Judges - Chapter 6

6:1 Then the land had rest forty years. The B'nai Yisrael did that which was evil in the sight of Mar-Yah: and Mar-Yah delivered them into the hand of Midian seven years. 6:2 The hand of Midian prevailed against Yisrael; and because of Midian the B'nai Yisrael made them the dens which are in the mountains, and the caves, and the strongholds. 6:3 So it was, when Yisrael had sown, that the Midianites came up, and the Amalekites, and the children of the east; they came up against them; 6:4 and they encamped against them, and destroyed the increase of the earth, until you come to Gaza, and left no sustenance in Yisrael, neither sheep, nor ox, nor donkey. 6:5 For they came up with their livestock and their tents; they came in as locusts for multitude; both they and their camels were without number: and they came into the land to destroy it. 6:6 Yisrael was brought very low because of Midian; and the B'nai Yisrael cried to Mar-Yah.

6:7 It happened, when the B'nai Yisrael cried to Mar-Yah because of Midian, 6:8 that Mar-Yah sent a prophet to the B'nai Yisrael: and he said to them, "Thus says Mar-Yah, the God of Yisrael, 'I brought you up from Egypt, and brought you forth out of the house of bondage; 6:9 and I delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of all who oppressed you, and drove them out from before you, and gave you their land; 6:10 and I said to you, "I am Mar-Yah your God; you shall not fear the deities of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell." But you have not listened to my voice.'"

6:11 The angel of Mar-Yah came, and sat under the oak which was in Ophrah, that pertained to Joash the Abiezrite: and his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites. 6:12 The angel of Mar-Yah appeared to him, and said to him, "Mar-Yah is with you, you mighty man of valour!"

6:13 Gideon said to him, "Oh, my lord, if Mar-Yah is with us, why then has all this happened to us? Where are all his wondrous works which our fathers told us of, saying, 'did not Mar-Yah bring us up from Egypt?' But now Mar-Yah has cast us off, and delivered us into the hand of Midian."

6:14 Mar-Yah looked at him, and said, "Go in this your might, and save Yisrael from the hand of Midian. Haven't I sent you?"

6:15 He said to him, "O Adon*, how shall I save Yisrael? Behold, my family is the poorest in Manasseh, and I am the least in the house of my father."

6:16 Mar-Yah said to him, "Surely I will be with you, and you shall strike the Midianites as one man."

6:17 He said to him, "If now I have found favour in your sight, then show me a sign that it is you who talk with me. 6:18 Please do not go away, until I come to you, and bring out my present, and lay it before you." He said, "I will wait until you come back."

6:19 Gideon went in, and prepared a young goat, and unleavened cakes of an ephah of meal. He put the meat in a basket and he put the broth in a pot, and brought it out to him under the oak, and presented it.

6:20 The angel of God said to him, "Take the meat and the unleavened cakes, and lay them on this rock, and pour out the broth." 6:21 After doing so, the the angel of Mar-Yah stretched out the end of the staff that was in his hand, and touched the meat and the unleavened cakes; and fire went up out of the rock, and consumed the meat and the unleavened cakes; and the angel of Mar-Yah departed out of his sight.

6:22 Gideon saw that he was the angel of Mar-Yah; and Gideon said, "Alas, Lord Mar-Yah! Because I have seen the angel of Mar-Yah face to face!" 6:23 Mar-Yah said to him, "Peace be to you! Do not be afraid. You shall not die." 6:24 Then Gideon built an altar there to Mar-Yah, and called it "Mar-Yah is Peace." To this day it is still in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

6:25 It happened the same night, that Mar-Yah said to him, "Take the bull of your father, even the second bull seven years old, and throw down the altar of Baal that your father has, and cut down the Asherah that is by it; 6:26 and build an altar to Mar-Yah your God on the top of this stronghold, in an orderly way, and take the second bull, and offer a burnt offering with the wood of the Asherah which you shall cut down."

6:27 Then Gideon took ten men of his servants, and did as Mar-Yah had spoken to him: and it happened, because he feared his father's household and the men of the city, so that he could not do it by day, that he did it by night.

6:28 When the men of the city arose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was broken down, and the Asherah was cut down that was by it, and the second bull was offered on the altar that was built. 6:29 They said one to another, "Who has done this thing?" When they inquired and asked, they said, "Gideon the son of Joash has done this thing."

6:30 Then the men of the city said to Joash, "Bring out your son, that he may die, because he has broken down the altar of Baal, and because he has cut down the Asherah that was by it." 6:31 Joash said to all who stood against him, "Will you contend for Baal? Or will you save him? He who will contend for him, let him be put to death by morning. If he is a god, let him contend for himself, because someone has broken down his altar." 6:32 Therefore on that day he named him Jerub-Baal, saying, "Let Baal contend against him, because he has broken down his altar."

6:33 Then all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the children of the east assembled themselves together; and they passed over, and encamped in the valley of Jezreel. 6:34 But the Spirit of Mar-Yah came on Gideon; and he blew a trumpet; and Abiezer was gathered together after him. 6:35 He sent messengers throughout all Manasseh; and they also were gathered together after him: and he sent messengers to Asher, and to Zebulun, and to Naphtali; and they came up to meet them.

6:36 Gideon said to God, "If you will save Yisrael by my hand, as you have spoken, 6:37 behold, I will put 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 shall I know that you will save Yisrael by my hand, as you have spoken."

6:38 It was so; for he rose up early on the next day, and pressed the fleece together, and wrung the dew out of the fleece, a bowl full of water.

6:39 Gideon said to God, "Do not let your anger be kindled against me, and I will speak but this once. Please let me make a trial just this once with the fleece. Let it now be dry only on the fleece, and on all the ground let there be dew." 6:40 God did so that night: for it was dry on the fleece only, and there was dew on all the ground.