1And the sons of Israel did the evil in the eyes of the LORD, and the LORD gave them into the hand of Midian seven years.2And the hand of Midian was strong upon Israel; from the face of Midian the sons of Israel made for themselves the caves which are in the mountains, and the caves, and the strongholds.3And it was, if Israel sowed, then Midian and Amalek and the sons of the East ascended and they came up against him.4And they camped against them and ruined the produce of the land as far as your coming to Gaza, and they left no recovery in Israel, neither sheep, nor cattle, nor donkey.5For they and their livestock came up, and their tents came, and they came like locusts in abundance, and to them and to their camels there was no number, and they came into the land to ruin it.6And Israel languished much from the face of Midian, and the sons of Israel cried out to the LORD.7And it was when the sons of Israel cried out to the LORD on account of Midian.8And the LORD sent a man, a prophet, to the sons of Israel, and he said to them, "Thus said the LORD, the God of Israel: I, I brought you up from Egypt, and I brought you out from the house of servants."9And I rescued you from the hand of the Egyptian and from the hand of all your oppressors, and I drove them out from before you, and I gave you their land.10And I said to you, "I am the LORD your God; you shall not fear the God of the Amorite in whose land you are dwelling, and you did not hear my voice."11And the messenger of the LORD came and sat under the oak which is in Ophrah, which belongs to Joash the Abiezrite, and Gideon his son was beating wheat in the wine press to hide from the face of Midian.12And the messenger of the LORD appeared to him and said to him, "The LORD is with you, mighty man of valor."13And Gideon said to him, "Please, my lord, if the LORD is with us, then why has all this found us, and where are all his wonders which our fathers recounted to us, saying, 'Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt?' And now the LORD has left us and has given us into the hand of Midian."14And the LORD turned to him and said, "Go in this your strength and you shall save Israel from the hand of Midian; have I not sent you?"15And Gideon said to him, "Please, my lord, with what shall I save Israel? Behold, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in the house of my father."16And the LORD said to him, "For I will be with you, and you shall smite Midian like one man."17And he said, "If now I have found favor in your eyes, then you shall make for me a sign that you are speaking with me."18And he said, "Please do not depart from here until I come to you and bring out my offering and set it before you." And he said, "I will sit until you return."19And Gideon came and prepared a kid of goats and an ephah of flour as unleavened bread; the flesh he set in the basket, and the broth he set in the pot, and he brought it out to him under the oak and approached.20And the messenger of God said to him, "Take the flesh and the unleavened bread and set them on this rock, and pour out the broth." And he did so.21And the messenger of the LORD extended the tip of the staff that was in his hand and touched the flesh and the unleavened bread, and fire rose from the rock and consumed the flesh and the unleavened bread; and the messenger of the LORD vanished from his sight.22And Gideon saw that he was the messenger of the LORD, and Gideon said, "Alas, my lord LORD, for I have seen the messenger of the LORD face to face."23And the LORD said to him, "Peace to you; do not fear, you shall not die."24And Gideon built there an altar to the LORD and called it "The LORD is Peace." It is still in Ophrah of the Abiezrite to this day.25And it was that night, and the LORD said to him, "Take the bullock of the cattle which belongs to your father, and the second bullock of seven years, and overthrow the altar of Baal which belongs to your father, and cut down the Asherah which is upon it."26And you shall build an altar to the LORD your God upon the top of this stronghold in an orderly manner, and you shall take the second bullock and you shall offer a burnt offering with the wood of the Asherah which you shall cut.27And Gideon took ten men from his servants and did as the LORD spoke to him; and because he feared the house of his father and the men of the city, he did it by night rather than by day.28And the men of the city rose early in the morning, and behold, the altar of Baal was torn down, and the Asherah which was upon it was cut down, and the second bullock was offered on the built altar.29And they said one to another, "Who did this thing?" And they sought and sought, and they said, "Gideon son of Joash did this thing."30And the men of the city said to Joash, "Bring out your son and he shall die, for he tore down the altar of Baal and because he cut the Asherah which was upon it."31And Joash said to all who stood upon him, "Will you contend for Baal? If you will save him, let him who contends for him die until the morning; if he is God, let him contend for himself, for he tore down his altar."32And he called him in that day Jerubbaal, saying, "Let Baal contend in him, for he tore down his altar."33And all Midian and Amalek and the sons of the East gathered together and passed and camped in the valley of Jezreel.34And the spirit of the LORD clothed Gideon, and he blew the trumpet, and Abiezer was called after him.35And he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh, and they also were called after him; and he sent messengers to Asher and to Zebulun and to Naphtali, and they went up to meet them.36And Gideon said to God, "If you are saving Israel by my hand, as you spoke."37"Behold, I am setting the fleece of wool on the threshing floor; if there is dew on the fleece alone and drought on all the land, then I shall know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you spoke."38And it was so. He rose early the next morning and pressed the fleece, and he drained dew from the fleece, the fullness of a bowl of water.39And Gideon said to God, "Do not be incensed against me, and I will speak; surely this once I will test, please, only this once with the fleece: let it be, please, drought to the fleece alone, and upon all the land let there be dew."40And God did so in that night, and it was drought to the fleece alone and upon all the land there was dew.