Midian Oppresses Israel

1And the children of Israel committed wickednesse in the syght of the Lorde: And the Lorde deliuered them into the handes of Madian seuen yeres. 2And the hand of Madian preuayled against Israel: & because of the Madianites, ye children of Israel made them dennes in the mountaynes and caues, and strong holdes. 3And when Israel had sowen, then came vp the Madianites, the Amalechites, and they of the east, and came vp agaynst them, 4And pitched their tentes against them, and destroyed the encrease of the earth, euen tyll thou come vnto Azah, & left no sustenaunce for Israel, neither sheepe, oxe, nor asse: 5For they went vp, they and their cattel, and came with their tentes as a multitude of grasshopers, so that both they and also their camels were without number: And they entred into the land to destroy it. 6And so was Israel exceedingly impoueryshed in the sight of the Madianites, and cried vnto the Lorde.

7And when the children of Israel cried vnto the Lord, because of the Madianites, 8The Lorde sent vnto them a prophet, which sayd vnto them, Thus sayth the Lorde God of Israel: I fet you from Egypt, & brought you out of the house of bondage. 9And I ryd you out of the hande of the Egyptians, & out of the hand of all that oppressed you, and cast them out before you, and gaue you their land: 10And I sayd vnto you: I am the Lord your God, feare not the goddes of the Amorites in whose lande you dwell: But you haue not obeyed my voyce.

The Call of Gideon

11And the angel of the Lorde came and sate vnder an Oke which was in Ephrah, that parteyned vnto Ioas the father of the Esrites: And his sonne Gedeon threshed wheat by the wyne presse, to hyde it from the Madianites. 12And the angel of the Lorde appeared vnto him, and said vnto him: The Lord is with thee, thou mightie man. 13And Gedeon aunswered him: Oh my Lord, if the Lorde be with vs, why is all this come vpon vs? Yea, & where be all his miracles which our fathers tolde vs of, and sayd: Dyd not the Lord bryng vs out of Egypt? But nowe the Lord hath forsaken vs, and deliuered vs into the handes of the Madianites. 14And the Lord loked vpon him, and sayde: Go hence in this thy might, and thou shalt deliuer Israel out of the handes of the Madianites: Haue not I sent thee? 15And he aunswered him: Oh Lorde, wherwith shall I saue Israel? Behold my kinred is poore in Manasses, and I am litle in my fathers house. 16The Lord sayd vnto him: I will be with thee, & thou shalt smyte the Madianites, as they were but one man.

17And he aunswered him: Oh, yf I haue founde grace in thy syght, than shew me a a signe, that it is thou that talkest with me: 18Departe not hence I pray thee vntyll I come vnto thee, & tyll I bryng myne offring, and haue set it before thee. And he sayd: I will tary vntyll thou come againe.

19And Gedeon went in, and made redy a kyd, and sweete cakes of an Epha of floure, and put it with the fleshe in a basket, and put the broth in a pot, and brought it out vnto him vnder the Oke, and presented it. 20And the angel of God sayd vnto him: Take the flesh and the sweete cakes, & lay them vpon this rocke, and powre out the broth. And he dyd so. 21Then the angel of the Lord put foorth the end of the staffe that he helde in his hande, and touched the fleshe and the sweete cakes, and there arose vp fire out of the rocke, and consumed the flesh and the sweete cakes: But the angel of the Lord departed out of his sight. 22And when Gedeon perceaued that it was an angel of the Lorde, he sayde: Alas, O Lorde God, haue I therfore seene an angel of the Lorde face to face, that I should dye? 23And the Lorde sayd vnto him: Peace be vnto thee, feare not, thou shalt not dye.

24Then Gedeon made an aulter there vnto the Lord, and called it, The Lord of peace. And vnto this day it is yet in Ephrath, that parteyneth vnto the father of the Esrites.

Gideon Destroys Baal’s Altar

25And the same nyght the Lorde sayde vnto him: Take thy fathers young bullocke, & an other bullocke of 7 yeres olde, and destroy the aulter of Baal that thy father hath, and cut downe the groue that is by it: 26And make an aulter vnto the Lord thy God vpon the top of this rocke in a conuenient place, and take the second bullocke, and offer burnt sacrifice vpo the wood of the groue which thou shalt cut downe. 27Then Gedeon toke ten men of his seruauntes, & did as the Lord bad him: But because he feared to do it by daye for his fathers housholde and the men of the citie, he dyd it by nyght.

28And when the men of the citie arose early in the mornyng, beholde the aulter of Baal was broken, & the groue cut downe that was by it, and the seconde bullocke offered vpon the aulter that was made. 29And they sayde one to another: who hath done this thing? And whan they enquered and asked, they sayd: Gedeon ye sonne of Ioas hath done this thing. 30Then the men of the citie sayde vnto Ioas, Bring out thy sonne, that he may dye: because he hath destroyed the aulter of Baal, and cut downe the groue that was by it. 31And Ioas sayd vnto al that stoode by him: Will ye pleade Baals cause? or will ye saue him? He that will contende for him, let him dye or the morning. If he be a God, let him pleade for himselfe agaynst him that hath caste downe his aulter. 32And from that day, was Gedeon called Ierobaal: because his father had sayd, Let Baal pleade for himselfe, because he hath broken downe his aulter.

The Sign of the Fleece

33All the Madianites therfore, and the Amalekites, and they of the east, were gathered together, & went and pytched in the valley of Iesrael: 34But the spirite of the Lorde came vppon Gedeon, and he blewe a trumpet, and Abiezer was ioyned with him. 35And he sent messengers throughout all Manasses, which also was ioyned with him, and he sent messengers vnto Azar, Zabulon, and Nephthalim, and they came to meete them.

36And Gedeon sayd vnto God: Yf thou wilt saue Israel by myne hand, as thou hast sayd: 37Beholde, I wil put a fleece of wool in the treashing place: And if the dewe come on the fleece onely, and it be drye vpon all the earth besyde, then shall I be sure that thou wilt saue Israel by my hand, as thou saydest. 38And it came so to passe: For he rose vp early on the morowe, & thrust the fleece together, and wrong the dewe therout, and fylled a bowle of water. 39And Gedeon sayde agayne vnto God: Be not angry with me, that I speake once more, for I wil proue once agayne by the fleece. Let it be drye onely vpon the fleece, and dewe vpon al the ground. 40And God dyd so that same nyght: For it was drye vpon the fleece only, & there was dewe on all the grounde.