1And the children of Israel did evil in the eyes of Jehovah. So Jehovah delivered them into the hand of Midian seven years, 2and the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel. In the face of the Midianites, the children of Israel made for themselves the dens, the caves, and the strongholds which are in the mountains. 3So it was that when Israel had sown, the Midianites would come up; also Amalekites and the sons of the East would come up against them. 4And they would encamp against them and destroy the produce of the earth as far as Gaza, and leave no sustenance for Israel, neither sheep nor ox nor donkey. 5For they would come up with their livestock and their tents, coming in as numerous as the abundance of locusts; both they and their camels were without number; and they would enter the land to destroy it. 6And Israel was brought exceedingly low before Midian, and the children of Israel cried out unto Jehovah. 7And it came to pass, when the children of Israel cried out to Jehovah because of the Midianites, 8that Jehovah sent a man who was a prophet unto the children of Israel, who said to them, Thus says Jehovah the God of Israel: I have brought you up from Egypt and brought you out of the house of bondage; 9and I delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of the hand of all who oppressed you, and drove them out before you and gave you their land. 10Also I said to you, I am Jehovah your God; do not fear the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But you have not obeyed My voice. 11And the Angel of Jehovah came and sat under the terebinth tree which was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon was threshing wheat in the winepress, in order to hide it from before the Midianites. 12And the Angel of Jehovah appeared to him, and said to him, Jehovah is with you, you mighty man of valor! 13Gideon said to Him, O my lord, if Jehovah is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, Did not Jehovah bring us up from Egypt? But now Jehovah has forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites. 14And Jehovah turned to him and said, Go in this might of yours, and you shall deliver Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have I not sent you? 15And he said to Him, O my Lord, how can I deliver Israel? Behold my company is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house. 16And Jehovah said to him, Surely I will be with you, and you shall strike the Midianites as one man. 17And he said to Him, If now I have found favor in Your eyes, then perform a sign for me, that it is You speaking with me. 18Do not depart from here, I pray, until I come to You and bring out my offering and set it before You. And He said, I will wait until you come back. 19And Gideon went in and prepared a young goat, and unleavened bread from an ephah of flour. The flesh he put in a basket, and he put the broth in a pot; and he brought them out to Him under the terebinth tree 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. 21Then the Angel of Jehovah put forth the end of the staff that was in His hand, and touched the flesh and the unleavened bread; and fire rose up out of the rock and consumed the flesh and the unleavened bread. And the Angel of Jehovah departed out of his sight. 22And Gideon perceived that He was the Angel of Jehovah. And Gideon said, Alas, O Lord Jehovah! For I have seen the Angel of Jehovah face to face. 23And Jehovah said to him, Peace unto you; do not fear, you shall not die. 24And Gideon built an altar there unto Jehovah, and called it Jehovah Shalom. To this day it is still in Ophrah of the Abiezrites. 25Now it came to pass the same night, that Jehovah said to him, Take your father’s young bull, the second bull of seven years old, and tear down the altar of Baal that your father has, and chop down the grove that is beside it; 26and build an altar unto Jehovah your God on top of this rock in the proper arrangement, and take the second bull and offer a burnt offering with the wood of the grove which you shall chop down. 27And Gideon took ten men from among his servants and did as Jehovah had spoken to him. But because he feared his father’s household and the men of the city too much to do it by day, he did it by night. 28And when the men of the city arose early in the morning, there was the altar of Baal, torn down; and the grove that was beside it was chopped down, and the second bull was being offered on the altar which had been built. 29And they said to one another, Who has done this thing? And when they had inquired and asked, they said, Gideon the son of Joash has done this thing. 30Then 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 chopped down the grove that was beside it. 31And Joash said to all who stood against him, Would you plead for Baal? Would you deliver him? Let the one who would plead for him be put to death by morning! If he is a god, let him contend for himself, because his altar has been torn down! 32Therefore on that day he called him Jerubbaal, saying, Let Baal contend against him, because he has torn down his altar. 33Then all the Midianites and Amalekites, the sons of the east, gathered together; and they crossed over and encamped in the valley of Jezreel. 34And the Spirit of Jehovah clothed Gideon; and he blew the shofar, and the Abiezrites assembled behind him. 35And he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh, who also assembled behind him. He also sent messengers to Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali; and they came up to meet them. 36And Gideon said to God, If You are delivering Israel by my hand as You have said, 37behold, I am putting a fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If there is dew on the fleece only, and it is dry on all the ground, then I shall know that You will deliver Israel by my hand, as You have spoken. 38And it was so. When he arose early the next morning and squeezed the fleece together, he wrung the dew out of the fleece, a bowl full of water. 39Then Gideon said to God, Do not let Your anger burn against me, but let me speak just once more: Let me prove, I pray, just once more with the fleece; let it now be dry only on the fleece, but on all the ground let there be dew. 40And God did so that night. It was dry on the fleece only, but there was dew on all the ground.