King James Version

1 And the children of Israel did the evil in the eyes of the Lord, and the Lord gave them into the hand of Midian for seven years. 2 And the hand of Midian was strong against Israel; because of Midian, the children of Israel made for themselves the shelters which are in the mountains and the caves and the strongholds. 3 And it will be if Israel sows, and Midian and Amalek and the sons of the East will arise against me. 4 And they encamped against them, and they destroyed the produce of the land until you came strong, and they did not leave a living thing in Israel, neither sheep nor ox nor donkey. 5 For they and their livestock will come up, and their tents will come, and they will come in great numbers, and for them and for their camels there is no number, and they will come into the land to destroy it. 6 And Israel was greatly discouraged before Midian, and the children of Israel cried out to the LORD. 7 And it came to pass when the children of Israel cried out to the Lord concerning Midian. 8 And the LORD sent a man, a prophet, to the children of Israel, and he said to them, "Thus says the LORD God of Israel: 'I brought you up from Egypt and I brought you out of the house of bondage.'" 9 And I will deliver you from the hand of Egypt and from the hand of all your oppressors, and I will drive them out from before you, and I will give you their land. 10 And I said to you, I am the LORD your God; do not be afraid of the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell, and you have not listened to my voice. 11 And the angel of the Lord came and sat under the oak that was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, and Gideon his son was beating out wheat in the wine press to hide it from Midian. 12 And the angel of the Lord appeared to me and said to me, "The Lord is with you, mighty warrior." 13 And Gideon said to me, "My Lord, if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? And where are all His wonders that our fathers told us about, saying, 'Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?' But now the Lord has forsaken us and delivered us into the hand of Midian." 14 And the Lord turned to him and said, "Go in this strength of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of Midian. Have I not sent you?" 15 And he said to me, “My lord, by what shall I save Israel? Behold, my clan is the least in Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my father’s house.” 16 And the LORD said to me, "Because I will be with you, you shall strike the Midianites as one man." 17 And he said to me, "If now I have found favor in your eyes, then you will do for me the sign that you are speaking with me." 18 Do not take this away until I come to you and present my offering, and I will place it before you. And he said, "I will wait until your return." 19 And Gideon came and made a kid of the goats and an ephah of flour unleavened; he put the meat in a basket and the broth in a pot, and he brought it out to him under the oak and presented it. 20 And the angel of God said to me, "Take the meat and the unleavened bread and place them upon that rock," and the broth pour out. And he did so. 21 And the angel of the LORD sent his staff that was in his hand and touched the flesh and the unleavened bread, and the fire went up from the rock and consumed the flesh and the unleavened bread, and the angel of the LORD departed from my sight. 22 And Gideon saw that it was the angel of the LORD, and Gideon said, "Alas, Lord GOD! For I have seen the angel of the LORD face to face." 23 And the Lord said to him, "Peace to you; do not be afraid; you shall not die." 24 And Gideon built an altar there to the LORD and called it The LORD Is Peace. It remains to this day in Ophrah of the Abiezrites. 25 And it came to pass at that night, and the LORD said to him, "Take the young bull that belongs to your father and the second bull, seven years old, and tear down the altar of Baal that belongs to your father and cut down the Asherah that is beside it." 26 And you shall build an altar to the LORD your God on the top of this stronghold in the arrangement, and you shall take the second bull and offer a burnt offering with the wood of the Asherah that you shall cut down. 27 And Gideon took ten men from his servants and did as the Lord had spoken to him, and it was when he feared his father's household and the men of the city to do it by day, that he did it by night. 28 And the men of the city rose early in the morning, and behold, the altar of Baal was torn down, and the Asherah that was beside it was cut down, and the second bull was offered on the altar that was built. 29 And they said, one man to his neighbor, "Who has done this thing?" And they sought and inquired, and they said, "Gideon the son of Joash has done this thing." 30 And the men of the city said to Joash, "Bring out your son, for he shall die, because he has torn down the altar of Baal and because he has cut down the Asherah that was beside it." 31 And Joash said to all who stood against him, "Will you contend for Baal? If he is a god, let him contend for himself, for it was torn down." 32 And he called him on that day Jerubbaal, saying, "Let Baal contend against him, for he has torn down his altar." 33 And all Midian and Amalek and the children of the east gathered together, and they crossed over and encamped in the valley of Jezreel. 34 And the Spirit of the LORD clothed Gideon, and he sounded the trumpet, and Abiezer was called after him. 35 And He sent messengers to all Manasseh, and he was also called after them. And He sent messengers to Asher and to Zebulun and to Naphtali, and they went up to meet them. 36 And Gideon said to God, "If you will save Israel by my hand as you have spoken." 37 Behold, I am placing the fleece of wool on the threshing floor; if dew is on the fleece alone and all the ground is dry, then I will know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you have spoken. 38 And it was so, and he rose early the next morning and he squeezed the fleece, and there was dew from the fleece, a full bowl of water. 39 And Gideon said to God, "Do not be angry with me, and I will speak only this once: please let it be as follows: Let the fleece be wet alone, and on all the ground let there be dry." 40 And God did so that night, and there was a sword against the herd alone, and upon all the earth there was dew.