Judges 6:12-17

12The angel of the Lord appeared to him and said, “Mighty hero, the Lord is with you!”

13“Sir,” Gideon replied, “if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? And where are all the miracles our ancestors told us about? Didn’t they say, ‘The Lord brought us up out of Egypt’? But now the Lord has abandoned us and handed us over to the Midianites.”

14Then the Lord turned to him and said, “Go with the strength you have, and rescue Israel from the Midianites. I am sending you!”

15“But Lord,” Gideon replied, “how can I rescue Israel? My clan is the weakest in the whole tribe of Manasseh, and I am the least in my entire family!”

16The Lord said to him, “I will be with you. And you will destroy the Midianites as if you were fighting against one man.”

17Gideon replied, “If you are truly going to help me, show me a sign to prove that it is really the Lord speaking to me.