Midian Oppresses Israel

¹Again the Israelites did evil in the sight of the LORD; so He delivered them into the hand of Midian for seven years,

²and the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel. Because of the Midianites, the Israelites prepared shelters for themselves in the mountains, caves, and strongholds.

³Whenever the Israelites planted their crops, the Midianites, Amalekites, and other people of the east would come up and invade them,

⁴encamping against them as far as Gaza and destroying the produce of the land. They left Israel with no sustenance, neither sheep nor oxen nor donkeys.

⁵For the Midianites came with their livestock and their tents like a great swarm of locusts. They and their camels were innumerable, and they entered the land to ravage it.

⁶Israel was greatly impoverished by Midian, and the Israelites cried out to the LORD.

⁷Now when the Israelites cried out to the LORD because of Midian,

⁸He sent them a prophet, who told them, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: I brought you up out of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

⁹I delivered you out of the hands of Egypt and all your oppressors. I drove them out before you and gave you their land.

¹⁰And I said to you: ‘I am the LORD your God. You must not fearthe gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell.’ But you did not obey Me.”

The Call of Gideon

¹¹Then the angelof the LORD came and sat down under the oakin Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to hide it from the Midianites.

¹²And the angel of the LORD appeared to Gideon and said, “The LORD is with you, O mighty man of valor.”

¹³“Please, my Lord,” Gideon replied, “if the LORD is with us, why has all this happened to us? And where are all His wonders of which our fathers told us, saying, ‘Has not the LORD brought us up out of Egypt?’ But now the LORD has forsaken us and delivered us into the hand of Midian.”

¹⁴The LORDturned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel from the hand of Midian. Am I not sending you?”

¹⁵“Please, my Lord,” Gideon replied, “how can I save Israel? Indeed, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my father’s house.”

¹⁶“Surely I will be with you,” the LORD replied, “and you will strike down all the Midianites as one man.”

¹⁷Gideon answered, “If I have found favor in Your sight, give me a sign that it is You speaking with me.

¹⁸Please do not depart from this place until I return to You. Let me bring my offering and set it before You.”And the LORD said, “I will stay until you return.”

¹⁹So Gideon went in and prepared a young goat and unleavened bread and an ephah of flour.He placed the meat in a basket and the broth in a pot and brought them out to present to Him under the oak.

²⁰And the angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened bread, lay them on this rock, and pour out the broth.” And Gideon did so.

²¹Then the angel of the LORD extended the tip of the staff that was in his hand and touched the meat and the unleavened bread. And fire flared from the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened bread. Then the angel of the LORD vanished from his sight.

²²When Gideon realized that it was the angel of the LORD, he said, “Oh no, Lord GOD! I have seen the angel of the LORD face to face!”

²³But the LORD said to him, “Peace be with you. Do not be afraid, for you will not die.”

²⁴So Gideon built an altar to the LORD there and called it The LORD Is Peace.To this day it stands in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

Gideon Destroys Baal’s Altar

²⁵On that very night the LORD said to Gideon, “Take your father’s young bull and a second bull seven years old, tear down your father’s altar to Baal, and cut down the Asherah pole beside it.

²⁶Then build a proper altar to the LORD your God on the top of this stronghold. And with the wood of the Asherah pole you cut down, take the second bull and offer it as a burnt offering.”

²⁷So Gideon took ten of his servants and did as the LORD had told him. But because he was too afraid of his father’s household and the men of the city, he did it by night rather than in the daytime.

²⁸When the men of the city got up in the morning, there was Baal’s altar torn down, with the Asherah pole cut down beside it and the second bull offered up on the newly built altar.

²⁹“Who did this?” they said to one another.And after they had investigated thoroughly, they were told, “Gideon son of Joash did it.”

³⁰Then the men of the city said to Joash, “Bring out your son. He must die, because he has torn down Baal’s altar and cut down the Asherah pole beside it.”

³¹But Joash said to all who stood against him, “Are you contending for Baal? Are you trying to save him? Whoever pleads his case will be put to death by morning! If Baal is a god, let him contend for himself with the one who has torn down his altar.”

³²So on that day Gideon was called Jerubbaal,that is to say, “Let Baal contend with him,” because he had torn down Baal’s altar.

The Sign of the Fleece

³³Then all the Midianites, Amalekites, and other people of the east gathered together, crossed over the Jordan, and camped in the Valley of Jezreel.

³⁴So the Spirit of the LORD came upon Gideon, who blew the ram’s horn and rallied the Abiezrites behind him.

³⁵Calling them to arms, Gideon sent messengers throughout Manasseh, as well as Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, so that they came up to meet him.

³⁶Then Gideon said to God, “If You are going to save Israel by my hand, as You have said,

³⁷then behold, I will place a fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If there is dew only on the fleece and all the ground is dry, then I will know that You are going to save Israel by my hand, as You have said.”

³⁸And that is what happened. When Gideon arose the next morning, he squeezed the fleece and wrung out the dew—a bowlful of water.

³⁹Then Gideon said to God, “Do not be angry with me; let me speak one more time. Please allow me one more test with the fleece. This time let it be dry, and the ground covered with dew.”

⁴⁰And that night God did so. Only the fleece was dry, and dew covered the ground.

A Prayer for God’s Power

¹If only You would rend the heavens and come down,so that mountains would quake at Your presence,

²as fire kindles the brushwoodand causes the water to boil,to make Your name known to Your enemies,so that the nations will tremble at Your presence!

³When You did awesome works that we did not expect,You came down, and the mountains trembled at Your presence.

⁴From ancient times no one has heard,no ear has perceived,no eye has seen any God besides You,who acts on behalf of those who wait for Him.

⁵You welcome those who gladly do right,who remember Your ways.Surely You were angry, for we sinned.How can we be saved if we remain in our sins?

⁶Each of us has become like something unclean,and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags;we all wither like a leaf,and our iniquities carry us away like the wind.

⁷No one calls on Your nameor strives to take hold of You.For You have hidden Your face from usand delivered us into the handof our iniquity.

⁸But now, O LORD, You are our Father;we are the clay, and You are the potter;we are all the work of Your hand.

⁹Do not be angry, O LORD, beyond measure;do not remember our iniquity forever.Oh, look upon us, we pray;we are all Your people!

¹⁰Your holy cities have become a wilderness.Zion has become a wasteland and Jerusalem a desolation.

¹¹Our holy and beautiful temple,where our fathers praised You,has been burned with fire,and all that was dear to us lies in ruins.

¹²After all this, O LORD,will You restrain Yourself?Will You keep silentand afflict us beyond measure?

Simeon’s Inheritance

¹The second lot came out for the clans of the tribe of Simeon:Their inheritance lay within the territory of Judah

²and included Beersheba (or Sheba), Moladah,

³Hazar-shual, Balah, Ezem,

⁴Eltolad, Bethul, Hormah,

⁵Ziklag, Beth-marcaboth, Hazar-susah,

⁶Beth-lebaoth, and Sharuhen—thirteen cities, along with their villages.

⁷Ain, Rimmon, Ether, and Ashan—four cities, along with their villages,

⁸and all the villages surrounding these cities as far as Baalath-beer (Ramah of the Negev).This was the inheritance of the clans of the tribe of Simeon.

⁹The inheritance of the Simeonites was taken from the territory of Judah, because the share for Judah’s descendants was too large for them. So the Simeonites received an inheritance within Judah’s portion.

Zebulun’s Inheritance

¹⁰The third lot came up for the clans of the tribe of Zebulun:The border of their inheritance stretched as far as Sarid.

¹¹It went up westward to Maralah, reached Dabbesheth, and met the brook east of Jokneam.

¹²From Sarid it turned eastward along the border of Chisloth-tabor and went on to Daberath and up to Japhia.

¹³From there it crossed eastward to Gath-hepher and to Eth-kazin; it extended to Rimmon and curved around toward Neah.

¹⁴Then the border circled around the north side of Neah to Hannathon and ended at the Valley of Iphtah-el.

¹⁵It also included Kattath, Nahalal, Shimron, Idalah, and Bethlehem. There were twelve cities, along with their villages.

¹⁶This was the inheritance of the clans of the tribe of Zebulun, including these cities and their villages.

Issachar’s Inheritance

¹⁷The fourth lot came out for the clans of the tribe of Issachar:

¹⁸Their territory included Jezreel, Chesulloth, Shunem,

¹⁹Hapharaim, Shion, Anaharath,

²⁰Rabbith, Kishion, Ebez,

²¹Remeth, En-gannim, En-haddah, and Beth-pazzez.

²²The border reached Tabor, Shahazumah, and Beth-shemesh, and ended at the Jordan. There were sixteen cities, along with their villages.

²³This was the inheritance of the clans of the tribe of Issachar, including these cities and their villages.

Asher’s Inheritance

²⁴The fifth lot came out for the clans of the tribe of Asher:

²⁵Their territory included Helkath, Hali, Beten, Achshaph,

²⁶Allammelech, Amad, and Mishal. On the west the border touched Carmel and Shihor-libnath,

²⁷then turned eastward toward Beth-dagon, touched Zebulun and the Valley of Iphtah-el, and went north to Beth-emek and Neiel, passing Cabul on the left.

²⁸It went on to Ebron,Rehob, Hammon, and Kanah, as far as Greater Sidon.

²⁹The border then turned back toward Ramah as far as the fortified city of Tyre, turned toward Hosah, and came out at the Seain the region of Achzib,

³⁰Ummah, Aphek, and Rehob. There were twenty-two cities, along with their villages.

³¹This was the inheritance of the clans of the tribe of Asher, including these cities and their villages.

Naphtali’s Inheritance

³²The sixth lot came out for the clans of the tribe of Naphtali:

³³Their border started at Heleph and the great tree of Zaanannim, passing Adami-nekeb and Jabneel as far as Lakkum and ending at the Jordan.

³⁴Then the border turned westward to Aznoth-tabor and ran from there to Hukkok, touching Zebulun on the south side, Asher on the west, and Judah at the Jordanon the east.

³⁵The fortified cities were Ziddim, Zer, Hammath, Rakkath, Chinnereth,

³⁶Adamah, Ramah, Hazor,

³⁷Kedesh, Edrei, En-hazor,

³⁸Iron, Migdal-el, Horem, Beth-anath, and Beth-shemesh. There were nineteen cities, along with their villages.

³⁹This was the inheritance of the clans of the tribe of Naphtali, including these cities and their villages.

Dan’s Inheritance

⁴⁰The seventh lot came out for the clans of the tribe of Dan:

⁴¹The territory of their inheritance included Zorah, Eshtaol, Ir-shemesh,

⁴²Shaalabbin, Aijalon, Ithlah,

⁴³Elon, Timnah, Ekron,

⁴⁴Eltekeh, Gibbethon, Baalath,

⁴⁵Jehud, Bene-berak, Gath-rimmon,

⁴⁶Me-jarkon, and Rakkon, including the territory across from Joppa.

⁴⁷(Later, when the territory of the Danites was lost to them, they went up and fought against Leshem, captured it, and put it to the sword. So they took possession of Leshem, settled there, and renamed it after their father Dan.)

⁴⁸This was the inheritance of the clans of the tribe of Dan, including these cities and their villages.

Joshua’s Inheritance

⁴⁹When they had finished distributing the land into its territories, the Israelites gave Joshua son of Nun an inheritance among them,

⁵⁰as the LORD had commanded. They gave him the city of Timnath-serahin the hill country of Ephraim, as he requested. He rebuilt the city and settled in it.

⁵¹These are the inheritances that Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun, and the heads of the families distributed by lot to the tribes of Israel at Shiloh before the LORD at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. So they finished dividing up the land.

Blessed Be the LORD, My Rock

¹Blessed be the LORD, my Rock,who trains my hands for war,my fingers for battle.

²He is my steadfast love and my fortress,my stronghold and my deliverer.He is my shield, in whom I take refuge,who subdues peoplesunder me.

³O LORD, what is man, that You regard him,the son of man that You think of him?

⁴Man is like a breath;his days are like a passing shadow.

⁵Part Your heavens, O LORD, and come down;touch the mountains, that they may smoke.

⁶Flash forth Your lightning and scatter them;shoot Your arrows and rout them.

⁷Reach down from on high;set me free and rescue mefrom the deep waters,from the grasp of foreigners,

⁸whose mouths speak falsehood,whose right hands are deceitful.

⁹I will sing to You a new song, O God;on a harp of ten strings I will make music to You—

¹⁰to Him who gives victory to kings,who frees His servant David from the deadly sword.

¹¹Set me free and rescue mefrom the grasp of foreigners,whose mouths speak falsehood,whose right hands are deceitful.

¹²Then our sons will be like plantsnurtured in their youth,our daughters like corner pillarscarved to adorn a palace.

¹³Our storehouses will be full,supplying all manner of produce;our flocks will bring forth thousands,tens of thousands in our fields.

¹⁴Our oxen will bear great loads.There will be no breach in the walls,no going into captivity,and no cry of lament in our streets.

¹⁵Blessed are the people of whom this is so;blessed are the people whose God is the LORD.