1 ¶ But the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD: and the LORD delivered them into the hand of Midian for seven years.

2 And the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel: and because of the Midianites the children of Israel made for themselves the dens which are in the mountains, and caves, and strong holds.

3 For whenever Israel had sown seed, the Midianites, and the Amalekites, and the people of the east, came up against them;

4 And they encamped against them, and destroyed the crops, as far as Gaza, and left no sustenance for Israel, and no sheep, ox, or donkey.

5 For they would come up with their cattle and their tents, and they came in crowds as numerous as grasshoppers; for both they and their camels could not be counted: and they entered the land to destroy it.

6 And Israel was greatly impoverished because of the Midianites; and the children of Israel cried to the LORD.

7 ¶ And when the children of Israel cried to the LORD because of the Midianites,

8 The LORD sent a prophet to the children of Israel, who said to them, The LORD God of Israel says this, I brought you up from Egypt, and brought you out of the house of bondage;

9 And I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians, and from the hand of all who oppressed you, and drove them out from before you, and gave you their land;

10 And I said to you, I am the LORD your God; do not fear the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell: but you have not obeyed my voice.

11 ¶ Then an angel of the LORD came, and sat under the oak that was at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite: and his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites.

12 And the angel of the LORD appeared to him, and said to him, The LORD is with you, you mighty man of valor.

13 And Gideon said to him, Oh my Lord, if the LORD is with us, why then has all this happened to us? and where are all his miracles which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt? but now the LORD has forsaken us, and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.

14 And the LORD turned to him, and said, Go in this your strength, and you will save Israel from the hand of the Midianites: have I not sent you?

15 And he said to him, Oh my Lord, how shall I save Israel? behold, my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.

16 And the LORD said to him, Surely I will be with you, and you shall strike down the Midianites as one man.

17 And he said to him, If now I have found grace in your sight, then show me a sign that it is you who is talking with me.

18 Do not leave here, I pray you, 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.

19 And Gideon went in, and prepared a kid, and unleavened cakes from an ephah of flour: he put the flesh in a basket, and he put the broth in a pot, and brought it out to him under the oak, and placed it before him.

20 And the angel of God said to him, Take the flesh and the unleavened cakes, and lay them on this rock, and pour the broth over them. And he did so.

21 Then the angel of the LORD reached out the end of the staff that was in his hand, and touched the flesh and the unleavened cakes; and fire rose up out of the rock, and consumed the flesh and the unleavened cakes. Then the angel of the LORD vanished from his sight.

22 And when Gideon understood that he was the angel of the LORD, Gideon said, Alas, O Lord GOD! for now I have seen an angel of the LORD face to face.

23 And the LORD said to him, Peace be to you; do not fear: you will not die.

24 Then Gideon built an altar there to the LORD, and called it Jehovahshalom: to this day it stands in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

25 ¶ And it came to pass the same night, that the LORD said to him, Take your father’s young bull, the second bull which is seven years old, and pull down the altar of Baal that your father has, and cut down the grove that is by it:

26 And build an altar to the LORD your God on the top of this rock, with stones in the proper order, and take the second bull, and offer a burnt sacrifice with the wood of the grove which you shall cut down.

27 Then Gideon took ten of his servants, and did as the LORD had said to him: but because he was afraid of his father’s household, and the men of the city, he did not do it during the day, he did it at night.

28 And when the men of the city got up early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was broken down, and the grove beside it was cut down, and the second bull had been offered upon the altar that was built.

29 And they asked one another, Who has done this? And when they inquired and asked, they were told, Gideon the son of Joash has done this.

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 grove that was by it.

31 And Joash said to all that stood against him, Will you contend for Baal? will you save him? let whoever takes up for him be put to death while it is yet morning: if he is a god, let him defend himself, because one has broken down his altar.

32 Therefore on that day he called Gideon Jerubbaal, saying, Let Baal contend against him, because he has thrown down his altar.

33 ¶ Then all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the people of the east came together, and crossing the Jordan, pitched camp in the valley of Jezreel.

34 But the Spirit of the LORD came upon Gideon, and he sounded a trumpet; and Abiezer gathered to follow him.

35 And he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh; and they also gathered to follow him: and he sent messengers to Asher, and to Zebulun, and to Naphtali; and they came up to meet them.

36 And Gideon said to God, If you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said,

37 Behold, I will put a fleece of wool on the threshing floor; and if the dew is only on the fleece, and the ground beside it is dry, then I will know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said.

38 And it was so: for he rose up early on the next day, and squeezed the dew out of the fleece, wringing from it a bowl full of water.

39 And Gideon said to God, Do not be angry with me, and I will speak but this once: I pray you, let me make one more test with the fleece; now let only the fleece be dry, and let there be dew on all the ground.

40 And God did so that night: for only the fleece was dry, and there was dew on all the ground.