1And the sons of Israel did the evil in the eyes of YHWH; and YHWH gave them into the hand of Midian seven years.
2And the hand of Midian was strong over Israel; from before Midian the sons of Israel made for themselves the dens which are in the mountains, and the caves, and the strongholds.
3And it was, if Israel had sown, that Midian came up, and Amalek, and the sons of the east; and they came up against him.
4And they encamped against them, and destroyed the produce of the land until you come to Gaza; and they left no sustenance in Israel, neither sheep, nor ox, nor donkey.
5For they, with their cattle and their tents, would come up; and they came in like locusts for multitude; and they and their camels were without number; and they came into the land to destroy it.
6And Israel was brought very low from before Midian; and the sons of Israel cried out to YHWH.
7And it came to pass, when the sons of Israel cried out to YHWH on account of Midian,
8that YHWH sent a man (ish), a prophet, to the sons of Israel; and he said to them, "Thus says YHWH, the God of Israel: I brought you up from Egypt, and I brought you out from the house of slaves;
9and I delivered you from the hand of Egypt, and from the hand of all who oppressed you; and I drove them out from before you, and I gave to you their land.
10And I said to you, I am YHWH your God; you shall not fear the gods of the Amorite, in whose land you dwell. But you have not listened to my voice."
11And the messenger of YHWH came, and sat under the terebinth which was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite; and Gideon his son was beating out wheat in the winepress, to hide it from before Midian.
12And the messenger of YHWH appeared to him, and said to him, "YHWH is with you, mighty man of valor."
13And Gideon said to him, "Oh my lord, if YHWH is with us, then why has all this found us? And where are all his wonders which our fathers recounted to us, saying, Did not YHWH bring us up from Egypt? But now YHWH has forsaken us, and given us into the palm of Midian."
14And YHWH turned to him, and said, "Go in this your strength, and you shall save (yasha) Israel from the palm of Midian; have I not sent you?"
15And he said to him, "Oh my Lord (Adonai), with what shall I save (yasha) Israel? Behold, my thousand is the poorest in Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my father's house."
16And YHWH said to him, "Surely I will be with you, and you shall strike Midian as one man (ish)."
17And he said to him, "If now I have found favor in your eyes, then do for me a sign (ot) that it is you who speak with me.
18Do not depart from here, I pray, until I come to you, and bring out my offering, and set it before you." And he said, "I will sit until your return."
19And Gideon went in, and made a kid of the goats, and an ephah of flour into unleavened cakes; the meat (basar) he put in a basket, and the broth he put in a pot, and he brought it out to him under the terebinth, and presented it.
20And the messenger of God said to him, "Take the meat (basar) and the unleavened cakes, and set them on this rock, and pour out the broth." And he did so.
21And the messenger of YHWH put forth the end of the staff that was in his hand, and touched the meat (basar) and the unleavened cakes; and the fire went up from the rock, and consumed the meat (basar) and the unleavened cakes; and the messenger of YHWH went from his eyes.
22And Gideon saw that he was the messenger of YHWH; and Gideon said, "Alas, my Lord (Adonai) YHWH! for I have seen the messenger of YHWH face to face."
23And YHWH said to him, "Peace to you; do not fear; you shall not die."
24And Gideon built there an altar to YHWH, and called it YHWH-Shalom; until this day it is still in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
25And it came to pass in that night, that YHWH said to him, "Take the bull of the ox which belongs to your father, and the second bull of seven years; and throw down the altar of Baal which belongs to your father, and the Asherah which is by it you shall cut down;
26and you shall build an altar to YHWH your God on the top of this stronghold, in the ordered arrangement; and you shall take the second bull, and offer up a burnt offering with the wood of the Asherah which you shall cut down."
27And Gideon took ten men (ish) from his servants, and did as YHWH had spoken to him; and it came to pass, because he feared his father's house and the men (ish) of the city, from doing it by day, that he did it by night.
28And the men (ish) of the city rose early in the morning, and behold, the altar of Baal was broken down, and the Asherah which was by it was cut down, and the second bull was offered up upon the altar that was built.
29And they said, a man (ish) to his neighbor, "Who did this thing?" And they inquired and sought, and they said, "Gideon the son of Joash did this thing."
30And the men (ish) of the city said to Joash, "Bring out your son, that he may die; because he broke down the altar of Baal, and because he cut down the Asherah that was by it."
31And Joash said to all who stood against him, "Will you contend for Baal? Or will you save (yasha) him? Whoever contends for him shall be put to death by the morning. If he is a god, let him contend for himself, because one has broken down his altar."
32And he called him on that day Jerubbaal, saying, "Let Baal contend against him, because he broke down his altar."
33And all Midian and Amalek and the sons of the east were gathered together; and they crossed over, and encamped in the valley of Jezreel.
34And the spirit (ruach) of YHWH clothed itself with Gideon; and he blew on the horn, and Abiezer was called together after him.
35And he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh; and it also was called together after him; and he sent messengers into Asher, and into Zebulun, and into Naphtali; and they came up to meet them.
36And Gideon said to God, "If you are saving (yasha) Israel by my hand, as you have spoken,
37behold, I am setting the fleece of wool on the threshing floor; if there is dew on the fleece alone, and on all the ground it is dry, then I shall know that you will save (yasha) Israel by my hand, as you have spoken."
38And it was so; and he rose early on the next day, and pressed the fleece, and wrung dew out of the fleece, the fullness of a bowl of water.
39And Gideon said to God, "Let not your anger burn against me, and I will speak only this time; let me test, I pray, only this time with the fleece; let there be, I pray, dryness on the fleece alone, and on all the ground let there be dew."
40And God did so in that night; and there was dryness on the fleece alone, and on all the ground there was dew.