CSB

CSB

Click to Change

Return to Top

Return to Top

Printer Icon

Print

Copy
Copy Options
Format by: Verse Paragraph
Strong's
Red Letter
Audio Bibles
The Blue Letter Bible

Judges 6 :: Christian Standard Bible (CSB)

toggle collapse
Choose a new font size and typeface
Audio Bibles
Midian Oppresses Israel
Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 6:1 -

The Israelites did what was evil in the sight of the LORD. So the LORD handed them over to Midian seven years,

Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 6:2 -

and they oppressed Israel. Because of Midian, the Israelites made hiding places for themselves in the mountains, caves, and strongholds.

Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 6:3 -

Whenever the Israelites planted crops, the Midianites, Amalekites, and the people of the east came and attacked them.

Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 6:4 -

They encamped against them and destroyed the produce of the land, even as far as Gaza. They left nothing for Israel to eat, as well as no sheep, ox, or donkey.

Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 6:5 -

For the Midianites came with their cattle and their tents like a great swarm of locusts. They and their camels were without number, and they entered the land to lay waste to it.

Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 6:6 -

So Israel became poverty-stricken because of Midian, and the Israelites cried out to the LORD.

Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 6:7 -

When the Israelites cried out to him because of Midian,

Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 6:8 -

the LORD sent a prophet to them. He said to them, “This is what the LORD God of Israel says: ‘I brought you out of Egypt and out of the place of slavery.

Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 6:9 -

“I rescued you from the power of Egypt and the power of all who oppressed you. I drove them out before you and gave you their land.

Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 6:10 -

“I said to you: I am the LORD your God. Do not fear the gods of the Amorites whose land you live in. But you did not obey me.’ ”

The LORD Calls Gideon
Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 6:11 -

The angel of the LORD came, and he sat under the oak that was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash, the Abiezrite. His son Gideon was threshing wheat in the winepress in order to hide it from the Midianites.

Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 6:12 -

Then the angel of the LORD appeared to him and said, “The LORD is with you, valiant warrior.”

Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 6:13 -

Gideon said to him, “Please, my lord, if the LORD is with us, why has all this happened? And where are all his wonders that our ancestors told us about? They said, ‘Hasn’t the LORD brought us out of Egypt? ’ But now the LORD has abandoned us and handed us over to Midian.”

Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 6:14 -

The LORD turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and deliver Israel from the grasp of Midian. I am sending you! ”

Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 6:15 -

He said to him, “Please, Lord, how can I deliver Israel? Look, my family is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my father’s family.”

Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 6:16 -

“But I will be with you,” the LORD said to him. “You will strike Midian down as if it were one man.”

Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 6:17 -

Then he said to him, “If I have found favor with you, give me a sign that you are speaking with me.

Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 6:18 -

“Please do not leave this place until I return to you. Let me bring my gift and set it before you.”

And he said, “I will stay until you return.”

Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 6:19 -

So Gideon went and prepared a young goat and unleavened bread from a half bushel[fn] of flour. He placed the meat in a basket and the broth in a pot. He brought them out and offered them to him under the oak.

Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 6:20 -

The angel of God said to him, “Take the meat with the unleavened bread, put it on this stone, and pour the broth on it.” So he did that.

Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 6:21 -

The angel of the LORD extended the tip of the staff that was in his hand and touched the meat and the unleavened bread. Fire came up from the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened bread. Then the angel of the LORD vanished from his sight.

Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 6:22 -

When Gideon realized that he was the angel of the LORD, he said, “Oh no, Lord GOD! I have seen the angel of the LORD face to face! ”

Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 6:23 -

But the LORD said to him, “Peace to you. Don’t be afraid, for you will not die.”

Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 6:24 -

So Gideon built an altar to the LORD there and called it The LORD Is Peace.[fn] It is still in Ophrah of the Abiezrites today.

Gideon Tears Down a Baal Altar
Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 6:25 -

On that very night the LORD said to him, “Take your father’s young bull and a second bull seven years old. Then tear down the altar of Baal that belongs to your father and cut down the Asherah pole beside it.

Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 6:26 -

“Build a well-constructed altar to the LORD your God on the top of this mound. Take the second bull and offer it as a burnt offering with the wood of the Asherah pole you cut down.”

Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 6:27 -

So Gideon took ten of his male servants and did as the LORD had told him. But because he was too afraid of his father’s family and the men of the city to do it in the daytime, he did it at night.

Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 6:28 -

When the men of the city got up in the morning, they found Baal’s altar torn down, the Asherah pole beside it cut down, and the second bull offered up on the altar that had been built.

Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 6:29 -

They said to each other, “Who did this? ” After they made a thorough investigation, they said, “Gideon son of Joash did it.”

Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 6:30 -

Then the men of the city said to Joash, “Bring out your son. He must die, because he tore down Baal’s altar and cut down the Asherah pole beside it.”

Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 6:31 -

But Joash said to all who stood against him, “Would you plead Baal’s case for him? Would you save him? Whoever pleads his case will be put to death by morning! If he is a god, let him plead his own case because someone tore down his altar.”

Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 6:32 -

That day Gideon was called Jerubbaal, since Joash said, “Let Baal contend with him,” because he tore down his altar.

The Sign of the Fleece
Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 6:33 -

All the Midianites, Amalekites, and people of the east gathered together, crossed over the Jordan, and camped in the Jezreel Valley.

Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 6:34 -

The Spirit of the LORD enveloped[fn] Gideon, and he blew the ram’s horn and the Abiezrites rallied behind him.

Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 6:35 -

He sent messengers throughout all of Manasseh, who rallied behind him. He also sent messengers throughout Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, who also came to meet him.

Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 6:36 -

Then Gideon said to God, “If you will deliver Israel by me, as you said,

Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 6:37 -

“I will put a wool fleece here on the threshing floor. If dew is only on the fleece, and all the ground is dry, I will know that you will deliver Israel by me, as you said.”

Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 6:38 -

And that is what happened. When he got up early in the morning, he squeezed the fleece and wrung dew out of it, filling a bowl with water.

Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 6:39 -

Gideon then said to God, “Don’t be angry with me; let me speak one more time. Please allow me to make one more test with the fleece. Let it remain dry, and the dew be all over the ground.”

Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 6:40 -

That night God did as Gideon requested: only the fleece was dry, and dew was all over the ground.

CSB Footnotes
Lit an ephah
= Yahweh-shalom
Lit clothed; 1Ch 12:18; 2Ch 24:20
CSB

Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2017, 2020 by Holman Bible Publishers.

Additional information is provided here.

For more information on this translation, see the CSB Preface.

BLB Searches
Search the Bible
CSB
 [?]

Advanced Options

Other Searches

Multi-Verse Retrieval
x
CSB

Daily Devotionals
x

Blue Letter Bible offers several daily devotional readings in order to help you refocus on Christ and the Gospel of His peace and righteousness.

Daily Bible Reading Plans
x

Recognizing the value of consistent reflection upon the Word of God in order to refocus one's mind and heart upon Christ and His Gospel of peace, we provide several reading plans designed to cover the entire Bible in a year.

One-Year Plans

Two-Year Plan