Judges 6:22-40 ▼

22 And when Gedeon perceaued that it was an angel of the Lorde, he sayde: Alas, O Lorde God, haue I therfore seene an angel of the Lorde face to face, that I should dye?

23 And the Lorde sayd vnto him: Peace be vnto thee, feare not, thou shalt not dye.

24 Then Gedeon made an aulter there vnto the Lord, and called it, The Lord of peace. And vnto this day it is yet in Ephrath, that parteyneth vnto the father of the Esrites.

25 And the same nyght the Lorde sayde vnto him: Take thy fathers young bullocke, & an other bullocke of 7 yeres olde, and destroy the aulter of Baal that thy father hath, and cut downe the groue that is by it:

26 And make an aulter vnto the Lord thy God vpon the top of this rocke in a conuenient place, and take the second bullocke, and offer burnt sacrifice vpo the wood of the groue which thou shalt cut downe.

27 Then Gedeon toke ten men of his seruauntes, & did as the Lord bad him: But because he feared to do it by daye for his fathers housholde and the men of the citie, he dyd it by nyght.

28 And when the men of the citie arose early in the mornyng, beholde the aulter of Baal was broken, & the groue cut downe that was by it, and the seconde bullocke offered vpon the aulter that was made.

29 And they sayde one to another: who hath done this thing? And whan they enquered and asked, they sayd: Gedeon ye sonne of Ioas hath done this thing.

30 Then the men of the citie sayde vnto Ioas, Bring out thy sonne, that he may dye: because he hath destroyed the aulter of Baal, and cut downe the groue that was by it.

31 And Ioas sayd vnto al that stoode by him: Will ye pleade Baals cause? or will ye saue him? He that will contende for him, let him dye or the morning. If he be a God, let him pleade for himselfe agaynst him that hath caste downe his aulter.

32 And from that day, was Gedeon called Ierobaal: because his father had sayd, Let Baal pleade for himselfe, because he hath broken downe his aulter.

33 All the Madianites therfore, and the Amalekites, and they of the east, were gathered together, & went and pytched in the valley of Iesrael:

34 But the spirite of the Lorde came vppon Gedeon, and he blewe a trumpet, and Abiezer was ioyned with him.

35 And he sent messengers throughout all Manasses, which also was ioyned with him, and he sent messengers vnto Azar, Zabulon, and Nephthalim, and they came to meete them.

36 And Gedeon sayd vnto God: Yf thou wilt saue Israel by myne hand, as thou hast sayd:

37 Beholde, I wil put a fleece of wool in the treashing place: And if the dewe come on the fleece onely, and it be drye vpon all the earth besyde, then shall I be sure that thou wilt saue Israel by my hand, as thou saydest.

38 And it came so to passe: For he rose vp early on the morowe, & thrust the fleece together, and wrong the dewe therout, and fylled a bowle of water.

39 And Gedeon sayde agayne vnto God: Be not angry with me, that I speake once more, for I wil proue once agayne by the fleece. Let it be drye onely vpon the fleece, and dewe vpon al the ground.

40 And God dyd so that same nyght: For it was drye vpon the fleece only, & there was dewe on all the grounde.