Judges 6:18   (Read all of Judges 6)

Please do not go away until I come back and bring my offering and set it before you." And the Lord said, "I will wait until you return."

Judges 6:20   (Read all of Judges 6)

The angel of God said to him, "Take the meat and the unleavened bread, place them on this rock, and pour out the broth." And Gideon did so.

Judges 6:21   (Read all of Judges 6)

Then the angel of the Lord touched the meat and the unleavened bread with the tip of the staff that was in his hand. Fire flared from the rock, consuming the meat and the bread. And the angel of the Lord disappeared.

Judges 6:22   (Read all of Judges 6)

When Gideon realized that it was the angel of the Lord, he exclaimed, "Alas, Sovereign Lord! I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face!"

Judges 6:23   (Read all of Judges 6)

But the Lord said to him, "Peace! Do not be afraid. You are not going to die."

Judges 6:24   (Read all of Judges 6)

So Gideon built an altar to the Lord there and called it The Lord Is Peace. To this day it stands in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

Judges 6:25   (Read all of Judges 6)

That same night the Lord said to him, "Take the second bull from your father's herd, the one seven years old. Tear down your father's altar to Baal and cut down the Asherah pole beside it.

Judges 6:26   (Read all of Judges 6)

Then build a proper kind of altar to the Lord your God on the top of this height. Using the wood of the Asherah pole that you cut down, offer the second bull as a burnt offering."

Judges 6:27   (Read all of Judges 6)

So Gideon took ten of his servants and did as the Lord told him. But because he was afraid of his family and the townspeople, he did it at night rather than in the daytime.

Judges 6:28   (Read all of Judges 6)

In the morning when the people of the town got up, there was Baal's altar, demolished, with the Asherah pole beside it cut down and the second bull sacrificed on the newly built altar!

Judges 6:29   (Read all of Judges 6)

They asked each other, "Who did this?" When they carefully investigated, they were told, "Gideon son of Joash did it."

Judges 6:30   (Read all of Judges 6)

The people of the town demanded of Joash, "Bring out your son. He must die, because he has broken down Baal's altar and cut down the Asherah pole beside it."

Judges 6:31   (Read all of Judges 6)

But Joash replied to the hostile crowd around him, "Are you going to plead Baal's cause? Are you trying to save him? Whoever fights for him shall be put to death by morning! If Baal really is a god, he can defend himself when someone breaks down his altar."

Judges 6:32   (Read all of Judges 6)

So because Gideon broke down Baal's altar, they gave him the name Jerub-Baal that day, saying, "Let Baal contend with him."

Judges 6:34   (Read all of Judges 6)

Then the Spirit of the Lord came on Gideon, and he blew a trumpet, summoning the Abiezrites to follow him.

Judges 6:35   (Read all of Judges 6)

He sent messengers throughout Manasseh, calling them to arms, and also into Asher, Zebulun and Naphtali, so that they too went up to meet them.

Judges 6:36   (Read all of Judges 6)

Gideon said to God, "If you will save Israel by my hand as you have promised-

Judges 6:37   (Read all of Judges 6)

look, I will place a wool fleece on the threshing floor. If there is dew only on the fleece and all the ground is dry, then I will know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you said."

Judges 6:38   (Read all of Judges 6)

And that is what happened. Gideon rose early the next day; he squeezed the fleece and wrung out the dew-a bowlful of water.

Judges 6:39   (Read all of Judges 6)

Then Gideon said to God, "Do not be angry with me. Let me make just one more request. Allow me one more test with the fleece, but this time make the fleece dry and let the ground be covered with dew."

Judges 6:40   (Read all of Judges 6)

That night God did so. Only the fleece was dry; all the ground was covered with dew.

Judges 7:1   (Read all of Judges 7)

Early in the morning, Jerub-Baal (that is, Gideon) and all his men camped at the spring of Harod. The camp of Midian was north of them in the valley near the hill of Moreh.

Judges 7:2   (Read all of Judges 7)

The Lord said to Gideon, "You have too many men. I cannot deliver Midian into their hands, or Israel would boast against me, 'My own strength has saved me.'

Judges 7:3   (Read all of Judges 7)

Now announce to the army, 'Anyone who trembles with fear may turn back and leave Mount Gilead.' " So twenty-two thousand men left, while ten thousand remained.