Midian Oppresses Israel

1And the sons of Israel will do evil in the eyes of Jehovah, and Jehovah will give them into the hand of Midian seven years. 2And the hand of Midian will be strong upon Israel: from the face of Midian the sons of Israel made to them clefts which are in the mountains, and caves and fastnesses. 3And it was if Israel sowed, and Midian came up, and Amalek, and the sons of the east, and they came up against him: 4And they will encamp against them, and they will destroy the produce of the land even to thy coming to Gaza; and they will not leave means of life in Israel, and sheep and ox and ass. 5For they and their cattle will come up, and their tents will come, as an abundance of locusts for multitude; and to them and to their camels no number: and they will come into the land to destroy it. 6And Israel will be enfeebled from the face of Midian; and the sons of Israel will cry to Jehovah.

7And it will be when the sons of Israel cried to Jehovah on account of Midian, 8And Jehovah will send forth a man, a prophet, to the sons of Israel, and he will say to them, Thus said Jehovah the God of Israel, I brought you up from Egypt, and I will bring you out of the house of servants; 9And I will deliver you from the hand of Egypt, and from the hand of all pressing you, and I will drive them out from your face, and I will give to you their land; 10And saying to you, I am Jehovah your God; ye shall not fear the Gods of the Amorites which ye will dwell in their land: and ye heard not to my voice.

The Call of Gideon

11And a messenger of Jehovah will come and sit under an oak which is in Ophrah, which is to Joash, father of Ezri: and Gideon his son threshed wheat in the wine press to place in safety from the face of Midian. 12And the messenger of Jehovah will be seen to him, and he will say to him, Jehovah is with thee, thou mighty of strength. 13And Gideon will say to him With leave, my Lord, and Jehovah be; with us, and wherefore did all this find us? and where all his wonderful things which our fathers recounted to us, saying, Did not Jehovah bring us up out of Egypt? and now Jehovah cast us off, and he will give us into the hand of Midian. 14And Jehovah will turn to him and say, Go in this thy strength and save Israel from the hand of Midian: did I not send thee? 15And he will say to him, With leave, my Lord, by what shall I save Israel? behold, my thousand destitute in Manasseh, and I the least in my father's house. 16And Jehovah will say to him, For I will be with thee, and strike thou Midian as one man.

17And he will say to him, If now I found grace in thine eyes, and do to me a sign that thou speakest with me. 18Now thou shalt not depart from here till my coming to thee, and I brought forth my gift and set it before thee. And he will say, I will remain till thy turning back.

19And Gideon went in, and he will do a kid of the goats, and an ephah of flour of unleavened: the flesh he put in a basket, and he put the broth in a pot, and he will bring forth to him under the oak and will bring near. 20And the messenger of God will say to him, Take the flesh and the unleavened and lay upon this rock, and pour out the broth. And he will do so. 21And the messenger of Jehovah will stretch forth the extremity of the staff which in his hand, and will touch upon the flesh and on the unleavened; and fire will rise up from the rock and will consume the flesh and the unleavened. And the messenger of Jehovah went from his eyes. 22And Gideon will see that he a messenger of Jehovah; and Gideon will say, Ah, Lord Jehovah! for on account that I saw a messenger of Jehovah face to face. 23And Jehovah will say to him, Peace to thee; thou shalt not fear; thou shalt not die.

24And Gideon will build there an altar to Jehovah, and he will call to him Jehovah-peace: till this day and it yet in Ophrah of the father of Edrei.

Gideon Destroys Baal’s Altar

25And it will be in that night Jehovah will say to him, Take a bullock of the oxen which is to thy father, and the second bullock of seven years, and break in pieces the altar of Baal, which is to thy father, and the wooden pillar which is upon it thou shalt cut down; 26And build an altar to Jehovah thy God upon the head of this strong place, in order, and take the second bullock and bring up a burnt-offering upon the wood of the wooden pillar which thou shalt cut down. 27And Gideon will take ten men of his servants, and he will do as Jehovah spake to him: and it will be as he will fear the house of his father and the men of the city doing in the day, and he will do in the night.

28And the men of the city will rise early in the morning, and behold, the altar of Baal thrown down, and the wooden pillar which is upon it cut down, and the second bullock brought up upon the altar having been built. 29And they will say a man to his neighbor, Who did this word? And they will enquire and search, and they will say, Gideon, son of Joash did this word. 30And the men of the city will say to Joash, Bring forth thy son and he shall die: for he threw down the altar of Baal, and because he cut down the wooden pillar which is upon it. 31And Joash will say to all who stood against him, Will ye contend for Baal? or will ye save him? whoever will contend for him shall die during the morning: if he is a god he will be mighty for himself, for he threw down his altar. 32And he will call to him in that day, Baal will be powerful, saying, Baal will be mighty against him because he threw down his altar.

The Sign of the Fleece

33And all Midian and Amalek, and the sons of the east were gathered together, and they will pass over and they will encamp in the valley of Jezreel. 34And the spirit of Jehovah clothed Gideon, and he will strike upon the trumpet; and Abiezer will be called after him. 35And he sent messengers in all Manasseh; and he also will be called after him: and he sent messengers in Asher, and in Zebulon, and in Naphtali; and they will come up to meet them.

36And Gideon will say to God, If thou art saving Israel by my hand, as thou spakest, 37Behold me putting a fleece of wool in the threshing-floor, and if the dew shall be upon the fleece only, and upon all the earth dryness, and I knew that thou wilt save Israel by my hand as thou spakest. 38And it will be so: and he will rise early upon the morrow, and he will press the fleece together, and the dew will press out from the fleece, a bowl full of water. 39And Gideon will say to God, Thine anger will not kindle against me, and I will speak but this once: I will try now only this once upon the fleece; there shall be dryness to the fleece alone, and upon all the earth shall be dew. 40And God will do so in that night: and there will be dryness to the fleece only, and upon all the earth was dew.