Judges 6:22-40 ▼

22 And when Gideon perceived that he was an angel of the LORD, Gideon said, Alas, O LORD God! for I have seen the angel of the LORD face to face.

23 And the LORD said to him, Peace be unto you; fear not; you shall not die.

24 Then Gideon built an altar there to the LORD, and called it Mariah-shalama; and to this day it still stands in Ophrah, the town of the father of Azri.

25 And it came to pass on that day, the LORD said to him, Take your father's bullock, and the second bullock seven years old, and pull down the altar of Baal, the idol of your father, and cut down the grove that is by it;

26 And build an altar to the LORD your God upon the top of this rock, in an orderly manner, and take the second bullock, and offer it upon it as a burnt offering with the wood of the grove which you shall cut down.

27 Then Gideon took ten men of his servants, and did as the LORD had said to him; and because he was afraid of doing it by day, because of his father's household and the men of the town, he did it by night.

28 And when the men of the town arose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was pulled down and the grove which was beside it was destroyed and the second bullock was offered upon another altar which had been built.

29 And they said one to another, Who has done this thing? And when they had asked and enquired, they said, Gideon the son of Joash has done this thing.

30 Then the men of the town said to Joash, Bring out your son, that he may die; because he has pulled down the altar of Baal and has cut down the grove that was by it.

31 And Joash said to all who stood against him, Will you plead for Baal? Or will you try to save him? Whosoever pleads for him shall be put to death while it is yet morning; if he is a god, let him plead for himself, because his altar has been thrown down.

32 Therefore on that day he called Gideon Nedo-baal, saying, Let Baal judge him, because he has thrown down his altar.

33 Then all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the Rakimites were gathered together, and went over and encamped in the valley of Jezreel.

34 But the Spirit of the LORD came upon Gideon, and he blew a trumpet; and Jezreel shouted his approval.

35 And he sent his messengers throughout all Manasseh; and they also blew trumpets and followed him; and he sent his 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 will put a fleece of wool on the threshing floor; and if there is dew on the fleece only, and it is dry on all the ground, then I shall know that thou wilt save Israel by my hand, as thou hast said.

38 And it was so; and he rose early the next day and pressed the fleece and wrung the dew out of the fleece, a bowlful of water.

39 And Gideon said to God, Let not thy anger kindle against me, and I will speak but this once; let me prove thee again but this once with the fleece; let now only the fleece be dry, and upon all the ground let there be dew.

40 And God did so that night; for only the fleece was dry, and there was dew on all the ground.