Judges 6 - 8 — Legacy Standard Bible

Midian Prevails Against Israel

6Then the sons of Israel ^adid what was evil in the eyes of Yahweh; and Yahweh gave them into the hands of ^bMidian seven years. ²And the ¹power of Midian prevailed against Israel. Because of Midian the sons of Israel made for themselves ^athe dens which were in the mountains and the caves and the strongholds. ³And it was when Israel had sown, that the Midianites would go up with the Amalekites and the sons of the east and go up against them. ⁴So they would camp against them and ^aruin the produce of the earth ¹as far as Gaza and ^bleave no sustenance in Israel as well as no sheep, ox, or donkey. ⁵For they would go up with their livestock and their tents; they would come in ^alike locusts for number, both they and their camels were innumerable; and they came into the land to make it a ruin. ⁶So Israel was brought ^avery low because of Midian, and the sons of Israel cried out to Yahweh.

⁷Now it happened when the sons of Israel cried out to Yahweh on account of Midian, ⁸that Yahweh sent a prophet to the sons of Israel, and ^ahe said to them, “Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, ‘It was I who brought you up from Egypt and brought you out from the house of slavery. ⁹‘I delivered you from the hands of the Egyptians and from the hands of all your oppressors and drove them out before you and gave you their land, ¹⁰and I said to you, “I am Yahweh your God; you ^ashall not fear the gods of the Amorites in whose land you live. But you have not listened to My voice.”’”

Yahweh Sends Gideon to Save Israel

¹¹Then ^athe angel of Yahweh came and sat under the ¹oak that was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the ^bAbiezrite as his son ^cGideon was beating out wheat in the wine press in order to ²preserve it from the Midianites. ¹²And the angel of Yahweh appeared to him and said to him, “Yahweh is with you, O mighty man of valor.” ¹³Then Gideon said to him, “O my lord, if Yahweh is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His wondrous deeds which our fathers recounted to us, saying, ‘Did not Yahweh bring us up from Egypt?’ But ^anow Yahweh has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.” ¹⁴Then Yahweh turned to him and said, “^aGo in this strength of yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian. Have I not sent you?” ¹⁵^aBut he said to Him, “O Lord, with what shall I save Israel? Behold, my clan is the least in ^bManasseh, and I am the youngest in my father’s house.” ¹⁶^aBut Yahweh said to him, “Surely I will be with you, and you shall strike down Midian as one man.” ¹⁷So ¹Gideon said to Him, “If now I have found favor in Your eyes, then do ^aa sign for me that it is You who speak with me. ¹⁸“Please do not depart from here until I come back to You, and I bring out my offering and lay it before You.” And He said, “I will remain until you return.”

¹⁹So Gideon went in and ^aprepared a young goat and unleavened bread from an ¹ephah of flour; he put the meat in a basket ²and the broth in a pot and brought them out to him under the ³oak and presented them. ²⁰And the angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened bread and lay them on this rock and pour out the broth.” And he did so. ²¹Then the angel of Yahweh put out the end of the staff that was in his hand and touched the meat and the unleavened bread; and ^afire sprang up from the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened bread. Then the angel of Yahweh went away from before his eyes. ²²^aAnd Gideon saw that he was the angel of Yahweh, so ¹he said, “Alas, O Lord Yahweh! For now I have seen the angel of Yahweh face to face.” ²³And Yahweh said to him, “Peace to you. Do not fear; you shall not die.” ²⁴So Gideon built an altar there to Yahweh and named it ¹Yahweh is Peace. To this day it is still ^ain Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

²⁵Now it happened on the same night that Yahweh said to him, “Take your father’s bull ¹and a second bull seven years old, and pull down the altar of Baal which belongs to your father, and cut down the ²^,^aAsherah that is beside it, ²⁶and build an altar to Yahweh your God on the top of this stronghold in an orderly manner, and take the second bull and offer a burnt offering with the wood of the Asherah which you shall cut down.” ²⁷So Gideon took ten men of his servants and did as Yahweh had spoken to him; and now it happened that because he was too afraid of his father’s household and the men of the city to do it by day, he did it by night.

Gideon Tears Down the Altar of Baal

²⁸Then the men of the city arose early in the morning, and behold, the altar of Baal was torn down, and the Asherah which was beside it was cut down, and the second bull was offered on the altar which had been built. ²⁹And they said to one another, “Who did this thing?” And when they searched about and inquired, they said, “Gideon the son of Joash did this thing.” ³⁰Then the men of the city said to Joash, “Bring out your son, that he may die, for he has torn down the altar of Baal, and indeed, he has cut down the Asherah which was beside it.” ³¹But Joash said to all who stood against him, “Will you contend for Baal, or will you save him? Whoever will contend for him shall be put to death by morning. If he is a god, let him contend for himself, because someone has torn down his altar.” ³²Therefore on that day he named him ^aJerubbaal, that is to say, “Let Baal contend against him,” because he had torn down his altar.

³³Now all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the sons of the east assembled themselves; and they crossed over and camped in ^athe valley of Jezreel. ³⁴But ^athe Spirit of Yahweh clothed Gideon; and he ^bblew a trumpet, and the Abiezrites were called together to follow him. ³⁵And he sent messengers throughout Manasseh, and they also were called together to follow him; and he sent messengers to Asher, ^aZebulun, and Naphtali, and ^bthey came up to meet them.

The Test of the Fleece

³⁶Then Gideon said to God, “^aIf You will save Israel by my hand, as You have spoken, ³⁷behold, I will put a fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If there is dew on the fleece only, and it is dry on all the ground, then I will know that You will save Israel by my hand, as You have spoken.” ³⁸And it was so. Indeed he arose early the next morning and squeezed the fleece. And he drained the dew from the fleece, a bowl full of water. ³⁹Then Gideon said to God, “^aDo not let Your anger burn against me that I may speak once more; please let me make a test once more with the fleece; let it now be dry only on the fleece, and let there be dew on all the ground.” ⁴⁰And God did so that night. So it was dry only on the fleece, but dew was on all the ground.

Gideon’s 300 Men

7Then ^aJerubbaal (that is, Gideon) and all the people who were with him rose early and camped beside ¹the spring of Harod; and the camp of Midian was on the north side of ²them by the hill of ^bMoreh in the valley.

²And Yahweh said to Gideon, “The people who are with you are too many for Me to give Midian into their hands, ^alest Israel honor themselves, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.’ ³“So now, ¹come, call out in the hearing of the people, saying, ‘^aWhoever is afraid and trembling, let him return and depart from Mount Gilead.’” So 22,000 people returned, but 10,000 remained.

⁴^aThen Yahweh said to Gideon, “The people are still too many; bring them down to the water, and I will test them for you there. And it will be that he of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall go with you,’ he shall go with you; but everyone of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ he shall not go.” ⁵So he brought the people down to the water. And Yahweh said to Gideon, “Everyone who laps the water with his tongue as a dog laps, you shall set him aside by himself, and so also everyone who kneels to drink.” ⁶Now the number of those who lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, was 300 men; but all the rest of the people kneeled to drink water. ⁷And Yahweh said to Gideon, “I will save you ^awith the 300 men who lapped and will give the Midianites into your hands; so let all the other people go, each man to his place.” ⁸So ¹the 300 men took the people’s provisions and their trumpets into their hands. And ²Gideon sent all the other men of Israel, each to his tent, but retained the 300 men; and the camp of Midian was below him in the valley.

⁹Now it happened the same night that Yahweh said to him, “Arise, go down against the camp, ^afor I have given it into your hands. ¹⁰“But if you are afraid to go down, then both you and Purah your young man, go down to the camp, ¹¹and you will hear what they say; and ^aafterward your hands will be strengthened, that you may go down against the camp.” So he went with Purah his young man down to the ¹outskirts of the armed men that were in the camp. ¹²Now the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the sons of the east were lying in the valley ^aas numerous as locusts; and their camels were without number, ^bas numerous as the sand on the seashore. ¹³Then Gideon came, and behold, a man was recounting a dream to his friend. And he said, “Behold, I ¹had a dream; ²a loaf of barley bread was tumbling into the camp of Midian, and it came to the tent and struck it so that it fell and turned it ³upside down so that the tent lay flat.” ¹⁴And his friend answered and said, “This is nothing less than the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel; God has given Midian and all the camp ^ainto his hand.”

¹⁵Now it happened that when Gideon heard the account of the dream and its interpretation, he bowed in worship. Then he returned to the camp of Israel and said, “Arise, for Yahweh has given the camp of Midian into your hands.” ¹⁶And he divided the 300 men into three ¹companies, and he put trumpets and empty pitchers into the hands of all of them, with torches inside the pitchers. ¹⁷Then he said to them, “Look at me and do likewise. And behold, I will come to the outskirts of the camp, and it will be that just as I do so you do likewise. ¹⁸“And I and all who are with me will blow the trumpet. Then you also shall blow the trumpets all around the camp and say, ‘For Yahweh and for Gideon.’”

Gideon Kills the Princes of Midian

¹⁹So Gideon and the hundred men who were with him came to the outskirts of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, when they had just set up the watch; and they blew the trumpets and smashed the pitchers that were in their hands. ²⁰Then the three ¹companies blew the trumpets and broke the pitchers, and they held the torches in their left hands and the trumpets in their right hands for blowing and called out, “A sword for Yahweh and for Gideon!” ²¹And each stood in his place around the camp. Then ^aall of the camp ran, and they made a loud shout and fled. ²²So they blew 300 trumpets. And ^aYahweh set the sword of one against another even throughout the whole camp. And the camp fled as far as Beth-shittah toward Zererah, as far as the edge of ^bAbel-meholah, by Tabbath. ²³And the men of Israel were summoned from ^aNaphtali and Asher and all Manasseh, and they pursued Midian.

²⁴Now Gideon had sent messengers throughout all the hill country of Ephraim, saying, “Come down to meet Midian and ^acapture the waters before them, as far as Beth-barah and the Jordan.” So all the men of Ephraim were summoned, and they captured the waters as far as Beth-barah and the Jordan. ²⁵Then they captured the two princes of Midian, ^aOreb and Zeeb, and they killed Oreb at the rock of Oreb, and they killed Zeeb at the wine press of Zeeb. Then they pursued Midian and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon ^bfrom across the Jordan.

Gideon Pursues Zebah and Zalmunna

8Then the men of Ephraim said to him, “^aWhat is this thing you have done to us, not calling us when you went to fight against Midian?” And they strongly contended with him. ²But he said to them, “What have I done now in comparison with you? Is not the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the grape harvest of Abiezer? ³“God has given the princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb, into your hands; and what was I able to do in comparison with you?” Then their ¹anger toward him subsided when he spoke this word.

⁴Then Gideon and the 300 men who were with him came ^ato the Jordan and crossed over, weary yet pursuing. ⁵And he said to the men of ^aSuccoth, “Please give loaves of bread to the people who are following me, for they are weary, and I am pursuing Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian.” ⁶But the princes of Succoth said, “¹^,^aAre the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your hands, that we should give bread to your army?” ⁷And Gideon said, “Thus, ^awhen Yahweh has given Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, then I will ¹thrash your ²bodies with the thorns of the wilderness and with briers.” ⁸So he went up from there to ¹^,^aPenuel and spoke similarly to them; and the men of Penuel answered him just as the men of Succoth had answered. ⁹So he spoke also to the men of Penuel, saying, “When I return safely, ^aI will tear down this tower.”

¹⁰Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor, and their camps with them, about 15,000 men, all who were left of the entire camp of the sons of the east; ^afor the fallen were 120,000 men who drew the sword. ¹¹And Gideon went up by the way of those who dwelt in tents on the east of Nobah and Jogbehah and struck the camp when the camp was ¹unsuspecting. ¹²Then Zebah and Zalmunna fled. And he pursued them and captured the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and he threw the whole camp into utter fright.

¹³Then Gideon the son of Joash returned from the battle ¹by the ascent of Heres. ¹⁴And he captured a youth from the men of Succoth and questioned him. So the youth wrote down for him the princes of Succoth and its elders, seventy-seven men. ¹⁵Then he came to the men of Succoth and said, “Behold Zebah and Zalmunna, about whom you reproached me, saying, ‘¹^,^aAre the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your hand, that we should give bread to your men who are weary?’” ¹⁶Then he took the elders of the city as well as thorns of the wilderness and briers, and with them he ¹taught the men of Succoth a lesson. ¹⁷^aAnd he tore down the tower of Penuel and killed the men of the city.

¹⁸Then he said to Zebah and Zalmunna, “What kind of men were they whom you killed at Tabor?” And they said, “They were like you, each one ¹resembling the son of a king.” ¹⁹And he said, “They were my brothers, the sons of my mother. As Yahweh lives, if only you had let them live, I would not kill you.” ²⁰So he said to Jether his firstborn, “Rise, kill them.” But the youth did not draw his sword, for he was afraid because he was still a youth. ²¹Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, “Rise up yourself, and smite us; for as the man, so is his might.” ^aSo Gideon arose and killed Zebah and Zalmunna and ^btook the crescent ornaments which were on their camels’ necks.

Gideon Makes an Ephod

²²Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, “Rule over us, both you and your son, also your son’s son, for you have saved us from the hand of Midian.” ²³But Gideon said to them, “I will not rule over you, nor shall my son rule over you; ^aYahweh shall rule over you.” ²⁴Yet Gideon said to them, “I would ¹make one request of you, that each of you give me ²an earring from his spoil.” (For they had gold earrings because they were ^aIshmaelites.) ²⁵And they said, “We will surely give them.” So they spread out a garment, and every one of them threw an earring there from his spoil. ²⁶And the weight of the gold earrings that he requested was 1,700 shekels of gold, besides the crescent ornaments and the pendants and the purple robes which were on the kings of Midian, and besides the neck bands that were on their camels’ necks. ²⁷Then Gideon made it into ^aan ephod and placed it in his city, Ophrah, and all Israel played the harlot with it there, so that it became a snare to Gideon and his household. ²⁸So Midian was subdued before the sons of Israel, and they did not lift up their heads anymore. And the land was quiet for forty years in the days of Gideon.

The Death and Burial of Gideon

²⁹Then ^aJerubbaal the son of Joash went and lived in his own house. ³⁰Now Gideon had ^aseventy sons who ¹were his direct descendants, for he had many wives. ³¹And his concubine who was in Shechem also bore him a son, and he ¹named him Abimelech. ³²Then Gideon the son of Joash died at a good old age and was buried in the tomb of his father Joash, in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

³³Then it happened, as soon as Gideon was dead, ^athat the sons of Israel turned back and played the harlot with the Baals and made ^bBaal-berith their god. ³⁴Thus the sons of Israel ^adid not remember Yahweh their God, who had delivered them from the hands of all their enemies on every side; ³⁵^anor did they show lovingkindness to the household of Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) in accord with all the good that he had done to Israel.