Judges 6

All 40 verses in the Clear Bible Translation. Tap a verse to compare the KJV and read what it means.

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1. 1The people of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, so the LORD handed them over to the Midianites for seven years.
2. 2The power of Midian was strong against Israel, and because of the Midianites, the Israelites made for themselves dens in the mountains, along with caves and strongholds.
3. 3Whenever the Israelites planted their crops, the Midianites, along with the Amalekites and other eastern peoples, would come up against them.
4. 4They would set up camp and destroy every crop in the land all the way to Gaza, leaving Israel with nothing to eat — no sheep, no cattle, no donkeys.
5. 5They came with their livestock and tents, as numerous as grasshoppers; there was no counting them or their camels. They entered the land to destroy it.
6. 6Israel was greatly impoverished because of the Midianites, and the people of Israel cried out to the LORD.
7. 7When the people of Israel cried out to the LORD because of the Midianites,
8. 8the LORD sent a prophet to them. The prophet said, "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: 'I brought you up out of Egypt and rescued you from slavery.
9. 9I saved you from the Egyptians and from everyone who oppressed you. I drove them out ahead of you and gave you their land.
10. 10I told you, "I am the LORD your God. Do not fear the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you now live." But you refused to listen to me.'"
11. 11One day the angel of the LORD came and sat under an oak tree in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite. His son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress, trying to keep it hidden from the Midianites.
12. 12The angel of the LORD appeared to him and said, "The LORD is with you, mighty warrior!"
13. 13Gideon replied, "Please, my lord — if the LORD is really with us, then why has all this happened to us? Where are all the miracles our ancestors told us about? They said, 'Didn't the LORD bring us out of Egypt?' But now the LORD has abandoned us and handed us over to Midian."
14. 14The LORD turned to him and said, "Go with the strength you have and rescue Israel from Midian. I am the one sending you."
15. 15Gideon said, "Oh my Lord, how can I save Israel? My family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house."
16. 16The LORD said to him, "I will be with you, and you will strike down the Midianites as if they were one man."
17. 17Gideon said, "If I've truly found favor with you, give me a sign that it's really you speaking to me.
18. 18Please don't leave until I come back with my gift to set before you." And he said, "I will wait until you return."
19. 19Gideon went inside and prepared a young goat and made unleavened bread from an ephah of flour. He put the meat in a basket and the broth in a pot, then carried it all out and presented it to him under the oak tree.
20. 20The angel of God told him, "Place the meat and the unleavened bread on this rock, and pour the broth over them." Gideon did as he was told.
21. 21Then the angel of the LORD touched the meat and bread with the tip of the staff in his hand. Fire blazed up from the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened bread completely. Then the angel of the LORD vanished from his sight.
22. 22When Gideon realized that this had been the angel of the LORD, he cried out, "Oh no, Lord GOD! I have seen the angel of the LORD face to face!"
23. 23But the LORD said to him, "Peace! Don't be afraid. You are not going to die."
24. 24So Gideon built an altar there to the LORD and named it Jehovahshalom. It still stands to this day in Ophrah, which belongs to the Abiezrites.
25. 25That same night, the LORD said to him, "Take your father's bull — the second bull, the one that is 7 years old — and tear down your father's altar to Baal. Cut down the Asherah pole standing beside it.
26. 26Build an altar to the LORD your God on top of this rock, in the ordered place. Take the second bull and offer it as a burnt sacrifice, using the wood from the Asherah pole you cut down.
27. 27So Gideon took 10 of his servants and did exactly what the LORD told him. But because he was afraid of his father's household and the men of the town, he did it at night instead of during the day.
28. 28When the townspeople got up early the next morning, they found the altar of Baal torn down, the Asherah pole beside it cut down, and the second bull burned on a newly built altar.
29. 29They asked each other, "Who did this?" After investigating, they found out: "Gideon son of Joash did it."
30. 30The men of the town demanded of Joash, "Bring out your son! He must die for tearing down Baal's altar and cutting down the Asherah pole beside it."
31. 31But Joash stood up to the crowd and said, "Are you really going to fight Baal's battles for him? Are you going to rescue him? Anyone who defends Baal should be put to death by morning! If Baal is truly a god, let him defend himself — after all, it's his altar that was torn down."
32. 32Therefore, on that day he called him Jerubbaal, saying, "Let Baal plead against him, because he has thrown down his altar."
33. 33Meanwhile, all the Midianites, Amalekites, and eastern tribes joined forces, went over, and set up camp in the Valley of Jezreel.
34. 34Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Gideon. He blew a trumpet, and the clan of Abiezer rallied behind him.
35. 35He sent messengers throughout all of Manasseh, and they rallied behind him too. He also sent messengers to Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, and they marched out to join him.
36. 36Gideon said to God, "If you are truly going to use me to save Israel, as you promised,
37. 37then here's what I'll do: I'm going to lay a wool fleece on the threshing floor tonight. If there's dew only on the fleece in the morning and the ground all around it is dry, then I'll know for sure that you will save Israel through me, just as you said."
38. 38That's exactly what happened. When Gideon got up early the next morning, he squeezed the fleece and wrung out enough dew to fill an entire bowl with water.
39. 39Then Gideon said to God, "Please don't be angry with me — let me ask just one more time. Let me test the fleece once more. This time, let the fleece be dry and let the ground all around it be covered with dew."
40. 40God did exactly that during the night. The fleece alone was dry, and dew covered all the ground around it.