Judges 6
The Call of
Gideon |
1 |
And the children of Israel did evil in
the sight of the LORD: and the LORD delivered them into the hand of Mid'i-an seven
years.
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2 |
And the hand of Mid'i-an prevailed
against Israel: and because of the Mid'i-anites the children
of Israel made them the dens which are in the mountains, and
caves, and strongholds.
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3 |
And so it was, when Israel had
sown, that the Mid'i-anites came up, and the Amal'ekites, and the
children of the east, even they came up against them;
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4 |
and they encamped against them, and
destroyed the increase of the earth, till thou come unto Gaza, and
left no sustenance for Israel, neither sheep, nor ox, nor
ass.
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5 |
For they came up with their cattle and
their tents, and they came as grasshoppers for multitude; for both they and their camels were without number: and they entered
into the land to destroy it.
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6 |
And Israel was greatly impoverished
because of the Mid'i-anites; and the children of Israel cried unto
the LORD.
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7 |
And it came to pass, when the children
of Israel cried unto the LORD because of the
Mid'i-anites,
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8 |
that the LORD sent a
prophet unto the children of Israel, which said unto them, Thus
saith the LORD God of Israel, I brought you up
from Egypt, and brought you forth out of the house of
bondage;
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9 |
and I delivered you out of the hand of
the Egyptians, and out of the hand of all that oppressed you, and
drave them out from before you, and gave you their land;
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10 |
and I said unto you, I am the
LORD your God; fear not the gods of the
Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but ye have not obeyed my
voice.
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11 |
And there came an angel of the LORD, and sat under an oak which was in Ophrah,
that pertained unto Jo'ash the Abi-ez'rite: and his son
Gideon threshed wheat by the winepress, to hide it from the
Mid'i-anites.
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12 |
And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him, and said unto him, The LORD is with thee, thou mighty man of
valor.
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13 |
And Gideon said unto him, O my Lord, if
the LORD be with us, why then is all this
befallen us? and where be all his miracles which our fathers
told us of, saying, Did not the LORD bring us
up from Egypt? but now the LORD hath forsaken
us, and delivered us into the hands of the Mid'i-anites.
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14 |
And the LORD looked
upon him, and said, Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel
from the hand of the Mid'i-anites: have not I sent thee?
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15 |
And he said unto him, O my Lord,
wherewith shall I save Israel? behold, my family is poor in
Manas'seh, and I am the least in my father's house.
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16 |
And the LORD said
unto him, Surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite the
Mid'i-anites as one man.
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17 |
And he said unto him, If now I have found
grace in thy sight, then show me a sign that thou talkest with
me.
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18 |
Depart not hence, I pray thee, until I
come unto thee, and bring forth my present, and set it before
thee. And he said, I will tarry until thou come again.
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19 |
And Gideon went in, and made ready a
kid, and unleavened cakes of an ephah of flour: the flesh he put in
a basket, and he put the broth in a pot, and brought it out
unto him under the oak, and presented it.
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20 |
And the angel of God said unto him, Take
the flesh and the unleavened cakes, and lay them upon this
rock, and pour out the broth. And he did so.
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21 |
Then the angel of the LORD put forth the end of the staff that was in
his hand, and touched the flesh and the unleavened cakes; and there
rose up fire out of the rock, and consumed the flesh and the
unleavened cakes. Then the angel of the LORD departed out of his sight.
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22 |
And when Gideon perceived that he was an angel of the LORD, Gideon said,
Alas, O Lord GOD! for because I have seen an
angel of the LORD face to face.
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23 |
And the LORD said
unto him, Peace be unto thee; fear not: thou shalt not
die.
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24 |
Then Gideon built an altar there unto the
LORD, and called it Jehovah-sha'lom: 2 unto
this day it is yet in Ophrah of the Abi-ez'rites.
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25 |
And it came to pass the same night,
that the LORD said unto him, Take thy father's
young bullock, even the second bullock of seven years old, and throw
down the altar of Ba'al that thy father hath, and cut down the grove
that is by it:
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26 |
and build an altar unto the LORD thy God upon the top of this rock, in the ordered
place, and take the second bullock, and offer a burnt sacrifice with
the wood of the grove which thou shalt cut down.
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27 |
Then Gideon took ten men of his servants,
and did as the LORD had said unto him: and so it was, because he feared his father's household, and the
men of the city, that he could not do it by day, that he did it by night.
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28 |
And when the men of the city arose
early in the morning, behold, the altar of Ba'al was cast down, and
the grove was cut down that was by it, and the second bullock
was offered upon the altar that was built.
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29 |
And they said one to another, Who hath
done this thing? And when they inquired and asked, they said, Gideon
the son of Jo'ash hath done this thing.
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30 |
Then the men of the city said unto
Jo'ash, Bring out thy son, that he may die: because he hath cast
down the altar of Ba'al, and because he hath cut down the grove that was by it.
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31 |
And Jo'ash said unto all that stood
against him, Will ye plead for Ba'al? will ye save him? he that will
plead for him, let him be put to death whilst it is yet morning: if he be a god, let him plead for himself, because one hath cast down his altar.
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32 |
Therefore on that day he called him
Jerubba'al, 3 saying,
Let Ba'al plead against him, because he hath thrown down his
altar.
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33 |
Then all the Mid'i-anites and the
Amal'ekites and the children of the east were gathered together, and
went over, and pitched in the valley of Jezreel.
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34 |
But the Spirit of the LORD came upon Gideon, and he blew a trumpet; and
Abi-e'zer was gathered after him.
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35 |
And he sent messengers throughout all
Manas'seh; who also was gathered after him: and he sent messengers
unto Asher, and unto Zeb'ulun, and unto Naph'tali; and they came up
to meet them.
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36 |
And Gideon said unto God, If thou wilt
save Israel by mine hand, as thou hast said,
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37 |
behold, I will put a fleece of wool in
the floor; and if the dew be on the fleece only, and it
be dry upon all the earth besides, then shall I know that
thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as thou hast said.
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38 |
And it was so: for he rose up early on
the morrow, and thrust the fleece together, and wringed the dew out
of the fleece, a bowlful of water.
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39 |
And Gideon said unto God, Let not thine
anger be hot against me, and I will speak but this once: let me
prove, I pray thee, but this once with the fleece; let it now be dry
only upon the fleece, and upon all the ground let there be
dew.
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40 |
And God did so that night: for it was dry
upon the fleece only, and there was dew on all the
ground.
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