6 ¹ The people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of Yahweh; and Yahweh gave them into the hand of Midian seven years. 6 ² And the hand of Midian prevailed over Israel; and because of Midian the people of Israel made for themselves the dens which are in the mountains, and the caves and the strongholds. 6 ³ For whenever the Israelites put in seed the Midianites and the Amalekites and the people of the East would come up and attack them; 6 ⁴ they would encamp against them and destroy the produce of the land, as far as the neighbourhood of Gaza, and leave no sustenance in Israel, and no sheep or ox or ass. 6 ⁵ For they would come up with their cattle and their tents, coming like locusts for number; both they and their camels could not be counted; so that they wasted the land as they came in. 6 ⁶ And Israel was brought very low because of Midian; and the people of Israel cried for help to Yahweh.

6 ⁷ When the people of Israel cried to Yahweh on account of the Midianites, 6 ⁸ Yahweh sent a prophet to the people of Israel; and he said to them, "Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel: I led you up from Egypt, and brought you out of the house of bondage; 6 ⁹ and 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; 6 ¹⁰ and I said to you, 'I am Yahweh your God; you shall not pay reverence to the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell.' But you have not given heed to my voice."

6 ¹¹ Now the angel of Yahweh 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. 6 ¹² And the angel of Yahweh appeared to him and said to him, "Yahweh is with you, you mighty man of valor." 6 ¹³ And Gideon said to him, "Pray, sir, if Yahweh is with us, why then has all this befallen us? And where are all his wonderful deeds which our fathers recounted to us, saying, 'Did not Yahweh bring us up from Egypt?' But now Yahweh has cast us off, and given us into the hand of Midian." 6 ¹⁴ And Yahweh turned to him and said, "Go in this might of yours and deliver Israel from the hand of Midian; do not I send you?" 6 ¹⁵ And he said to him, "Pray, Yahweh, how can I deliver Israel? Behold, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family." 6 ¹⁶ And Yahweh said to him, "But I will be with you, and you shall smite the Midianites as one man." 6 ¹⁷ And he said to him, "If now I have found favour with you, then show me a sign that it is you who speak with me. 6 ¹⁸ Please do 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 till you return."

6 ¹⁹ So 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. 6 ²⁰ And the angel of God said to him, "Take the meat and the unleavened cakes, and put them on this rock, and pour the broth over them." And he did so. 6 ²¹ Then the angel of Yahweh reached out the tip of the staff that was in his hand, and touched the meat and the unleavened cakes; and there sprang up fire from the rock and consumed the flesh and the unleavened cakes; and the angel of Yahweh vanished from his sight. 6 ²² Then Gideon perceived that he was the angel of Yahweh; and Gideon said, "Alas, O Yahweh GOD! For now I have seen the angel of Yahweh face to face." 6 ²³ But Yahweh said to him, "Peace be to you; do not fear, you shall not die." 6 ²⁴ Then Gideon built an altar there to Yahweh, and called it, Yahweh is peace. To this day it still stands at Ophrah, which belongs to the Abiezrites.

6 ²⁵ That night Yahweh said to him, "Take your father's bull, the second bull seven years old, and pull down the altar of Baal which your father has, and cut down the Asherah that is beside it; 6 ²⁶ and build an altar to Yahweh your God on the top of the stronghold here, with stones laid in due order; then take the second bull, and offer it as a burnt offering with the wood of the Asherah which you shall cut down." 6 ²⁷ So Gideon took ten men of his servants, and did as Yahweh had told him; but because he was too afraid of his family and the men of the town to do it by day, he did it by night.

6 ²⁸ When the men of the town rose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was broken down, and the Asherah beside it was cut down, and the second bull was offered upon the altar which had been built. 6 ²⁹ And they said to one another, "Who has done this thing?" And after they had made search and inquired, they said, "Gideon the son of Joash has done this thing." 6 ³⁰ Then the men of the town said to Joash, "Bring out your son, that he may die, for he has pulled down the altar of Baal and cut down the Asherah beside it." 6 ³¹ But 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." 6 ³² Therefore on that day he was called Jerubbaal, that is to say, "Let Baal contend against him," because he pulled down his altar.

6 ³³ Then 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. 6 ³⁴ But the Spirit of Yahweh took possession of Gideon; and he sounded the trumpet, and the Abiezrites were called out to follow him. 6 ³⁵ And he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh; and they too were called out to follow him. And he sent messengers to Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali; and they went up to meet them.

6 ³⁶ Then Gideon said to God, "If you will deliver Israel by my hand, as you have said, 6 ³⁷ behold, I am laying 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." 6 ³⁸ And 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. 6 ³⁹ Then Gideon said to God, "Let not your anger burn against me, let me speak but this once; pray, let me make trial only this once with the fleece; pray, let it be dry only on the fleece, and on all the ground let there be dew." 6 ⁴⁰ And God did so that night; for it was dry on the fleece only, and on all the ground there was dew. - Gideon defeats the Midianites.  Jdg.7.1-25

7 ¹ Then Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) and all the people who were with him rose early and encamped beside the spring of Harod; and the camp of Midian was north of them, by the hill of Moreh, in the valley.

7 ² Yahweh said to Gideon, "The people with you are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hand, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, 'My own hand has delivered me.' 7 ³ Now therefore proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, 'Whoever is fearful and trembling, let him return home.' " And Gideon tested them; twenty-two thousand returned, and ten thousand remained.

7 ⁴ And Yahweh said to Gideon, "The people are still too many; take them down to the water and I will test them for you there; and he of whom I say to you, 'This man shall go with you,' shall go with you; and any of whom I say to you, 'This man shall not go with you,' shall not go." 7 ⁵ So he brought the people down to the water; and Yahweh said to Gideon, "Every one that laps the water with his tongue, as a dog laps, you shall set by himself; likewise every one that kneels down to drink." 7 ⁶ And the number of those that lapped, putting their hands to their mouths, was three hundred men; but all the rest of the people knelt down to drink water. 7 ⁷ And Yahweh said to Gideon, "With the three hundred men that lapped I will deliver you, and give the Midianites into your hand; and let all the others go every man to his home." 7 ⁸ So he took the jars of the people from their hands, and their trumpets; and he sent all the rest of Israel every man to his tent, but retained the three hundred men; and the camp of Midian was below him in the valley.

7 ⁹ That same night Yahweh said to him, "Arise, go down against the camp; for I have given it into your hand. 7 ¹⁰ But if you fear to go down, go down to the camp with Purah your servant; 7 ¹¹ and you shall hear what they say, and afterward your hands shall be strengthened to go down against the camp." Then he went down with Purah his servant to the outposts of the armed men that were in the camp. 7 ¹² And the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the people of the East lay along the valley like locusts for multitude; and their camels were without number, as the sand which is upon the seashore for multitude. 7 ¹³ When Gideon came, behold, a man was telling a dream to his comrade; and he said, "Behold, I dreamed a dream; and lo, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the camp of Midian, and came to the tent, and struck it so that it fell, and turned it upside down, so that the tent lay flat." 7 ¹⁴ And his comrade answered, "This is no other than the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel; into his hand God has given Midian and all the host."

7 ¹⁵ When Gideon heard the telling of the dream and its interpretation, he worshipped; and he returned to the camp of Israel, and said, "Arise; for Yahweh has given the host of Midian into your hand." 7 ¹⁶ And he divided the three hundred men into three companies, and put trumpets into the hands of all of them and empty jars, with torches inside the jars. 7 ¹⁷ And he said to them, "Look at me, and do likewise; when I come to the outskirts of the camp, do as I do. 7 ¹⁸ When I blow the trumpet, I and all who are with me, then blow the trumpets also on every side of all the camp, and shout, 'For Yahweh and for Gideon.' "

7 ¹⁹ So Gideon and the hundred men who were with him came to the outskirts of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, when they had just set the watch; and they blew the trumpets and smashed the jars that were in their hands. 7 ²⁰ And the three companies blew the trumpets and broke the jars, holding in their left hands the torches, and in their right hands the trumpets to blow; and they cried, "A sword for Yahweh and for Gideon!" 7 ²¹ They stood every man in his place round about the camp, and all the army ran; they cried out and fled. 7 ²² When they blew the three hundred trumpets, Yahweh set every man's sword against his fellow and against all the army; and the army fled as far as Beth-shittah toward Zererah, as far as the border of Abel-meholah, by Tabbath. 7 ²³ And the men of Israel were called out from Naphtali and from Asher and from all Manasseh, and they pursued after Midian.

7 ²⁴ And Gideon sent messengers throughout all the hill country of Ephraim, saying, "Come down against the Midianites and seize the waters against them, as far as Beth-barah, and also the Jordan." So all the men of Ephraim were called out, and they seized the waters as far as Beth-barah, and also the Jordan. 7 ²⁵ And they took the two princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb; they killed Oreb at the rock of Oreb, and Zeeb they killed at the wine press of Zeeb, as they pursued Midian; and they brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon beyond the Jordan. - Final defeat of Midian.  Jdg.8.1-28

8 ¹ And the men of Ephraim said to him, "What is this that you have done to us, not to call us when you went to fight with Midian?" And they upbraided him violently. 8 ² And he said to them, "What have I done now in comparison with you? Is not the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the vintage of Abiezer? 8 ³ God has given into your hands the princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb; what have I been able to do in comparison with you?" Then their anger against him was abated, when he had said this.

8 ⁴ And Gideon came to the Jordan and passed over, he and the three hundred men who were with him, faint yet pursuing. 8 ⁵ So he said to the men of Succoth, "Pray, give loaves of bread to the people who follow me; for they are faint, and I am pursuing after Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian." 8 ⁶ And the officials of Succoth said, "Are Zebah and Zalmunna already in your hand, that we should give bread to your army?" 8 ⁷ And Gideon said, "Well then, when Yahweh has given Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, I will flail your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness and with briers." 8 ⁸ And from there he went up to Penuel, and spoke to them in the same way; and the men of Penuel answered him as the men of Succoth had answered. 8 ⁹ And he said to the men of Penuel, "When I come again in peace, I will break down this tower."

8 ¹⁰ Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor with their army, about fifteen thousand men, all who were left of all the army of the people of the East; for there had fallen a hundred and twenty thousand men who drew the sword. 8 ¹¹ And Gideon went up by the caravan route east of Nobah and Jogbehah, and attacked the army; for the army was off its guard. 8 ¹² And Zebah and Zalmunna fled; and he pursued them and took the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and he threw all the army into a panic.

8 ¹³ Then Gideon the son of Joash returned from the battle by the ascent of Heres. 8 ¹⁴ And he caught a young man of Succoth, and questioned him; and he wrote down for him the officials and elders of Succoth, seventy-seven men. 8 ¹⁵ And he came to the men of Succoth, and said, "Behold Zebah and Zalmunna, about whom you taunted me, saying, 'Are Zebah and Zalmunna already in your hand, that we should give bread to your men who are faint?" 8 ¹⁶ And he took the elders of the city and he took thorns of the wilderness and briers and with them taught the men of Succoth. 8 ¹⁷ And he broke down the tower of Penuel, and slew the men of the city.

8 ¹⁸ Then he said to Zebah and Zalmunna, "Where are the men whom you slew at Tabor?" They answered, "As you are, so were they, every one of them; they resembled the sons of a king." 8 ¹⁹ And he said, "They were my brothers, the sons of my mother; as Yahweh lives, if you had saved them alive, I would not slay you." 8 ²⁰ And he said to Jether his first-born, "Rise, and slay them." But the youth did not draw his sword; for he was afraid, because he was still a youth. 8 ²¹ Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, "Rise yourself, and fall upon us; for as the man is, so is his strength." And Gideon arose and slew Zebah and Zalmunna; and he took the crescents that were on the necks of their camels.

8 ²² Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, "Rule over us, you and your son and your grandson also; for you have delivered us out of the hand of Midian." 8 ²³ Gideon said to them, "I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you; Yahweh will rule over you." 8 ²⁴ And Gideon said to them, "Let me make a request of you; give me every man of you the earrings of his spoil." (For they had golden earrings, because they were Ishmaelites.) 8 ²⁵ And they answered, "We will willingly give them." And they spread a garment, and every man cast in it the earrings of his spoil. 8 ²⁶ And the weight of the golden earrings that he requested was one thousand seven hundred shekels of gold; besides the crescents and the pendants and the purple garments worn by the kings of Midian, and besides the collars that were about the necks of their camels. 8 ²⁷ And Gideon made an ephod of it and put it in his city, in Ophrah; and all Israel played the harlot after it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and to his family. 8 ²⁸ So Midian was subdued before the people of Israel, and they lifted up their heads no more. And the land had rest forty years in the days of Gideon. - Death of Gideon.  Jdg.8.29-35

8 ²⁹ Jerubbaal the son of Joash went and dwelt in his own house.