Judges 1 - 6 — Legacy Standard Bible

The Fight Against the Canaanites

1Now it happened after the death of Joshua that the sons of Israel ^aasked of ¹Yahweh, saying, “Who shall go up first for us ^bagainst the Canaanites, to fight against them?” ²And Yahweh said, “^aJudah shall go up; behold, I have given the land into his hand.” ³Then Judah said to Simeon his brother, “Come up with me into ¹the territory allotted me, that we may fight against the Canaanites; and ²I in turn will go with you into ³the territory allotted you.” So Simeon went with him. ⁴So Judah went up, and ^aYahweh gave the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hands, and they struck down 10,000 men at Bezek. ⁵Then they found Adoni-bezek in Bezek and fought against him, and they struck down the Canaanites and the Perizzites. ⁶But Adoni-bezek fled; and they pursued him and seized him and cut off his ¹thumbs and big toes. ⁷And Adoni-bezek said, “Seventy kings with their thumbs and their big toes cut off used to gather up scraps under my table; ^aas I have done, so God has repaid me.” So they brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there.

⁸Then the sons of Judah fought against ^aJerusalem and captured it and struck it with the edge of the sword and set the city on fire. ⁹And afterward the sons of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites living in the hill country and in the ¹Negev and in the ²Shephelah. ¹⁰^aSo Judah went against the Canaanites who lived in Hebron (now the name of Hebron formerly was Kiriath-arba); and they struck Sheshai and Ahiman and Talmai.

¹¹Then ^afrom there he went against the inhabitants of Debir (now the name of Debir formerly was Kiriath-sepher). ¹²And Caleb said, “The one who strikes Kiriath-sepher and captures it, I will even give him my daughter Achsah as a wife.” ¹³^aThen Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother, captured it; so he gave him his daughter Achsah as a wife. ¹⁴Now ^ait happened that when she came to him, she enticed him to ask her father for the field. Then she alighted from ¹her donkey, and Caleb said to her, “What ²do you want?” ¹⁵And she said to him, “Give me a blessing, since you have given me the land of the ¹Negev, so you shall give me also springs of water.” So Caleb gave her the upper springs and the lower springs.

¹⁶Now the sons of ^athe Kenite, Moses’ father-in-law, went up from the ^bcity of palms with the sons of Judah, to the wilderness of Judah which is in the south of ^cArad; and they went and lived with the people. ¹⁷Then Judah went with Simeon his brother, and they struck the Canaanites living in Zephath and devoted it to destruction. So the name of the city was called ^aHormah. ¹⁸And Judah captured ^aGaza with its territory and Ashkelon with its territory and Ekron with its territory. ¹⁹Now Yahweh was with Judah, and they took possession of the hill country; but they could not dispossess the inhabitants of the valley because they had ^airon chariots. ²⁰Then they gave Hebron to Caleb, ^aas Moses had ¹promised; and he dispossessed from there ^bthe three sons of Anak. ²¹^aBut the sons of Benjamin did not dispossess the ^bJebusites who lived in Jerusalem; so the Jebusites have lived with the sons of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this day.

²²Likewise the house of Joseph went up against Bethel, and Yahweh was with them. ²³And the house of Joseph spied out Bethel (^anow the name of the city was formerly Luz). ²⁴Then the ¹spies saw a man coming out of the city, and they said to him, “Please show us the entrance to the city, and ^awe will treat you with lovingkindness.” ²⁵So he showed them the entrance to the city, and they struck the city with the edge of the sword, ^abut they let the man and all his family go free. ²⁶So the man went into the land of the Hittites and built a city and named it Luz ¹which is its name to this day.

Israel Fails to Complete the Conquest

²⁷^aBut Manasseh did not take possession of Beth-shean and its towns or Taanach and its towns or the inhabitants of Dor and its towns or the inhabitants of Ibleam and its towns or the inhabitants of Megiddo and its towns; so ^bthe Canaanites persisted to live in that land. ²⁸And it happened when Israel became strong, that they put the Canaanites to forced labor, but they did not dispossess them completely.

²⁹^aAlso Ephraim did not dispossess the Canaanites who were living in Gezer; so the Canaanites lived in Gezer among them.

³⁰Zebulun did not dispossess the inhabitants of Kitron or the inhabitants of ¹Nahalol; so the Canaanites lived among them and became subject to forced labor.

³¹Asher did not dispossess the inhabitants of Acco or the inhabitants of Sidon, or of Ahlab or of Achzib or of Helbah or of Aphik or of Rehob. ³²So the Asherites lived among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land; for they did not dispossess them.

³³Naphtali did not dispossess the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh or the inhabitants of Beth-anath, but lived among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land; and the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh and Beth-anath became forced labor for them.

³⁴Then the Amorites pressed the sons of Dan into the hill country, for they did not allow them to come down to the valley; ³⁵and the Amorites persisted in ¹living in Mount Heres, in Aijalon, and in Shaalbim; but the hand of the house of Joseph became heavy, and they became forced labor. ³⁶Now the border of the Amorites ran from the ^aascent of Akrabbim, from Sela and upward.

The Angel of Yahweh Speaks to Israel

2Then ^athe angel of Yahweh came up from Gilgal to ^bBochim. And he said, “^cI brought you up out of Egypt and led you into the land which I have sworn to your fathers; and I said, ‘^dI will never break My covenant with you, ²and as for you, ^ayou shall cut no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; ^byou shall tear down their altars.’ But you have not listened to My voice; what is this you have done? ³“Therefore I also said, ‘^aI will not drive them out before you; but they will ¹become ^bas thorns in your sides, and their gods will become a snare to you.’” ⁴So it happened that when the angel of Yahweh spoke these words to all the sons of Israel, the people lifted up their voices and wept. ⁵So they named that place ¹Bochim; and there they sacrificed to Yahweh.

Joshua’s Death and Burial

⁶^aThen Joshua sent the people away, and the sons of Israel went each to his inheritance to possess the land. ⁷And the people served Yahweh all the days of Joshua and all the days of the elders who ¹survived Joshua, who saw all the great work of Yahweh which He had done for Israel. ⁸Then Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Yahweh, died at the age of 110. ⁹And they buried him in the territory of ^ahis inheritance in Timnath-heres, in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash. ¹⁰And all that generation also were gathered to their fathers; and there arose another generation after them who ^adid not know Yahweh or even the work which He had done for Israel.

Israel Serves Baals

¹¹Then the sons of Israel did ^awhat was evil in the eyes of Yahweh and ¹served the ^bBaals, ¹²and ^athey forsook Yahweh, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods from among the gods of the peoples who were around them and bowed themselves down to them; thus they provoked Yahweh to anger. ¹³So they forsook Yahweh and ^aserved Baal and the Ashtaroth. ¹⁴^aAnd the anger of Yahweh burned against Israel, and He gave them into the hands of plunderers who plundered them; and ^bHe sold them into the hands of their enemies around them, so that they could no longer stand before their enemies. ¹⁵Wherever they went, the hand of Yahweh was against them for evil, as Yahweh had spoken and ^aas Yahweh had sworn to them, so that they were severely distressed.

Yahweh Raises Up Judges

¹⁶^aThen Yahweh raised up judges ¹who saved them from the hands of those who plundered them. ¹⁷Yet they did not listen to their judges either, for they played the harlot after other gods and bowed themselves down to them. They turned aside quickly from the way ^ain which their fathers had walked in obeying the commandments of Yahweh; they did not do as their fathers. ¹⁸Now when Yahweh raised up judges for them, ^aYahweh was with the judge and saved them from the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge; for Yahweh was ^bmoved to pity by their groaning because of those who oppressed and suppressed them. ¹⁹But it happened when the judge died, that they would turn back and act more corruptly than their fathers, in following other gods to serve them and bow down to them; they did not abandon their practices or their stubborn ways. ²⁰^aSo the anger of Yahweh burned against Israel, and He said, “Because this nation has trespassed against My covenant which I commanded their fathers and has not listened to My voice, ²¹^aI also will no longer dispossess before them any of the nations which Joshua left when he died, ²²in order to ^atest Israel by them, whether they will keep the way of Yahweh to walk in it as their fathers ¹did, or not.” ²³So Yahweh allowed those nations to rest, not dispossessing them quickly; and He did not give them into the hand of Joshua.

Yahweh Tests Israel

3^aNow these are the nations which Yahweh allowed to remain, to test Israel by them (that is, all who had not known any of the wars of Canaan; ²¹however, God tested them in order that the generations of the sons of Israel would know war, by learning war, ²especially those who had not known it formerly). ³These nations are: the five lords of the Philistines and all the Canaanites and the Sidonians and ^athe Hivites who lived in Mount Lebanon, from Mount Baal-hermon as far as ¹Lebo-hamath. ⁴And they were for ¹^,^atesting Israel, to know if they would ²obey the commandments of Yahweh, which He had commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses. ⁵^aNow the sons of Israel lived among the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; ⁶and ^athey took their daughters for themselves as wives and gave their own daughters to their sons and served their gods.

Yahweh Raises Up Othniel

⁷Thus the sons of Israel did ^awhat was evil in the eyes of Yahweh and ^bforgot Yahweh their God and ^cserved the Baals and the ¹Asheroth. ⁸Then the anger of Yahweh burned against Israel, so that He sold them into the hands of Cushan-rishathaim king of ¹Mesopotamia; and the sons of Israel served Cushan-rishathaim eight years. ⁹Then the sons of Israel cried to Yahweh, and Yahweh raised up a savior for the sons of Israel to save them, ^aOthniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother. ¹⁰^aAnd the Spirit of Yahweh came upon him, and he judged Israel. And he went out to war, and Yahweh gave Cushan-rishathaim king of ¹Mesopotamia into his hand. So his hand was strong against Cushan-rishathaim. ¹¹Then the land was quiet for forty years. And Othniel the son of Kenaz died.

¹²Then the sons of Israel again ^adid what was evil in the eyes of Yahweh. So ^bYahweh strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel because they had done what was evil in the eyes of Yahweh. ¹³And he gathered to himself the sons of Ammon and Amalek; and he went and struck Israel, and they possessed ^athe city of the palm trees. ¹⁴So the sons of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab eighteen years.

Yahweh Raises Up Ehud and Shamgar

¹⁵Then the sons of Israel ^acried to Yahweh, and Yahweh raised up a savior for them, Ehud the son of Gera, the Benjamite, a left-handed man. And the sons of Israel sent tribute by his hand to Eglon the king of Moab. ¹⁶And Ehud made himself a sword which had two edges, a ¹cubit in length, and he bound it on his right thigh under his cloak. ¹⁷Then he brought the tribute near to Eglon king of Moab. Now Eglon was a very fat man. ¹⁸And it happened when he had finished bringing the tribute near, that he sent away the people who had carried the tribute. ¹⁹But he himself turned back from the graven images which were at Gilgal and said, “I have a secret message for you, O king.” And he said, “Keep silence.” And all who stood by him left him. ²⁰But Ehud came to him while he was sitting alone in his cool roof chamber. And Ehud said, “I have a message from God for you.” And he arose from his seat. ²¹Then Ehud sent forth his left hand, took the sword from his right thigh, and thrust it into his belly. ²²The handle also went in after the blade, and the fat closed over the blade, for he did not draw the sword out of his belly; and the refuse came out. ²³Then Ehud went out into the vestibule and shut the doors of the roof chamber behind him and locked them.

²⁴Now he went out, and his servants came in and looked, and behold, the doors of the roof chamber were locked; and they said, “^aHe is surely ¹relieving himself in the cool room.” ²⁵Then they waited until they were ashamed; but behold, he did not open the doors of the roof chamber. Therefore they took the key and opened them, and behold, their master had fallen to the ¹floor dead.

²⁶Now Ehud escaped while they were delaying, and he passed by the graven images and escaped to Seirah. ²⁷And it happened when he had arrived, that ^ahe blew the trumpet in the hill country of Ephraim; and the sons of Israel went down with him from the hill country, and he was in front of them. ²⁸Then he said to them, “Pursue them, for Yahweh has given your enemies the Moabites into your hands.” So they went down after him and captured ^athe fords of the Jordan opposite Moab and did not allow anyone to cross. ²⁹And they struck down at that time about 10,000 Moabites, all robust and valiant men; and no one escaped. ³⁰So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. And the land was quiet for eighty years.

³¹Now after him was ^aShamgar the son of Anath. And he struck down 600 Philistines with an oxgoad; and he also saved Israel.

Yahweh Raises Up Deborah and Barak

4Then ^athe sons of Israel again did what was evil in the eyes of Yahweh. Now Ehud had died. ²And Yahweh sold them into the hand of ^aJabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor; and the commander of his army was Sisera, who lived in ^bHarosheth-hagoyim. ³Then the sons of Israel cried to Yahweh; for he had 900 ^airon chariots, and he oppressed the sons of Israel severely for twenty years.

⁴Now Deborah, a ¹prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel at that time. ⁵And she used to ¹sit under the ^apalm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim; and the sons of Israel came up to her for judgment. ⁶Then she sent and summoned ^aBarak the son of Abinoam from Kedesh-naphtali and said to him, “Has not Yahweh, the God of Israel, commanded, ‘Go and march to Mount Tabor, and take with you 10,000 men from the sons of Naphtali and from the sons of Zebulun? ⁷‘And I will draw out to you Sisera, the commander of Jabin’s army, with his chariots and his ¹many troops to the river Kishon, and ^aI will give him into your hand.’” ⁸Then Barak said to her, “If you will go with me, then I will go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go.” ⁹So she said, “I will surely go with you; nevertheless, the honor shall not be yours on the journey that you are about to take, ^afor Yahweh will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman.” Then Deborah arose and went with Barak to Kedesh. ¹⁰Then Barak called ^aZebulun and Naphtali together to Kedesh, and 10,000 men went up ¹^,^bwith him; Deborah also went up with him.

¹¹Now Heber ^athe Kenite had separated himself from the Kenites, from the sons of Hobab the father-in-law of Moses, and had pitched his tent as far away as the ¹oak in ^bZaanannim, which is near Kedesh.

¹²Then they told Sisera that Barak the son of Abinoam had gone up to Mount Tabor. ¹³So Sisera called together all his chariots, ^a900 iron chariots, and all the people who were with him, from ^bHarosheth-hagoyim to the river Kishon. ¹⁴And Deborah said to Barak, “Arise! For this is the day in which Yahweh has given Sisera into your hand; has not ^aYahweh gone out before you?” So Barak went down from Mount Tabor with 10,000 men following him. ¹⁵^aAnd Yahweh threw Sisera and all his chariots and all his camp into confusion with the edge of the sword before Barak; and Sisera came down from his chariot and fled away on foot. ¹⁶But Barak pursued the chariots and all those in the camp as far as Harosheth-hagoyim, and all the camp of Sisera fell by the edge of the sword; ^anot even one remained.

¹⁷Now Sisera fled away on foot to the tent of Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite, for there was peace between Jabin the king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite. ¹⁸And Jael went out to meet Sisera and said to him, “Turn aside, my master, turn aside to me! Do not be afraid.” And he turned aside to her into the tent, and she covered him with a ¹rug. ¹⁹^aThen he said to her, “Please give me a little water to drink, for I am thirsty.” So she opened a ¹bottle of milk and gave him a drink; then she covered him. ²⁰And he said to her, “Stand in the doorway of the tent, and it shall be if anyone comes and asks of you and says, ‘Is there a man here?’ that you shall say, ‘No.’” ²¹Then Jael, Heber’s wife, ^atook a tent peg and placed a hammer in her hand and went secretly to him and drove the peg into his temple, and it went through into the ground; for he was sound asleep and exhausted. So he died. ²²Now behold, Barak was pursuing Sisera, and Jael came out to meet him and said to him, “Come, and I will show you the man whom you are seeking.” And he entered ¹with her, and behold, Sisera was lying dead with the tent peg in his temple.

²³So ^aGod subdued on that day Jabin the king of Canaan before the sons of Israel. ²⁴And the hand of the sons of Israel went forth heavier and heavier against Jabin the king of Canaan, until they had cut off Jabin the king of Canaan.

The Song of Deborah and Barak

5^aThen Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam sang on that day, saying,

²“^aWhen ¹the leaders led in Israel,When ^bthe people volunteered,Bless Yahweh!³“Hear, O kings; give ear, O rulers!^aAs for me, to Yahweh, I will sing;I will sing praise to Yahweh, the God of Israel.⁴“^aO Yahweh, when You went out from Seir,When You marched from the field of Edom,^bThe earth quaked, the heavens also dripped,Even the clouds dripped water.⁵“^aThe mountains ¹flowed at the presence of Yahweh,^bThis Sinai, at the presence of Yahweh, the God of Israel.⁶“In the days of ^aShamgar the son of Anath,In the days of ^bJael, the paths had ceased,So travelers ¹went by ²roundabout paths.⁷“The peasantry ceased; they ceased in Israel,Until I, Deborah, arose,Until I arose, a mother in Israel.⁸“¹^,^aGod chose new leaders;Then war was in the gates.Not a shield or a spear was seenAmong forty thousand in Israel.⁹“My heart goes out to ^athe commanders of Israel,The volunteers among the people;Bless Yahweh!¹⁰“^aYou who ride on ¹white donkeys,You who sit on rich carpets,And you who travel on the road—muse aloud!¹¹“At the sound of those who divide flocks among ^athe watering places,There they shall ¹commemorate ^bthe righteous deeds of Yahweh,The righteous deeds for His ²peasantry in Israel.Then the people of Yahweh went down ^cto the gates.¹²“^aAwake, awake, Deborah;Awake, awake, ¹utter a song!Arise, Barak, and ^btake away your captives, O son of Abinoam.¹³“Then survivors came down to the mighty ones;The people of Yahweh came down to me as warriors.¹⁴“From Ephraim those whose root is ^ain Amalek came down,Following you, Benjamin, with your peoples;From Machir commanders came down,And from Zebulun those who wield the staff of a scribe.¹⁵“And ¹the princes of Issachar were with Deborah;As was Issachar, so was Barak;Into the valley they rushed ^aat his ²heels;Among the divisions of ReubenThere was great persistence of the heart.¹⁶“Why did you sit among ^athe ¹sheepfolds,To hear the whistling for the flocks?Among the divisions of ReubenThere were great probings of the heart.¹⁷“^aGilead dwelt across the Jordan;And why did Dan stay in ships?Asher sat at the seashore,And dwelt by its landings.¹⁸“^aZebulun was a people who despised their lives even to death,And Naphtali also, on the high places of the field.¹⁹“^aThe kings came and fought;Then fought the kings of Canaan^bAt Taanach near the waters of Megiddo;^cThey took no gain of silver.²⁰“^aThe stars fought from heaven;From their courses they fought against Sisera.²¹“The river of Kishon swept them away,The ancient river, the river Kishon.^aO my soul, march on with strength.²²“^aThen the horses’ hoofs beatFrom the dashing, the dashing of his ¹valiant steeds.²³‘Curse Meroz,’ said the angel of Yahweh,‘Utterly curse its inhabitants,^aBecause they did not come to the help of Yahweh,To the help of Yahweh against the warriors.’²⁴“^aMost blessed of women is Jael,The wife of Heber the Kenite;Most blessed is she of women in the tent.²⁵“He asked for water, and she gave him milk;In a mighty bowl she brought him curds.²⁶“She sent forth her hand for the tent peg,And her right hand for the workmen’s hammer.Then she beat Sisera; she smashed his head,And she crushed and pierced his temple.²⁷“Between her feet he bowed, he fell, he lay;Between her feet he bowed, he fell;Where he bowed, there he fell violently devastated.²⁸“Out of the window she looked and lamented,The mother of Sisera through the ¹lattice,‘Why does his chariot delay in coming?Why do the ²hoofbeats of his chariots tarry?’²⁹“Her wise princesses would answer her,Indeed she repeats her words to herself,³⁰‘^aAre they not finding, are they not dividing the spoil?A maiden, two maidens for every mighty man;To Sisera a spoil of dyed work,A spoil of dyed work embroidered,Dyed work of double embroidery on the ¹neck of the spoil?’³¹“^aThus let all Your enemies perish, O Yahweh;^bBut let those who love Him be like the rising of the sun in its might.” And the land was quiet for forty years.

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.