save Israel? Indeed, my clan is the poorest in Manasseh, and I am the least in the house of my father.”

16And YHWH said to him, “Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat the Midianite as one man.”

17And he said to Him, “If now I have found favor in Your eyes, show me a sign that You are speaking with me. 18Do not, please, depart from this place until I come to You and bring out my offering and set it before Your face.”

And He said, “I will wait until you come back.”

19And Gideon went in and prepared a kid of the goats and an ephah of flour† of unleavened bread. He put the flesh in a basket, and he put the broth in a pot, and he brought them out to Him, to under the oak, and brought them near.

20And the angel of God said to him, “Take the flesh and the unleavened bread and lay them on this rock, and pour out the broth.” And he did so.

21And the angel of YHWH stretched out the end of the staff that was in his hand, and he touched the flesh and the unleavened bread, and the fire rose out of the rock and consumed the flesh and the unleavened bread. And the angel of YHWH departed out of his sight.

22And Gideon perceived that it was the angel of YHWH. And Gideon said, “Alas, Lord YHWH! For upon that I have seen the angel of YHWH face to face.”

23And YHWH said to him, “Peace be with you. Fear not; you shall not die.”

24And Gideon built there an altar to YHWH, and he called it YHWH-Shalom.† To this day it is still in Ophrah of the Abi-ezrites.

Gideon Destroys Baal’s Altar

25And it came to pass that night, that YHWH said to him, “Take the young bull, that of your father, and the second bull, of seven years, and tear down the altar of Baal that is to your father, and cut down the Asherah pole that is beside it. 26And build an altar to YHWH your God on top of this rock by the arrangement, and take the second bull and offer a burnt offering with the wood of the Asherah pole that you shall cut down.”

27And Gideon took ten men of his servants and did as YHWH had said to him. And because he feared the house of his father and the men of the city, to do it by day, he did it by night.

28And the men of the city arose early in the morning, and behold, the altar of Baal was torn down, and the Asherah pole that was beside it was cut down, and the second bull was being offered on the altar—the built one. 29And they said one to another, “Who has done this thing?”

And they inquired and asked, and they said, “Gideon son of Joash has done this thing.”

30And the men of the city said to Joash, “Bring out your son, that he may die, because he has torn down the altar of Baal, and because he has cut down the Asherah pole that was beside it.”

31And Joash said to all who stood against him, “Would you⁺ plead for Baal, if you⁺ would save him? The one who would plead for him shall be put to death by the morning! If he is a god, let him plead for himself because has been torn down his altar.”

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

The Sign of the Fleece

33And all the Midianite and Amalekite and the sons of the East gathered together, and they passed over and encamped in the Valley of Jezreel.

34And the Spirit of YHWH came upon Gideon, and he blew on the shofar, and the Abiezrites gathered behind him. 35And he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh, and he also gathered after him. And He sent messengers to Asher, and Zebulun, and Naphtali, and they came up to meet them.

36And Gideon said to God, “If You will save Israel by my hand as You have said, 37behold, I shall put a fleece of the wool on the threshing floor. If dew there is on the fleece only, and on all the ground it is dry, I shall know that You will save Israel by my hand as You have said.”

38And it was so, and he rose early the next morning and squeezed the fleece, and the dew he wrung out of the fleece, the fullness of the bowl of water.

39And Gideon said to God, “Do not be angry with me, and let me speak just once more. Let me test, please, only this time with the fleece. Let it be now dry on the fleece only, and on all the ground let there be dew.”

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

Footnotes:

11 Or Angel; also in verses 12, 20, 21, and 22; corresponding pronouns may also be capitalized.
11 Or terebinth or great tree; also in verse 19
14 LXX The angel of the LORD or The Angel of the LORD; also in verse 16
19 An ephah is approximately 20 dry quarts or 22 liters (probably about 25.5 pounds or 11.6 kilograms of flour).
24 That is, YHWH is Peace
32 Jerubbaal probably means let Baal contend.