An angel talks to Gideon
11 Then the angel of the Lord came, and sat down under the oak that is in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash, Abiezrite: and Gideon, his son, was working out the wheat in the winepress, to save him from the Midianites.
12 Then the angel of the Lord appeared to him, and said to him, The Lord is with you, a valiant man.
13 But Gideon said to him, Alas, my lord, if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? and what is done of all his wonders that our fathers tell us, saying, Has not the Lord brought us up out of Egypt? But now the Lord has forsaken us, and has given us into the hand of the Midianites.
14 Then the Lord looked at him and said, "Go in this strength of yours and you will deliver Israel out of the hand of the Midianites. Didn't I send you?"
15 And he said to him, Alas, my lord, with what shall I deliver Israel? behold, my thousand is the poorest in Manasseh, and I the least in my father's house.
16 And the Lord said to him, Because I will be with you, you will strike the Midianites as though they were one man.
17 And he said to him, If now I have found favor in your eyes, give me a sign that you are what you speak to me.
18 I beg you not to depart from here until I come to you and bring my gift and set it before you. And he said: I will wait until you return.
19 And Gideon came in and prepared a kid and unleavened cakes from a flour meal; the meat was put in a saffron and the broth put in a pot: and brought it up under the oak, and presented it to him.
20 But the angel of God said to him, "Take the unleavened meat and cakes and put them on this cake and pour the broth. And so it did.
21 And the angel of the Lord extended the tip of the staff, which was in his hand, and touched the meat and unleavened cakes: then fire came up from the wood, and consumed the unleavened meat and cakes; and the angel of the Lord disappeared from his eyes.
22 Then Gideon saw that he was the angel of the Lord; and Gideon said, Ah! Lord, Jehovah, that I saw the angel of the Lord face to face!
23 But the Lord said to him, Peace be with you: fear not: you will not die.
24 Then Gideon built an altar there to the Lord, and called him, Lord is peace: and even today he is in Ophra of the Abiezrites.
25 And it happened that very night that the Lord said to him: Take your father's ox, namely, the second ox of seven years: and bring down the altar of Baal, which is your father's; and cut the forest at his foot.
26 And build an altar to the Lord your God on the top of this strong place, in a convenient place: and take the second ox, and you shall offer it as a burnt offering with the wood you cut from the forest.
27 Then Gideon took ten men from among his servants, and did as the Lord had told him: and it came to pass that, fearing his father's house, and the men of that city, he did not do it by day, but did it by night.
28 When the men of that city arose at dawn, behold, Baal's altar was torn down and the forest which was at his foot was cut off: and the second ox was offered at the newly built altar.
29 And they said to one another, Who did this thing? When they searched and inquired, they said, Gideon, the son of Jobas, did this thing.
30 Then the men of that city said to Joash, Take your son out so that he may die, for he has broken down the altar of Baal, and has cut down the forest at his foot.
31 But Joas said to all who stood against him, Will you contend for Baal? will you deliver him? whoever contests for him this morning will be killed: if he is a god, contend for himself; because they knocked down your altar
32 So they called him Jerubaal that day, saying, Baal contend against him, for he has broken down his altar.
33 And all the Midianites and Amalekites, and the children of the East, were gathered together in one body, and passed by, and laid their field in the valley of Jezreel.
34 Then the spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon, who blew the horn, and the Abiezrites came together after him.
35 And he sent messengers throughout the tribe of Manasseh, who was also summoned after him: he also sent messengers to Eser, and to Zebulun, and to Naphtali, and they went out to meet him.
36 And Gideon said to God, If you will deliver Israel by my hand, as you have said,
37 Behold, I will put a fleece of wool on the threshing floor: if the dew is only on the fleece, and dryness over the whole earth, then I will know that you will deliver Israel by my hand, as you have said.
38 And it was so: for the next day he arose at dawn, and pressed the fleece: and the dew on the fleece squeezed a bowl full of water.
39 And Gideon said to God, Thy anger should not be kindled against me, if I only speak this once: I beg you only this time to try the fleece to be dry, and in all the land there is dew.
40 And God did so that night: for it was dry on the fleece only, and there was dew on all the earth.
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