Midian Oppresses Israel

1And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord gave them into the hand of Madiam seven years. 2And the hand of Madiam prevailed against Israel: and the children of Israel made for themselves because of Madiam the caves in the mountains, and the dens, and the holes in the rocks. 3And it came to pass when the children of Israel sowed, that Madiam and Amalec went up, and the children of the east went up together with them. 4And they encamped against them, and destroyed their fruits until they came to Gaza; and they left not the support of life in the land of Israel, not even ox or ass among the herds. 5For they and their stock came up, and their tents were with them, as the locust in multitude, and there was no number to them and their camels; and they came to the land of Israel, and laid it waste. 6And Israel was greatly impoverished because of Madiam.

7And the children of Israel cried to the Lord because of Madiam. 8And the Lord sent a prophet to the children of Israel; and he said to them, Thus says the Lord God of Israel, I am he that brought you up out of the land of Egypt, and I brought you up out of the house of your bondage. 9And I delivered you out of the hand of Egypt, and out of the hand of all that afflicted you, and I cast them out before you; and I gave you their land. 10And I said to you, I am the Lord your God: ye shall not fear the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell; but ye hearkened not to my voice.

The Call of Gideon

11And an angel of the Lord came, and sat down under the fir tree, which was in Ephratha in the land of Joas father of Esdri; and Gedeon his son was threshing wheat in a wine-press in order to escape from the face of Madiam. 12And the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, The Lord is with thee, thou mighty in strength. 13And Gedeon said to him, Be gracious with me, my Lord: but if the Lord is with us, why have these evils found us? and where are all his miracles, which our fathers have related to us, saying, Did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt? and now he has cast us out, and given us into the hand of Madiam. 14And the angel of the Lord turned to him, and said, Go in this thy strength, and thou shalt save Israel out of the hand of Madiam: behold, I have sent thee. 15And Gedeon said to him, Be gracious with me, my Lord: whereby shall I save Israel? behold, my thousand is weakened in Manasse, and I am the least in my father's house. 16And the angel of the Lord said to him, The Lord shall be with thee, and thou shalt smite Madiam as one man.

17And Gedeon said to him, If now I have found mercy in thine eyes, and thou wilt do this day for me all that thou hast spoken of with me, 18depart not hence until I come to thee, and I will bring forth an offering and offer it before thee: and he said, I will remain until thou return.

19And Gedeon went in, and prepared a kid of the goats, and an ephah of fine flour unleavened; and he put the flesh in the basket, and poured the broth into the pot, and brought them forth to him under the turpentine tree, and drew nigh. 20And the angel of God said to him, Take the flesh and the unleavened cakes, and put them on that rock, and pour out the broth close by: and he did so. 21And the angel of the Lord stretched out the end of the rod that was in his hand, and touched the flesh and the unleavened bread; and fire came up out of the rock, and consumed the flesh and the unleavened bread, and the angel of the Lord vanished from his sight. 22And Gedeon saw that he was an angel of the Lord; and Gedeon said, Ah, ah, Lord my God! for I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face. 23And the Lord said to him, Peace be to thee, fear not, thou shalt not die.

24And Gedeon built there an altar to the Lord, and called it The peace of the Lord, until this day, as it is still in Ephratha of the father of Esdri.

Gideon Destroys Baal’s Altar

25And it came to pass in that night, that the Lord said to him, Take the young bullock which thy father has, even the second bullock of seven years old, and thou shalt destroy the altar of Baal which thy father has, and the grove which is by it thou shalt destroy. 26And thou shalt build an altar to the Lord thy God on the top of this Maozi in the ordering it, and thou shalt take the second bullock, and shalt offer up whole-burnt-offerings with the wood of the grove, which thou shalt destroy. 27And Gedeon took ten men of his servants, and did as the Lord spoke to him: and it came to pass, as he feared the house of his father and the men of the city if he should do it by day, that he did it by night.

28And the men of the city rose up early in the morning; and behold, the altar of Baal had been demolished, and the grove by it had been destroyed; and they saw the second bullock, which Gedeon offered on the altar that had been built. 29And a man said to his neighbour, Who has done this thing? and they enquired and searched, and learnt that Gedeon the son of Joas had done this thing. 30And the men of the city said to Joas, Bring out thy son, and let him die, because he has destroyed the altar of Baal, and because he has destroyed the grove that is by it. 31And Gedeon the son of Joas said to all the men who rose up against him, Do ye now plead for Baal, or will ye save him? whoever will plead for him, let him be slain this morning: if he be a god let him plead for himself, because one has thrown down his altar. 32And he called it in that day Jerobaal, saying, Let Baal plead thereby, because his altar has been thrown down.

The Sign of the Fleece

33And all Madiam, and Amalek, and the sons of the east gathered themselves together, and encamped in the valley of Jezrael. 34And the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gedeon, and he blew with the horn, and Abiezer came to help after him. 35And Gedeon sent messengers into all Manasse, and into Aser, and into Zabulon, and into Nephthali; and he went up to meet them.

36And Gedeon said to God, If thou wilt save Israel by my hand, as thou hast said, 37behold, I put the fleece of wool in the threshing-floor: if there be dew on the fleece only, and drought on all the ground, I shall know that thou wilt save Israel by my hand, as thou hast said. 38And it was so: and he rose up early in the morning, and wrung the fleece, and dew dropped from the fleece, a bowl full of water. 39And Gedeon said to God, Let not, I pray thee, thine anger be kindled with me, and I will speak yet once; I will even yet make one trial more with the fleece: let now the drought be upon the fleece only, and let there be dew on all the ground. 40And God did so in that night; and there was drought on the fleece only, and on all the ground there was dew.