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          DASV: Judges 6    

1 Then the Israelites did evil in the sight of the LORD,
so the LORD handed them over to Midian seven years.
2 The hand of Midian subjugated Israel; and because of Midian
the Israelites made dens to hide in the mountains,
along with caves and strongholds.
3 Whenever Israel planted crops, the Midianites, Amalekites
and the people of the east would come up and attack them.
4 They camped against them and destroyed their crops, all the
way down to Gaza, and left nothing to eat in Israel,
leaving no sheep, oxen or donkeys.
5 For they came up with their livestock and tents; they
swarmed in as thick as locusts. They and their camels
were innumerable. They came absolutely destroying the land.
6 Israel was totally impoverished because of Midian;
so the Israelites cried to the LORD.
7 When the Israelites cried to the LORD because of Midian,
8 the LORD sent a prophet to the Israelites. He said to them,
"This is what the LORD says, the God of Israel, 'I brought
you up out of Egypt, and brought you out of the house
of bondage.
9 I rescued you from the hand of the Egyptians, and from
all who oppressed you, and drove them out before you,
and gave you their land.
10 I said to you, "I am the LORD your God. Do not fear
the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell."
But you did not obey my voice.'"

11 The angel of the LORD came and sat under the oak at Ophrah,
which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite. His son Gideon
was threshing wheat in the winepress, to hide it from
the Midianites.
12 The angel of the LORD appeared to him, and said to him,
"The LORD is with you, valiant warrior."
13 But Gideon replied, "Oh, my lord, if the LORD is with us,
why has all this happened to us? Where are all his
wondrous works that our fathers told us about, saying,
'Did not the LORD bring us up out Egypt?' But now the
LORD has abandoned us and handed us over to Midian."
14 The LORD turned to him and said, "Go in the might you have,
and save Israel from the hand of Midian. Have I not
sent you?"
15 But he replied, "O Lord, how can I rescue Israel? Look,
my clan is the poorest in Manasseh, and I am the least
in my family."
16 The LORD said to him, "But I will be with you, and you
will strike down the Midianites just as you would one man."
17 He said to him, "If now I have found favor in your sight,
then show me a sign proving that it is really you who is
talking with me.
18 Don't leave here, until I come back bringing my gift to set
before you." He responded, "I'll wait here until you get back."
19 Then Gideon went into his house, prepared a young goat and
unleavened cakes from about half a bushel of meal. The meat
he put in a basket and the broth in a pot, and brought it out
to him under the oak, and presented it.
20 The angel of God said to him, "Put the meat and the unleavened
cakes on this rock, and pour the broth over it." Gideon did
what he was told.
21 Then the angel of the LORD reached out the tip of the staff
that was in his hand, and touched the meat and the
unleavened cakes. Fire came up out of the rock and consumed
the meat and unleavened cakes. Then the angel of the LORD
vanished out of his sight.
22 When Gideon realized that it was the angel of the LORD,
he cried out, "Help, O sovereign LORD! For I have seen the
angel of the LORD face to face."
23 Then the LORD said to him, "Peace be to you; don't be afraid,
you are not going to die."
24 There Gideon built an altar to the LORD, and called it
"The LORD is peace." To this day it still stands in Ophrah
of the Abiezrites.

25 The same night the LORD ordered him, "Take your father's
bull, the bull that is second and seven years old. Throw
down the altar of Baal that your father has, and cut down
the Asherah pole that is by it.
26 Then build an altar to the LORD your God on the top of
this stronghold, in the sanctioned way, then take the second
bull and offer a burnt offering with the wood from the
Asherah pole you are going to cut down."
27 So Gideon took ten of his servants, and did as the LORD
told him. Because he feared his family and the men of the town,
he did not want to do it in daylight, so he did it at night.
28 When the men of the town got up early in the morning,
there was the altar of Baal torn to pieces, and the Asherah
pole by it was cut down, and the second bull was sacrificed
on the altar that was built.
29 So they asked each other, "Who did this?" After they
thoroughly investigated, they discovered it was Gideon the
son of Joash who had done it.
30 Then the men of the town said to Joash, "Bring out your son.
He must die because he tore down the altar of Baal,
and cut down the Asherah pole that was next to it."
31 But Joash said to all confronting him, "Will you defend Baal?
Are you trying to rescue him? Whoever fights for Baal,
let him be put to death by morning. If he is really a god,
let him defend himself, because someone has broken down
his altar."
32 So on that day Gideon was called "Jerubbaal," because
his father had said, "Let Baal fight against him, because
he has torn down his altar."

33 Then all the Midianites, Amalekites and the people of
the east assembled together and crossed over the Jordan
River and camped in the valley of Jezreel.
34 But the Spirit of the LORD came on Gideon, and he blew
a trumpet; and called Abiezerites to follow him.
35 Then he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh; and they
too were called out to follow him. He sent messengers
to Asher, Zebulun and to Naphtali and they came up to
meet them.

36 Then Gideon said to God, "If you will save Israel by
my hand, as you have promised,
37 look, I will put a fleece of wool on the threshing floor,
if there is dew only on the fleece and the ground is dry,
then will I know that you will save Israel by my hand,
as you have promised."
38 So that is exactly what happened. He got up early on
the next morning, and squeezed the fleece and wrung a
bowlful of dew out of it.
39 Then Gideon said to God, "Please don't get angry with me,
but I will make one more test with the fleece. Now let
only the fleece be dry and let the dew cover the ground."
40 That night God did it, only the fleece was dry,
while the dew covered all the ground.

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