Judges 6:40 - Prayer Tents



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Judges 6
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The Midianite Oppression

6The Israelites did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and the LORD gave them into the hand of Midian seven years.H1121H3478H6213H7451H5869H3068H3068H5414H3027H4080H7651H8141 2The hand of Midian prevailed over Israel; and because of Midian the Israelites provided for themselves hiding places in the mountains, caves and strongholds.H3027H4080H5810H3478H6440H4080H1121H3478H6213H4492H2022H4631H4679 3For whenever the Israelites put in seed, the Midianites and the Amalekites and the people of the East would come up against them.H3478H2232H4080H5927H6002H1121H6924H5927 4They would encamp against them and destroy the produce of the land, as far as the neighborhood of Gaza, and leave no sustenance in Israel, and no sheep or ox or donkey.H2583H7843H2981H776H935H5804H7604H4241H3478H7716H7794H2543 5For they and their livestock would come up, and they would even bring their tents, as thick as locusts; neither they nor their camels could be counted; so they wasted the land as they came in.H5927H4735H168H935H935H1767H697H7230H1581H4557H935H776H7843 6Thus Israel was greatly impoverished because of Midian; and the Israelites cried out to the LORD for help.H3478H3966H1809H6440H4080H1121H3478H2199H3068 7When the Israelites cried to the LORD on account of the Midianites,H1121H3478H2199H3068H182H4080 8the LORD sent a prophet to the Israelites; and he said to them, "Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: I led you up from Egypt, and brought you out of the house of slavery;H3068H7971H376H5030H1121H3478H559H559H3068H430H3478H5927H4714H3318H1004H5650 9and I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians, and from the hand of all who oppressed you, and drove them out before you, and gave you their land;H5337H3027H4714H3027H3905H1644H6440H5414H776 10and I said to you, 'I am the LORD your God; you shall not pay reverence to the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you live.' But you have not given heed to my voice."H559H3068H430H3372H430H567H776H3427H8085H6963

The Call of Gideon

11Now the angel of the LORD came and sat under the oak at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, as his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the wine press, to hide it from the Midianites.H935H4397H3068H3427H424H6084H3101H33H1121H1439H2251H2406H1660H5127H6440H4080 12The angel of the LORD appeared to him and said to him, "The LORD is with you, you mighty warrior."H4397H3068H7200H559H3068H1368H2428 13Gideon answered him, "But sir, if the LORD is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all his wonderful deeds that our ancestors recounted to us, saying, 'Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt?' But now the LORD has cast us off, and given us into the hand of Midian."H1439H559H994H113H3426H3068H4672H6381H1H5608H559H3068H5927H4714H3068H5203H5414H3709H4080 14Then the LORD turned to him and said, "Go in this might of yours and deliver Israel from the hand of Midian; I hereby commission you."H3068H6437H559H3212H3581H3467H3478H3709H4080H7971 15He responded, "But sir, how can I deliver Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family."H559H994H136H4100H3467H3478H504H505H1800H4519H6810H1H1004 16The LORD said to him, "But I will be with you, and you shall strike down the Midianites, every one of them."H3068H559H5221H4080H259H376 17Then he said to him, "If now I have found favor with you, then show me a sign that it is you who speak with me.H559H4672H2580H5869H6213H226H1696 18Do not depart from here until I come to you, and bring out my present, and set it before you." And he said, "I will stay until you return."H4185H935H3318H4503H3240H6440H559H3427H7725 19So Gideon went into his house and prepared a kid, and unleavened cakes from an ephah of flour; the meat he put in a basket, and the broth he put in a pot, and brought them to him under the oak and presented them.H1439H935H6213H5795H1423H4682H374H7058H1320H7760H5536H7760H4839H6517H3318H424H5066 20The angel of God said to him, "Take the meat and the unleavened cakes, and put them on this rock, and pour out the broth." And he did so.H4397H430H559H3947H1320H4682H3240H1975H5553H8210H4839H6213 21Then the angel of the LORD reached out the tip of the staff that was in his hand, and touched the meat and the unleavened cakes; and fire sprang up from the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened cakes; and the angel of the LORD vanished from his sight.H4397H3068H7971H7097H4938H3027H5060H1320H4682H5927H784H6697H398H1320H4682H4397H3068H1980H5869 22Then Gideon perceived that it was the angel of the LORD; and Gideon said, "Help me, Lord GOD! For I have seen the angel of the LORD face to face."H1439H7200H4397H3068H1439H559H162H136H3069H3651H7200H4397H3068H6440H6440 23But the LORD said to him, "Peace be to you; do not fear, you shall not die."H3068H559H7965H3372H4191 24Then Gideon built an altar there to the LORD, and called it, The LORD is peace. To this day it still stands at Ophrah, which belongs to the Abiezrites.H1439H1129H4196H3068H7121H3073H3117H6084H33 25That night the LORD said to him, "Take your father's bull, the second bull seven years old, and pull down the altar of Baal that belongs to your father, and cut down the sacred pole that is beside it;H3915H3068H559H3947H1H6499H7794H8145H6499H7651H8141H2040H4196H1168H1H3772H842 26and build an altar to the LORD your God on the top of the stronghold here, in proper order; then take the second bull, and offer it as a burnt offering with the wood of the sacred pole that you shall cut down."H1129H4196H3068H430H7218H4581H4634H3947H8145H6499H5927H5930H6086H842H3772 27So Gideon took ten of his servants, and did as the LORD had told him; but because he was too afraid of his family and the townspeople to do it by day, he did it by night.H1439H3947H6235H582H5650H6213H3068H1696H3372H1H1004H582H5892H6213H3119H6213H3915

Gideon Destroys the Altar of Baal

28When the townspeople rose early in the morning, the altar of Baal was broken down, and the sacred pole beside it was cut down, and the second bull was offered on the altar that had been built.H582H5892H7925H1242H4196H1168H5422H842H3772H8145H6499H5927H4196H1129 29So they said to one another, "Who has done this?" After searching and inquiring, they were told, "Gideon son of Joash did it."H559H376H7453H6213H1697H1875H1245H559H1439H1121H3101H6213H1697 30Then the townspeople said to Joash, "Bring out your son, so that he may die, for he has pulled down the altar of Baal and cut down the sacred pole beside it."H582H5892H559H3101H3318H1121H4191H5422H4196H1168H3772H842 31But Joash said to all who were arrayed against him, "Will you contend for Baal? Or will you defend his cause? Whoever contends for him shall be put to death by morning. If he is a god, let him contend for himself, because his altar has been pulled down."H3101H559H5975H7378H1168H3467H7378H4191H1242H430H7378H5422H4196 32Therefore on that day Gideon was called Jerubbaal, that is to say, "Let Baal contend against him," because he pulled down his altar.H3117H7121H3378H559H1168H7378H5422H4196 33Then all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the people of the East came together, and crossing the Jordan they encamped in the Valley of Jezreel.H4080H6002H1121H6924H622H3162H5674H2583H6010H3157 34But the spirit of the LORD took possession of Gideon; and he sounded the trumpet, and the Abiezrites were called out to follow him.H7307H3068H3847H1439H8628H7782H44H2199H310 35He sent messengers throughout all Manasseh, and they too were called out to follow him. He also sent messengers to Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, and they went up to meet them.H7971H4397H4519H2199H310H7971H4397H836H2074H5321H5927H7125

The Sign of the Fleece

36Then Gideon said to God, "In order to see whether you will deliver Israel by my hand, as you have said,H1439H559H430H3426H3467H3478H3027H1696 37I am going to lay a fleece of wool on the threshing floor; if there is dew on the fleece alone, and it is dry on all the ground, then I shall know that you will deliver Israel by my hand, as you have said."H3322H1492H6785H1637H2919H1492H2721H776H3045H3467H3478H3027H1696 38And it was so. When he rose early next morning and squeezed the fleece, he wrung enough dew from the fleece to fill a bowl with water.H7925H4283H2115H1492H2115H4680H2919H1492H5602H4393H4325 39Then Gideon said to God, "Do not let your anger burn against me, let me speak one more time; let me, please, make trial with the fleece just once more; let it be dry only on the fleece, and on all the ground let there be dew."H1439H559H430H639H2734H1696H6471H5254H6471H1492H2721H1492H776H2919 40And God did so that night. It was dry on the fleece only, and on all the ground there was dew.H430H6213H3915H2721H1492H2919H776


New Revised Standard Version (NRSV). Scripture quotations are from New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. More details.
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