Judges 6:11-24 ▼

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.

22 When Gideon (hewer) realized that it was the angel of the LORD {YHWH}, he said, “Oh no, Lord GOD {Adonai YHWH}! I have seen the angel of the LORD face to face!”

23 But the LORD {YHWH} said to him, “Peace be with you. Do not be afraid, for you will not die.”

24 So Gideon (hewer) built an altar to the LORD {YHWH} there and called it The LORD Is Peace {YHWH Shalom}. To this day it stands in Ophrah (fawn) of the Abiezrites (my father is help).