³² Therefore on that day he called him ^(A)Jerubbaal,^[a] saying, “Let Baal plead against him, because he has torn down his altar.”

³³ Then all ^(B)the Midianites and Amalekites, the people of the East, gathered together; and they crossed over and encamped in ^(C)the Valley of Jezreel. ³⁴ But ^(D)the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon; then he ^(E)blew the trumpet, and the Abiezrites gathered behind him. ³⁵ And he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh, who also gathered behind him. He also sent messengers to ^(F)Asher, ^(G)Zebulun, and Naphtali; and they came up to meet them.

The Sign of the Fleece

³⁶ So Gideon said to God, “If You will save Israel by my hand as You have said— ^37 (H)look, I shall 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 shall know that You will save Israel by my hand, as You have said.” ³⁸ And it was so. When he rose early the next morning and squeezed the fleece together, he wrung the dew out of the fleece, a bowlful of water. ³⁹ Then Gideon said to God, ^(I)“Do not be angry with me, but let me speak just once more: Let me test, I pray, just once more with the fleece; let it now be dry only on the fleece, but on all the ground let there be dew.” ⁴⁰ And God did so that night. It was dry on the fleece only, but there was dew on all the ground.