Judges:6
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And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD :
and the LORD delivered them into the hand of Midian seven years .
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And the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel :
and because of the Midianites the children of Israel made them the dens which are in the mountains ,
and caves ,
and strong holds .
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And so it was ,
when Israel had sown ,
that the Midianites came up ,
and the Amalekites ,
and the children of the east ,
even they came up against them ;
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And they encamped against them ,
and destroyed the increase of the earth ,
till you come unto Gaza ,
and left no sustenance for Israel ,
neither sheep ,
nor ox ,
nor ass .
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For they came up with their cattle and their tents ,
and they came as grasshoppers for multitude ;
for both they and their camels were without number :
and they entered into the land to destroy it .
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And Israel was greatly impoverished because of the Midianites ;
and the children of Israel cried unto the LORD .
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And it came to pass ,
when the children of Israel cried unto the LORD because of the Midianites ,
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That the LORD sent a prophet unto the children of Israel ,
which said unto them ,
Thus says the LORD God of Israel ,
I brought you up from Egypt ,
and brought you forth out of the house of bondage ;
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And I delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians ,
and out of the hand of all that oppressed you ,
and drove them out from before you ,
and gave you their land ;
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And I said unto you ,
I am the LORD your God ;
fear not the gods of the Amorites ,
in whose land all of you dwell :
but all of you have not obeyed my voice .
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And there came an angel of the LORD ,
and sat under an oak which was in Ophrah ,
that pertained unto Joash the Abiezrite :
and his son Gideon threshed wheat by the winepress ,
to hide it from the Midianites .
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And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him ,
and said unto him ,
The LORD is with you ,
you mighty man of valour .
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And Gideon said unto him ,
Oh my Lord ,
if the LORD be with us ,
why then is all this befallen us ?
and where be all his miracles which our fathers told us of ,
saying ,
Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt ?
but now the LORD has forsaken us ,
and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites .
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And the LORD looked upon him ,
and said ,
Go in this your might ,
and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites :
have not I sent you ?
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And he said unto him ,
Oh my Lord ,
wherewith shall I save Israel ?
behold ,
my family is poor in Manasseh ,
and I am the least in my father '
s house .
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And the LORD said unto him ,
Surely I will be with you ,
and you shall strike the Midianites as one man .
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And he said unto him ,
If now I have found grace in your sight ,
then show me a sign that you talk with me .
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Depart not behind ,
I pray you ,
until I come unto you ,
and bring forth my present ,
and set it before you .
And he said ,
I will tarry until you come again .
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And Gideon went in ,
and made ready a kid ,
and unleavened cakes of an ephah of flour :
the flesh he put in a basket ,
and he put the broth in a pot ,
and brought it out unto him under the oak ,
and presented it .
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And the angel of God said unto him ,
Take the flesh and the unleavened cakes ,
and lay them upon this rock ,
and pour out the broth .
And he did so .
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Then the angel of the LORD put forth the end of the staff that was in his hand ,
and touched the flesh and the unleavened cakes ;
and there rose up fire out of the rock ,
and consumed the flesh and the unleavened cakes .
Then the angel of the LORD departed out of his sight .
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And when Gideon perceived that he was an angel of the LORD ,
Gideon said ,
Alas ,
O LORD God !
for because I have seen an angel of the LORD face to face .
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And the LORD said unto him ,
Peace be unto you ;
fear not :
you shall not die .
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Then Gideon built an altar there unto the LORD ,
and called it Jehovahshalom :
unto this day it is yet in Ophrah of the Abiezrites .
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And it came to pass the same night ,
that the LORD said unto him ,
Take your father '
s young bullock ,
even the second bullock of seven years old ,
and throw down the altar of Baal that your father has ,
and cut down the grove that is by it :
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And build an altar unto the LORD your God upon the top of this rock ,
in the ordered place ,
and take the second bullock ,
and offer a burnt sacrifice with the wood of the grove which you shall cut down .
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Then Gideon took ten men of his servants ,
and did as the LORD had said unto him :
and so it was ,
because he feared his father '
s household ,
and the men of the city ,
that he could not do it by day ,
that he did it by night .
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And when the men of the city arose early in the morning ,
behold ,
the altar of Baal was cast down ,
and the grove was cut down that was by it ,
and the second bullock was offered upon the altar that was built .
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And they said one to another ,
Who has done this thing ?
And when they enquired and asked ,
they said ,
Gideon the son of Joash has done this thing .
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Then the men of the city said unto Joash ,
Bring out your son ,
that he may die :
because he has cast down the altar of Baal ,
and because he has cut down the grove that was by it .
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And Joash said unto all that stood against him ,
Will all of you plead for Baal ?
will all of you save him ?
he that will plead for him ,
let him be put to death whilst it is yet morning :
if he be a god ,
let him plead for himself ,
because one has cast down his altar .
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Therefore on that day he called him Jerubbaal ,
saying ,
Let Baal plead against him ,
because he has thrown down his altar .
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Then all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the children of the east were gathered together ,
and went over ,
and pitched in the valley of Jezreel .
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But the Spirit of the LORD came upon Gideon ,
and he blew a trumpet ;
and Abiezer was gathered after him .
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And he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh ;
who also was gathered after him :
and he sent messengers unto Asher ,
and unto Zebulun ,
and unto Naphtali ;
and they came up to meet them .
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And Gideon said unto God ,
If you will save Israel by mine hand ,
as you have said ,
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Behold ,
I will put a fleece of wool in the floor ;
and if the dew be on the fleece only ,
and it be dry upon all the earth beside ,
then shall I know that you will save Israel by mine hand ,
as you have said .
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And it was so :
for he rose up early on the next day ,
and thrust the fleece together ,
and wrung the dew out of the fleece ,
a bowl full of water .
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And Gideon said unto God ,
Let not yours anger be hot against me ,
and I will speak but this once :
let me prove ,
I pray you ,
but this once with the fleece ;
let it now be dry only upon the fleece ,
and upon all the ground let there be dew .
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And God did so that night :
for it was dry upon the fleece only ,
and there was dew on all the ground .