Judges 6 · שופטים

And the children of Yisra᾽el did evil in the sight of the Lord: and the Lord delivered them into the hand of Midyan for seven years.

And the hand of Midyan prevailed against Yisra᾽el: and because of Midyan the children of Yisra᾽el made for themselves the tunnels which are in the mountains, and caves, and strongholds.

And so it was, when Yisra᾽el had sown, that Midyan and ῾Amaleq, and the children of the east, came up against them;

and they encamped against them, and destroyed the produce of the earth, as far as ῾Azza, and left no sustenance for Yisra᾽el, neither sheep, nor ox, nor ass.

For they came up with their cattle and their tents, and they came like locusts for multitude; for both they and their camels were without number: and they entered into the land to destroy it.

And Yisra᾽el was greatly impoverished because of Midyan; and the children of Yisra᾽el cried to the Lord.

And it came to pass, when the children of Yisra᾽el cried to the Lord because of Midyan,

that the Lord sent a prophet to the children of Yisra᾽el, who said to them, Thus says the Lord God of Yisra᾽el, I brought you up from Miżrayim, and brought you out of the house of slaves;

and I delivered you out of the hand of Miżrayim, and out of the hand of all those that oppressed you, and drove them out before you, and gave you their land;

and I said to you, I am the Lord your God; fear not the gods of the Emori, in whose land you dwell: but you did not obey my voice.

And there came an angel of the Lord, and sat under the terebinth which was in ῾Ofra, that belonged to Yo᾽ash the Avi-῾ezri: and his son Gid῾on was threshing wheat by the winepress, to hide it from Midyan.

And the angel of the Lord appeared to him, and said to him, The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valour.

And Gid῾on said to him, Oh my Lord, if the Lord be with us, why then has all this befallen us? and where are all his miracles which our fathers told us of saying, Did not the Lord bring us up from Miżrayim? but now the Lord has forsaken us, and delivered us into the hand of Midyan.

And the Lord turned to him, and said, Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Yisra᾽el from the hand of Midyan: have not I sent thee?

And he said to him, Oh my Lord, with what shall I save Yisra᾽el? behold, my family is the poorest in Menashshe, and I am the youngest in my father’s house.

And the Lord said to him, Surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite Midyan as one man.

And he said to him, If now I have found favour in Thy sight, then show me a sign that it is thou who talkest with me.

Depart not from here, I pray thee, until I come to thee, and bring forth my present, and set it before thee. And he said, I will remain until thou come again.

And Gid῾on went in, and made ready a kid, and unleavened cakes of an efa of flour: the meat he put in a basket, and he put the broth in a pot, and brought it out to him under the terebinth, and presented it.

And the angel of God said to him, Take the meat and the unleavened cakes, and lay them upon this rock, and pour out the broth. And he did so.

Then the angel of the Lord stretched out the end of the staff that was in his hand, and touched the meat and the unleavened cakes; and the fire rose up out of the rock, and consumed the meat and the unleavened cakes. Then the angel of the Lord departed out of his sight.

And when Gid῾on perceived that he was an angel of the Lord, Gid῾on said, Alas, O Lord God! because I have surely seen an angel of the Lord face to face.

And the Lord said to him, Peace be to thee; fear not: thou shalt not die.

Then Gid῾on built an altar there to the Lord, and called it Adonay-shalom: to this day it is yet in ῾Ofra of the Avi-῾ezri.

And it came to pass the same night, that the Lord said to him, Take thy father’s young bullock, and the second bullock of seven years old, and throw down the altar of Ba῾al that thy father has, and cut down the Ashera that is by it:

and build an altar to the Lord thy God upon the top of this strong point, on the level place, and take the second bullock, and offer a burnt sacrifice with the wood of the Ashera which thou shalt cut down.

Then Gid῾on took ten men of his servants, and did as the Lord had said to him: and since he feared his father’s household, and the men of the city, he could not do it by day, but he did it by night.

And when the men of the city arose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Ba῾al was pulled down, and the Ashera that was by it, was cut down, and the second bullock was offered upon the altar that was built.

And they said one to another, Who has done this thing? And when they inquired and asked, they said, Gid῾on the son of Yo᾽ash has done this thing.

Then the men of the city said to Yo᾽ash, Bring out thy son, that he may die: because he has pulled down the altar of Ba῾al, and because he has cut down the Ashera that was by it.

And Yo᾽ash said to all that stood against him, Will you plead on behalf of Ba῾al? will you save him? he that will plead for him, let him be put to death before morning: if he be a god, let him plead for himself, that his altar has been pulled down.

Therefore on that day he called him Yerubba῾al, saying, Let Ba῾al plead against him, because he has pulled down his altar.

Then all Midyan and ῾Amaleq and the children of the east were gathered together, and went over, and pitched in the valley of Yizre᾽el.

But the spirit of the Lord clothed Gid῾on, and he blew a shofar; and Avi-῾ezer mustered behind him.

And he sent messengers throughout all Menashshe; who also mustered behind him: and he sent messengers to Asher, and to Zevulun, and to Naftali; and they came up to meet them.

And Gid῾on said to God, If Thou wilt save Yisra᾽el by my hand, as Thou hast said,

behold, I will put a fleece of wool on the threshing floor; and if there be dew on the fleece only, and it be dry on all the ground elsewhere, then shall I know that Thou wilt save Yisra᾽el by my hand, as Thou hast said,

And it was so: for he rose up early on the morrow, and pressed the fleece together, and wrung the dew out of the fleece, a bowl full of water.

And Gid῾on said to God, Let not Thy anger burn against me, and I will speak but this once: let me prove, I pray Thee, but this once with the fleece; let it now be dry only upon the fleece, and upon all the ground let there be dew.

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