Judges 6-8

Legacy Standard Bible

Midian Prevails Against Israel

6 Then the sons of Israel ^(A)did what was evil in the eyes of Yahweh; and Yahweh gave them into the hands of ^(B)Midian seven years. ² And the ^[a]power of Midian prevailed against Israel. Because of Midian the sons of Israel made for themselves ^(C)the dens which were in the mountains and the caves and the strongholds. ³ And 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. ⁴ So they would camp against them and ^(D)ruin the produce of the earth ^[b]as far as Gaza and ^(E)leave no sustenance in Israel as well as no sheep, ox, or donkey. ⁵ For they would go up with their livestock and their tents; they would come in ^(F)like locusts for number, both they and their camels were innumerable; and they came into the land to make it a ruin. ⁶ So Israel was brought ^(G)very low because of Midian, and the sons of Israel cried out to Yahweh.

⁷ Now it happened when the sons of Israel cried out to Yahweh on account of Midian, ⁸ that Yahweh sent a prophet to the sons of Israel, and ^(H)he 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, ¹⁰ and I said to you, “I am Yahweh your God; you ^(I)shall 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

¹¹ Then ^(J)the angel of Yahweh came and sat under the ^[c]oak that was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the ^(K)Abiezrite as his son ^(L)Gideon was beating out wheat in the wine press in order to ^[d]preserve it from the Midianites. ¹² And the angel of Yahweh appeared to him and said to him, “Yahweh is with you, O mighty man of valor.” ¹³ Then 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 ^(M)now Yahweh has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.” ¹⁴ Then Yahweh turned to him and said, “^(N)Go in this strength of yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian. Have I not sent you?” ^15 (O)But he said to Him, “O Lord, with what shall I save Israel? Behold, my clan is the least in ^(P)Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my father’s house.” ^16 (Q)But Yahweh said to him, “Surely I will be with you, and you shall strike down Midian as one man.” ¹⁷ So ^[e]Gideon said to Him, “If now I have found favor in Your eyes, then do ^(R)a 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.”

¹⁹ So Gideon went in and ^(S)prepared a young goat and unleavened bread from an ^[f]ephah of flour; he put the meat in a basket ^[g]and the broth in a pot and brought them out to him under the ^[h]oak and presented them. ²⁰ And 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. ²¹ Then 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 ^(T)fire 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 (U)And Gideon saw that he was the angel of Yahweh, so ^[i]he said, “Alas, O Lord Yahweh! For now I have seen the angel of Yahweh face to face.” ²³ And Yahweh said to him, “Peace to you. Do not fear; you shall not die.” ²⁴ So Gideon built an altar there to Yahweh and named it ^[j]Yahweh is Peace. To this day it is still ^(V)in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

²⁵ Now it happened on the same night that Yahweh said to him, “Take your father’s bull ^[k]and a second bull seven years old, and pull down the altar of Baal which belongs to your father, and cut down the ^[l](W)Asherah that is beside it, ²⁶ and 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.” ²⁷ So 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

²⁸ Then 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. ²⁹ And 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.” ³⁰ Then 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.” ³¹ But 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.” ³² Therefore on that day he named him ^(X)Jerubbaal, that is to say, “Let Baal contend against him,” because he had torn down his altar.

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

The Test of the Fleece

³⁶ Then Gideon said to God, “^(AD)If You will save Israel by my hand, as You have spoken, ³⁷ behold, 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.” ³⁸ And 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. ³⁹ Then Gideon said to God, “^(AE)Do 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.” ⁴⁰ And God did so that night. So it was dry only on the fleece, but dew was on all the ground.

Gideon’s 300 Men

7 Then ^(AF)Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) and all the people who were with him rose early and camped beside ^[m]the spring of Harod; and the camp of Midian was on the north side of ^[n]them by the hill of ^(AG)Moreh in the valley.

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

^4 (AJ)Then 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.” ⁵ So 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.” ⁶ Now 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. ⁷ And Yahweh said to Gideon, “I will save you ^(AK)with 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.” ⁸ So ^[p]the 300 men took the people’s provisions and their trumpets into their hands. And ^[q]Gideon 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.

⁹ Now it happened the same night that Yahweh said to him, “Arise, go down against the camp, ^(AL)for 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, ¹¹ and you will hear what they say; and ^(AM)afterward your hands will be strengthened, that you may go down against the camp.” So he went with Purah his young man down to the ^[r]outskirts of the armed men that were in the camp. ¹² Now the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the sons of the east were lying in the valley ^(AN)as numerous as locusts; and their camels were without number, ^(AO)as numerous as the sand on the seashore. ¹³ Then Gideon came, and behold, a man was recounting a dream to his friend. And he said, “Behold, I ^[s]had a dream; ^[t]a 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 ^[u]upside down so that the tent lay flat.” ¹⁴ And 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 ^(AP)into his hand.”

¹⁵ Now 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.” ¹⁶ And he divided the 300 men into three ^[v]companies, and he put trumpets and empty pitchers into the hands of all of them, with torches inside the pitchers. ¹⁷ Then 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

¹⁹ So 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. ²⁰ Then the three ^[w]companies 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!” ²¹ And each stood in his place around the camp. Then ^(AQ)all of the camp ran, and they made a loud shout and fled. ²² So they blew 300 trumpets. And ^(AR)Yahweh 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 ^(AS)Abel-meholah, by Tabbath. ²³ And the men of Israel were summoned from ^(AT)Naphtali and Asher and all Manasseh, and they pursued Midian.

²⁴ Now Gideon had sent messengers throughout all the hill country of Ephraim, saying, “Come down to meet Midian and ^(AU)capture 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. ²⁵ Then they captured the two princes of Midian, ^(AV)Oreb 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 ^(AW)from across the Jordan.

Gideon Pursues Zebah and Zalmunna

8 Then the men of Ephraim said to him, “^(AX)What is this thing you have done to us, not calling us when you went to fight against Midian?” And they strongly contended with him. ² But 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 ^[x]anger toward him subsided when he spoke this word.

⁴ Then Gideon and the 300 men who were with him came ^(AY)to the Jordan and crossed over, weary yet pursuing. ⁵ And he said to the men of ^(AZ)Succoth, “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.” ⁶ But the princes of Succoth said, “^[y](BA)Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your hands, that we should give bread to your army?” ⁷ And Gideon said, “Thus, ^(BB)when Yahweh has given Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, then I will ^[z]thrash your ^[aa]bodies with the thorns of the wilderness and with briers.” ⁸ So he went up from there to ^[ab](BC)Penuel and spoke similarly to them; and the men of Penuel answered him just as the men of Succoth had answered. ⁹ So he spoke also to the men of Penuel, saying, “When I return safely, ^(BD)I will tear down this tower.”

¹⁰ Now 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; ^(BE)for the fallen were 120,000 men who drew the sword. ¹¹ And 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 ^[ac]unsuspecting. ¹² Then 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.

¹³ Then Gideon the son of Joash returned from the battle ^[ad]by the ascent of Heres. ¹⁴ And 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. ¹⁵ Then he came to the men of Succoth and said, “Behold Zebah and Zalmunna, about whom you reproached me, saying, ‘^[ae](BF)Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your hand, that we should give bread to your men who are weary?’” ¹⁶ Then he took the elders of the city as well as thorns of the wilderness and briers, and with them he ^[af]taught the men of Succoth a lesson. ^17 (BG)And he tore down the tower of Penuel and killed the men of the city.

¹⁸ Then 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 ^[ag]resembling the son of a king.” ¹⁹ And 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.” ²⁰ So 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. ²¹ Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, “Rise up yourself, and smite us; for as the man, so is his might.” ^(BH)So Gideon arose and killed Zebah and Zalmunna and ^(BI)took the crescent ornaments which were on their camels’ necks.

Gideon Makes an Ephod

²² Then 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.” ²³ But Gideon said to them, “I will not rule over you, nor shall my son rule over you; ^(BJ)Yahweh shall rule over you.” ²⁴ Yet Gideon said to them, “I would ^[ah]make one request of you, that each of you give me ^[ai]an earring from his spoil.” (For they had gold earrings because they were ^(BK)Ishmaelites.) ²⁵ And 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. ²⁶ And 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. ²⁷ Then Gideon made it into ^(BL)an 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. ²⁸ So 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

²⁹ Then ^(BM)Jerubbaal the son of Joash went and lived in his own house. ³⁰ Now Gideon had ^(BN)seventy sons who ^[aj]were his direct descendants, for he had many wives. ³¹ And his concubine who was in Shechem also bore him a son, and he ^[ak]named him Abimelech. ³² Then 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.

³³ Then it happened, as soon as Gideon was dead, ^(BO)that the sons of Israel turned back and played the harlot with the Baals and made ^(BP)Baal-berith their god. ³⁴ Thus the sons of Israel ^(BQ)did not remember Yahweh their God, who had delivered them from the hands of all their enemies on every side; ^35 (BR)nor did they show lovingkindness to the household of Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) in accord with all the good that he had done to Israel.