* | bible | * | 7. judges | 6      <   > 

darby
 
1.    And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of Jehovah;  and Jehovah delivered them into the hand of Midian seven years.
 
2.    And the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel. Because of  the Midianites the children of Israel made for themselves the  dens that are in the mountains, and the caves, and the  strongholds.
 
3.    And it came to pass when Israel sowed, that Midian came up,  and Amalek, and the children of the east, and came up against  them.
 
4.    And they encamped against them, and destroyed the produce of  the land, until thou come to Gazah, and they left no sustenance  in Israel, neither sheep, nor ox, nor ass.
 
5.    For they came up with their cattle and their tents, and they  came as locusts for multitude; both they and their camels were  without number; and they entered into the land to destroy it.
 
6.    And Israel was greatly impoverished because of Midian. And  the children of Israel cried to Jehovah.
 
7.    And it came to pass when the children of Israel cried to  Jehovah because of Midian,
 
8.    that Jehovah sent a prophet to the children of Israel, who  said to them, Thus saith Jehovah the God of Israel: I brought  you up from Egypt, and brought you forth out of the house of  bondage;
 
9.    and I delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and  out of the hand of all that oppressed you, and drove them out  from before you, and gave you their land,
 
10.    and I said to you, I am Jehovah your God; fear not the gods  of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell. But ye have not  hearkened to my voice.
 
11.    And an angel of Jehovah came and sat under the terebinth  that was in Ophrah, that belonged to Joash the Abi-ezrite.  And his son Gideon threshed wheat in the winepress, to secure  it from the Midianites.
 
12.    And the Angel of Jehovah appeared to him, and said to him,  Jehovah is with thee, thou mighty man of valour.
 
13.    And Gideon said to him, Ah my Lord, if Jehovah be with us,  why then is all this befallen us? and where are all his  miracles that our fathers told us of, saying, Did not Jehovah  bring us up from Egypt? And now Jehovah hath cast us off, and  given us into the hand of Midian.
 
14.    And Jehovah looked upon him, and said, Go in this thy  might, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of Midian. Have  not I sent thee?
 
15.    And he said to him, Ah Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel?  behold, my thousand is the poorest in Manasseh, and I am the  least in my father`s house.
 
16.    And Jehovah said to him, I will certainly be with thee; and  thou shalt smite Midian as one man.
 
17.    And he said to him, If now I have found favour in thine  eyes, shew me a sign that it is thou who talkest with me.
 
18.    Depart not hence, I pray thee, until I come unto thee, and  bring forth my present, and set it before thee. And he said, I  will tarry until thou come again.
 
19.    And Gideon went in, and made ready a kid of the goats, and  an ephah of flour in unleavened cakes: the flesh 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.
 
20.    And the Angel of God said to him, Take the flesh and the  unleavened cakes, and lay them upon this rock, and pour out the  broth. And he did so.
 
21.    And the Angel of Jehovah put forth the end of the staff  that was in his hand, and touched the flesh and the unleavened  cakes; and there rose up fire out of the rock, and consumed the  flesh and the unleavened cakes. And the Angel of Jehovah  departed out of his sight.
 
22.    And Gideon perceived that he was an angel of Jehovah; and  Gideon said, Alas, Lord Jehovah! for because I have seen an  angel of Jehovah face to face ...
 
23.    And Jehovah said to him, Peace be unto thee: fear not; thou  shalt not die.
 
24.    And Gideon built there an altar to Jehovah, and called it  Jehovah-shalom. To this day it is yet in Ophrah of the  Abi-ezrites.
 
25.    And it came to pass the same night, that Jehovah said to  him, Take the young bullock, which thy father hath, even the  second bullock of seven years old, and throw down the altar of  Baal that thy father hath, and cut down the Asherah that is by  it;
 
26.    and build an altar to Jehovah thy God upon the top of this  strong place in the ordered manner, and take the second  bullock, and offer up a burnt-offering with the wood of the  Asherah that thou shalt cut down.
 
27.    And Gideon took ten men of his servants, and did as Jehovah  had said to him. And it came to pass, because he feared his  father`s house, and the men of the city, if he did it by day,  that he did it by night.
 
28.    And 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 bullock was offered up  upon the altar that was built.
 
29.    And they said one to another, Who has done this thing? And  when they inquired and asked, they said, Gideon the son of  Joash has done this thing.
 
30.    And the men of the city said to Joash, Bring out thy 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.
 
31.    And Joash said to all that stood near him, Will ye  contend for Baal? or will ye save him? he that contends for  him, let him be put to death whilst it is yet morning. If he be  a god, let him plead for himself, because they have broken down  his altar.
 
32.    And on that day they called him Jerubbaal, saying, Let Baal  plead with him, because he has broken down his altar.
 
33.    And all Midian and Amalek and the children of the east were  gathered together, and went over, and encamped in the valley of  Jezreel.
 
34.    And the Spirit of Jehovah came upon Gideon, and he blew the  trumpet, and the Abi-ezrites were gathered after him.
 
35.    And he sent messengers throughout Manasseh, and they also  were gathered after 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 thou wilt save Israel by my  hand, as thou hast said,
 
37.    behold, I put a fleece of wool on the threshing-floor; if  dew shall be on the fleece only, and it be dry upon all the  ground, then shall I know that thou wilt save Israel by my  hand, as thou hast said.
 
38.    And it was so. And when he rose up early on the morrow, he  pressed the fleece together, and wrung dew out of the fleece, a  bowl-full of water.
 
39.    And Gideon said to God, Let not thine anger be hot against  me, and I will speak but this once! Let me prove, I pray thee,  but this once with the fleece; let it, I pray thee, be dry upon  the fleece only, and upon all the ground let there be dew.
 
40.    And God did so that night, and it was dry upon the fleece  only, but on all the ground there was dew.