Judges 6:11-32

11Then 1the angel of the Lord came and sat under the 2oak that was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the 3Abiezrite, as his son 4Gideon was beating out wheat in the wine press in order to save it from the Midianites. 12And the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, “The Lord is with you, valiant warrior.” 13Then Gideon said to him, “O my lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, ‘Did the Lord not bring us up from Egypt?’ But 5now the Lord has abandoned us and handed us over to Midian.” 14And the Lord 6looked at him and said, “7Go in this strength of yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian. Have I not sent you?” 158But he said to Him, “O Lord, 9how am I to save Israel? Behold, my family is the least in 10Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my father’s house.” 1611Yet the Lord said to him, “I will certainly be with you, and you will 12defeat Midian as one man.” 17So 13Gideon said to Him, “If now I have found favor in Your sight, then perform for me 14a sign that it is You speaking with me. 18Please do not depart from here until I come back to You, and bring out my offering and lay it before You.” And He said, “I will remain until you return.”

19Then Gideon went in and 15prepared a young goat and unleavened bread from an 16ephah of flour; he put the meat in a basket 17and the broth in a pot, and brought them out to him under the 18oak and presented them. 20And 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. 21Then the angel of the Lord put out the end of the staff that was in his hand and touched the meat and the unleavened bread; and 19fire came up from the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened bread. Then the angel of the Lord 20vanished from his sight. 2221When Gideon perceived that he was the angel of the Lord, 22he said, “Oh, Lord 23God! For I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face!” 23But the Lord said to him, “Peace to you, do not be afraid; you shall not die.” 24Then Gideon built an altar there to the Lord and named it 24The Lord is Peace. To this day it is still 25in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

25Now on the same night the Lord said to him, “Take your father’s bull 26and a second bull seven years old, and tear down the altar of Baal which belongs to your father, and cut down the 2728Asherah that is beside it; 26and build an altar to the Lord your God on the top of this stronghold in an orderly way, and take a second bull and offer a burnt offering with the wood of the Asherah which you shall cut down.” 27Then Gideon took ten men from his servants and did as the Lord had spoken to him; and 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.

28When the people of the city got up early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal had been torn down, and the Asherah which had been beside it had been cut down, and the second bull had been offered on the altar which had been built. 29So they said to one another, “Who did this thing?” And when they searched and inquired, they said, “Gideon the son of Joash did this thing.” 30Then 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.” 31But 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, since someone has torn down his altar!” 32Therefore on that day he named 29Gideon 30Jerubbaal, that is to say, “Let Baal contend against him,” because he had torn down his altar.