Judges 6:1-21 ▼

1 Again the Israelites (God prevails) did evil in the sight of the LORD {YHWH}; so He delivered them into the hand of Midian (strife) for seven years,

2 and the hand of Midian (strife) prevailed against Israel (he wrestles with God). Because of the Midianites, the Israelites prepared shelters for themselves in the mountains, caves, and strongholds.

3 Whenever the Israelites (God prevails) planted their crops, the Midianites (strife), Amalekites (dwellers in a valley), and other people of the east would come up and invade them,

4 encamping against them as far as Gaza (the strong) and destroying the produce of the land. They left Israel (he wrestles with God) with no sustenance, neither sheep nor oxen nor donkeys.

5 For the Midianites came with their livestock and their tents like a great swarm of locusts. They and their camels were innumerable, and they entered the land to ravage it.

6 Israel (he wrestles with God) was greatly impoverished by Midian (strife), and the Israelites cried out to the LORD {YHWH}.

7 Now when the Israelites (God prevails) cried out to the LORD {YHWH} because of Midian (strife),

8 He {YHWH} sent them (he wrestles with God) a prophet, who told them, “This is what the LORD, the God {Elohe} of Israel, says: I brought you⁺ up out of Egypt (land of bondage), out of the house of slavery.

9 I delivered you⁺ out of the hands of Egypt (double straits) and all your⁺ oppressors. I drove them out before you⁺ and gave you⁺ their land.

10 And I said to you⁺: ‘I am the LORD your⁺ God {YHWH Eloheikem}. You⁺ must not fear (worship) the gods of the Amorites (sayers), in whose land you⁺ dwell.’ But you⁺ did not obey Me.”

11 Then the angel (Angel) of the LORD {YHWH} came and sat down under the oak (terebinth) in Ophrah (fawn) that belonged to Joash (given by the Lord) the Abiezrite (my father is help), where his son Gideon (hewer) was threshing wheat in a winepress to hide it from the Midianites (strife).

12 And the angel of the LORD {YHWH} appeared to Gideon and said, “The LORD is with you, O mighty man of valor.”

13 “Please, my Lord,” Gideon (hewer) replied, “if the LORD {YHWH} is with us, why has all this happened to us? And where are all His wonders of which our fathers told us, saying, ‘Has not the LORD brought us up out of Egypt (land of bondage)?’ But now the LORD has forsaken us and delivered us into the hand of Midian (strife).”

14 The LORD [The angel of the LORD] turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel (he wrestles with God) from the hand of Midian (strife). Am I not sending you?”

15 “Please, my Lord {Adonai},” Gideon replied, “how can I save Israel (he wrestles with God)? Indeed, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh (causing to forget), and I am the youngest in my father’s house.”

16 “Surely I will be with you,” the LORD {YHWH} replied, “and you will strike down all the Midianites (strife) as one man.”

17 Gideon answered, “If I have found favor in Your sight, give me a sign that it is You speaking with me.

18 Please do not depart from this place until I return to You. Let me bring my offering and set it before You.” And the LORD said, “I will stay until you return.”

19 So Gideon (hewer) went in and prepared a young goat and unleavened bread and an ephah of flour <20 qt / 22 l>. He placed the meat in a basket and the broth in a pot and brought them out to present to Him under the oak.

20 And the angel of God {Elohim} said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened bread, lay them on this rock, and pour out the broth.” And Gideon did so.

21 Then the angel of the LORD {YHWH} extended the tip of the staff that was in his hand and touched the meat and the unleavened bread. And fire flared from the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened bread. Then the angel of the LORD vanished from his sight.