Judges 6

NEW JERUSALEM	CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN
1 The Israelites did what is evil in Yahweh's eyes, and for seven years Yahweh handed them over toMidian;	1 Then the sons of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, who delivered them into the hand of Midian for seven years.
2 and Midian bore down heavily on Israel. To escape from the Midianites the Israelites used the mountainclefts and the caves and shelters.	2 And they were greatly oppressed by them. And they made for themselves hollows and caves in the mountains, and very fortified places for defense.
3 Whenever Israel sowed seed the Midianites would march up with Amalek and the sons of the East.They would march on Israel.	3 And when Israel had planted, Midian and Amalek, and the rest of the eastern nations ascended,
4 They would pitch camp on their territory and destroy the produce of the country as far as Gaza. Theyleft Israel nothing to live on, not a sheep or an ox or a donkey,	4 and pitching their tents among them, they laid waste to all that was planted, as far as the entrance to Gaza. And they left behind nothing at all to sustain life in Israel, neither sheep, nor oxen, nor donkeys.
5 for they came up as thick as locusts with their cattle and their tents; they and their camels wereinnumerable, they invaded the country to pil age it.	5 For they and all their flocks arrived with their tents, and they filled all places like locusts, an innumerable multitude of men and camels, devastating whatever they touched.
6 Thus, Midian brought Israel to great distress, and the Israelites cried to Yahweh.	6 And Israel was humbled greatly in the sight of Midian.
7 When the Israelites cried to Yahweh because of Midian,	7 And he cried out to the Lord, requesting assistance against the Midianites.
8 Yahweh sent a prophet to the Israelites. He said to them, 'This is what Yahweh, God of Israel, says, "Itwas I who brought you out of Egypt, and led you out of the place of slave-labour.	8 And he sent to them a man who was a prophet, and he said: “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: ‘I caused you to ascend from Egypt, and I led you away from the house of servitude.
9 I rescued you from the power of the Egyptians and from the power of al who oppressed you. I drovethem out before you and gave their country to you.	9 And I freed you from the hand of the Egyptians and from all of the enemies who were afflicting you. And I cast them out at your arrival, and I delivered their land to you.
10 And I said to you: I am Yahweh your God. You are not to fear the gods of the Amorites in whosecountry you are now living. But you have not listened to my voice." '	10 And I said: I am the Lord your God. You shall not fear the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you live. But you were not willing to listen to my voice.’ ”
11 The Angel of Yahweh came and sat under the terebinth at Ophrah which belonged to Joash ofAbiezer. Gideon his son was threshing wheat inside the wine-press, to keep it hidden from Midian,	11 Then an Angel of the Lord arrived, and he sat under an oak tree, which was at Ophrah, and which belonged to Joash, the father of the family of Ezri. And while his son Gideon was threshing and cleaning the grain at the winepress, so that he might flee from Midian,
12 and the Angel of Yahweh appeared to him and said, 'Yahweh is with you, valiant warrior!'	12 the Angel of the Lord appeared to him, and he said: “The Lord is with you, most valiant of men.”
13 Gideon replied, 'Excuse me, my lord, but if Yahweh is with us, why is al this happening to us? Andwhere are al his miracles which our ancestors used to tel us about when they said, "Did not Yahweh bring usout of Egypt?" But now Yahweh has deserted us; he has abandoned us to Midian.'	13 And Gideon said to him: “I beg you, my lord, if the Lord is with us, why have these things happened to us? Where are his miracles, which our fathers described when they said, ‘The Lord led us away from Egypt.’ But now the Lord has forsaken us, and he has delivered us into the hand of Midian.”
14 At this, Yahweh turned to him and said, 'Go in this strength of yours, and you wil rescue Israel fromthe power of Midian. Am I not sending you myself?'	14 And the Lord looked down upon him, and he said: “Go forth with this, your strength, and you shall free Israel from the hand of Midian. Know that I have sent you.”
15 Gideon replied, 'Forgive me, my lord, but how can I deliver Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manassehand I am the least important of my father's family.'	15 And responding, he said: “I beg you, my lord, with what shall I free Israel? Behold, my family is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in the house of my father.”
16 Yahweh replied, 'I shal be with you and you wil crush Midian as though it were one man.'	16 And the Lord said to him: “I will be with you. And so, you shall cut down Midian as if one man.”
17 Gideon said, 'If I have found favour in your sight, give me a sign that you are speaking to me.	17 And he said: “If I have found grace before you, give me a sign that it is you who is speaking to me.
18 Please do not go away from here until I come back to you, bringing you my offering and laying it beforeyou.' And he replied, 'I shal stay until you come back.'	18 And may you not withdraw from here, until I return to you, carrying a sacrifice and offering it to you.” And he responded, “I will wait for your return.”
19 Gideon went away, he prepared a young goat and from an ephah of flour he made unleavened cakes.He put the meat into a basket and the broth into a pot, then brought it all to him under the terebinth. As heapproached,	19 And so Gideon entered, and he boiled a goat, and he made unleavened bread from a measure of flour. And setting the flesh in a basket, and putting the broth of the flesh in a pot, he took it all under the oak tree, and he offered it to him.
20 the Angel of Yahweh said to him, 'Take the meat and unleavened cakes, put them on this rock andpour the broth over them.' Gideon did so.	20 And the Angel of the Lord said to him, “Take the flesh and the unleavened bread, and place them on that rock, and pour out the broth upon it.” And when he had done so,
21 The Angel of Yahweh then stretched out the tip of the staff which he was carrying, and touched themeat and unleavened cakes. Fire sprang from the rock and consumed the meat and unleavened cakes, and theAngel of Yahweh vanished before his eyes.	21 the Angel of the Lord extended the end of a staff, which he was holding in his hand, and he touched the flesh and the unleavened loaves. And a fire ascended from the rock, and it consumed the flesh and the unleavened loaves. Then the Angel of the Lord vanished from his sight.
22 Gideon then knew that this was the Angel of Yahweh, and he said, 'Alas, my Lord Yahweh! Now I haveseen the Angel of Yahweh face to face!'	22 And Gideon, realizing that it had been the Angel of the Lord, said: “Alas, my Lord God! For I have seen the Angel of the Lord face to face.”
23 Yahweh answered, 'Peace be with you; have no fear; you wil not die.'	23 And the Lord said to him: “Peace be with you. Do not be afraid; you shall not die.”
24 Gideon built an altar there to Yahweh and called it Yahweh-Peace. This altar stands in our own day atOphrah of Abiezer.	24 Therefore, Gideon built an altar to the Lord there, and he called it, the Peace of the Lord, even to the present day. And while he was still at Ophrah, which is of the family of Ezri,
25 Now that night, Yahweh said to Gideon, 'Take your father's bul , the seven-year-old bul , and pull downthe altar to Baal belonging to your father and cut down the sacred pole beside it.	25 that night, the Lord said to him: “Take a bull of your father’s, and another bull of seven years, and you shall destroy the altar of Baal, which is your father’s. And you shall cut down the sacred grove which is around the altar.
26 Then, on top of this strong-point, build a proper altar to Yahweh your God. Then take the bul and burnit as a burnt offering on the wood of the sacred pole which you have cut down.'	26 And you shall build an altar to the Lord your God, at the summit of this rock, on which you placed the sacrifice before. And you shall take the second bull, and you shall offer a holocaust upon a pile of the wood, which you shall cut down from the grove.”
27 Gideon then took ten of his servants and did as Yahweh had ordered him. But, being too frightened ofhis family and of the townspeople to do it in daylight, he did it at night.	27 Therefore, Gideon, taking ten men from his servants, did just as the Lord had instructed him. But fearing his father’s household, and the men of that city, he was not willing to do it by day. Instead, he completed everything by night.
28 Next morning, when the townspeople got up, they found that the altar to Baal had been destroyed, thesacred pole standing beside it had been cut down and the bull had been sacrificed as a burnt offering on thenewly built altar.	28 And when the men of that town had risen up in the morning, they saw the altar of Baal destroyed, and the sacred grove cut down, and the second bull set upon the altar, which then had been built.
29 'Who has done this?' they asked one another. They searched, made enquiries and declared, 'Gideonson of Joash has done it.'	29 And they said one to another, “Who has done this?” And when they inquired everywhere as to the author of the deed, it was said, “Gideon, the son of Joash, did all these things.”
30 The townspeople then said to Joash, 'Bring out your son; he must die for having destroyed Baal's altarand cut down the sacred pole which stood beside it.'	30 And they said to Joash: “Bring forward your son here, so that he may die. For he has destroyed the altar of Baal, and he has cut down the sacred grove.”
31 To the people al crowding round him, Joash replied, 'Is it your job to plead for Baal? Is it your job tochampion his cause? (Anyone who pleads for Baal must be put to death before dawn.) If he is a god, let himplead for himself, now that Gideon has destroyed his altar.'	31 But he responded to them: “Could you be the avengers of Baal, so that you fight on his behalf? Whoever is his adversary, let him die before the light arrives tomorrow; if he is a god, let him vindicate himself against him who has overturned his altar.”
32 That day, Gideon was given the name Jerubbaal, because, they said, 'Baal must plead against him,because he has destroyed his altar!'	32 From that day, Gideon was called Jerubbaal, because Joash had said, “Let Baal avenge himself against him who has overturned his altar.”
33 Al Midian and Amalek and the sons of the East joined forces and, having crossed the Jordan, pitchedcamp in the plain of Jezreel.	33 And so, all of Midian, and Amalek, and the eastern peoples were gathered together. And crossing the Jordan, they encamped in the valley of Jezreel.
34 And the spirit of Yahweh clothed Gideon around; he sounded the horn and Abiezer ral ied behind him.	34 But the Spirit of the Lord entered Gideon, who, sounding the trumpet, summoned the house of Abiezer so that he might follow him.
35 He sent messengers throughout Manasseh, and Manasseh too rallied behind him; he sentmessengers to Asher, Zebulun and Naphtali, and they marched out to meet him.	35 And he sent messengers into all of Manasseh, who also followed him, and other messengers into Asher, and Zebulun, and Naphtali, who went to meet him.
36 Gideon said to God, 'If it is real y you delivering Israel by means of me, as you have said,	36 And Gideon said to God: “If you will save Israel by my hand, just as you have said:
37 look, I am going to put a wool en fleece on the threshing-floor; if there is dew only on the fleece and althe ground stays dry, then I shall know that you wil deliver Israel by means of me, as you have said.'	37 I will set this wool fleece on the threshing floor. If there will be dew only on the fleece, and all the ground is dry, I will know that by my hand, as you have said, you will free Israel.”
38 And so it happened. Early next morning, Gideon got up, squeezed the fleece and wrung enough dewout of the fleece to fill a cup.	38 And so it was done. And rising in the night, wringing out the fleece, he filled a vessel with the dew.
39 Gideon then said to God, 'Do not be angry with me if I speak just once more. Al ow me to make thefleece-test just once more: let the fleece alone be dry and there be dew al over the ground!'	39 And again he said to God: “Let not your fury be enkindled against me, if I test once more, seeking a sign in the fleece. I pray that only the fleece may be dry, and all the ground may be wet with dew.”
40 And God did so that night. The fleece alone stayed dry, and there was dew al over the ground.	40 And that night, God did as he had requested. And it was dry only on the fleece, and there was dew on all the ground.