And build an altar to LORD thy God upon the top of this stronghold, in the orderly manner, and take the second bullock, and offer a burnt-offering with the wood of the Asherah which thou shall cut down.

Then Gideon took ten men of his servants, and did as LORD had spoken to him. And it came to pass, because he feared his father's household and the men of the city, so that he could not do it by day, that he did it by night.

And when the men of the city arose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was broken down, and the Asherah was cut down that was by it, and the second bullock was offered upon the altar that was built.

And they said one to another, Who has done this thing? And when they inquired and asked, they said, Gideon the son of Joash has done this thing.

Then the men of the city said to Joash, Bring out thy son, that he may die, because he has broken down the altar of Baal, and because he has cut down the Asherah that was by it.

And Joash said to all who stood against him, Will ye contend for Baal? Or will ye save him? He who will contend for him, let him be put to death while [it is] morning. If he be a god, let him contend for himself because he has brok

Then all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the sons of the east assembled themselves together. And they passed over, and encamped in the valley of Jezreel.

But the Spirit of LORD came upon Gideon, and he blew a trumpet, and Abiezer was gathered together after him.

And he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh, and they also were gathered together after him. And he sent messengers to Asher, and to Zebulun, and to Naphtali, and they came up to meet them.

And Gideon said to God, If thou will save Israel by my hand, as thou have spoken,

behold, I will put a fleece of wool on the threshing-floor. If there be dew on the fleece only, and it be dry upon all the ground, then I shall know that thou will save Israel by my hand as thou have spoken.

And it was so, for he rose up early on the morrow, and pressed the fleece together, and wrung the dew out of the fleece, a bowlful of water.

And Gideon said to God, Let not thine anger be kindled against me, and I will speak but this once. Let me make trial, I pray thee, but this once with the fleece. Let it now be dry only upon the fleece, and upon all the ground let t

And God did so that night, for it was dry upon the fleece only, and there was dew on all the ground.

Then Jerubbaal, who is Gideon, and all the people who were with him, rose up early, and encamped beside the spring of Harod. And the camp of Midian was on the north side of them, by the hill of Moreh, in the valley.

And LORD said to Gideon, The people who are with thee are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hand, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, My own hand has saved me.

Now therefore proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, Whoever is fearful and trembling, let him return and depart from mount Gilead. And there returned of the people twenty-two thousand, and there remained ten thousand.

And LORD said to Gideon, The people are yet too many. Bring them down to the water, and I will try them for thee there. And it shall be, that of whom I say to thee, This man shall go with thee, the same shall go with thee, and of w

So he brought down the people to the water. And LORD said to Gideon, Everyone who laps of the water with his tongue, as a dog laps, him thou shall set by himself. Likewise everyone who bows down upon his knees to drink.

And the number of those who lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, was three hundred men, but all the rest of the people bowed down upon their knees to drink water.

And LORD said to Gideon, By the three hundred men who lapped I will save you, and deliver the Midianites into thy hand. And let all the people go every man to his place.

So the people took provision in their hand, and their trumpets. And he sent all the men of Israel every man to his tent, but retained the three hundred men. And the camp of Midian was beneath him in the valley.

And it came to pass the same night, that LORD said to him, Arise, get thee down into the camp, for I have delivered it into thy hand.

And thou shall hear what they say, and afterward thy hands shall be strengthened to go down into the camp. Then he went down with Purah his servant to the outermost part of the armed men who were in the camp.

And the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the sons of the east lay along in the valley like locusts for multitude, and their camels were without number, as the sand which is upon the sea-shore for multitude.

And when Gideon came, behold, there was a man telling a dream to his fellow. 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 smote it so that it fel

And his fellow answered and said, This is nothing else except the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel. Into his hand God has delivered Midian, and all the army.

And it was so, when Gideon heard the telling of the dream, and the interpretation of it, that he worshipped. And he returned into the camp of Israel, and said, Arise, for LORD has delivered the army of Midian into your hand.

And he divided the three hundred men into three companies, and he put trumpets into the hands of all of them, and empty pitchers, with torches inside the pitchers.

And he said to them, Look on me, and do likewise, and, behold, when I come to the outermost part of the camp, it shall be that, as I do, so ye shall do.

When I blow the trumpet, I and all who are with me, then blow ye the trumpets also on every side of all the camp, and say, For LORD and for Gideon.

So Gideon, and the hundred men who were with him, came to the outermost part of the camp in the beginning of the middle watch when they had but newly set the watch. And they blew the trumpets, and broke in pieces the pitchers that

And the three companies blew the trumpets, and broke the pitchers, and held the torches in their left hands, and the trumpets in their right hands with which to blow. And they cried out, The sword of LORD and of Gideon.

And they stood every man in his place round about the camp. And all the army ran, and they shouted, and put [them] to flight.

And they blew the three hundred trumpets, and LORD 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.

And the men of Israel were gathered together out of Naphtali, and out of Asher, and out of all Manasseh, and pursued after Midian.

And Gideon sent messengers throughout all the hill-country of Ephraim, saying, Come down against Midian, and take before them the waters, as far as Beth-barah, even the Jordan. So all the men of Ephraim were gathered together, and

And they took the two princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb. And they killed Oreb at the rock of Oreb, and Zeeb they killed at the winepress of Zeeb, and pursued Midian. And they brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon beyond the J

And the men of Ephraim said to him, Why have thou done thus to us, that thou did not call us when thou went to fight with Midian? And they chided with him sharply.

And he said to them, What have I now done in comparison with you? Is not the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the vintage of Abiezer?

God has delivered into your hand the rulers of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb, and what was I able to do in comparison with you? Then their anger was abated toward him when he had said that.

And Gideon came to the Jordan, [and] passed over, he, and the three hundred men who were with him, faint, yet pursuing.

And he said to the men of Succoth, Give, I pray you, 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.

And the rulers of Succoth said, Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in thy hand that we should give bread to thine army?

And Gideon said, Therefore when LORD has delivered Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, then I will tear your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness and with briers.

And he went up from there to Penuel, and spoke to them in like manner, and the men of Penuel answered him as the men of Succoth had answered.

And he spoke also to the men of Penuel, saying, When I come again in peace, I will break down this tower.

Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor, and their armies with them, about fifteen thousand men, all who were left of all the army of the sons of the east, for there fell a hundred and twenty thousand men who drew a sword.

And Gideon went up by the way of those who dwelt in tents on the east of Nobah and Jogbehah, and smote the army, for the army was confident.

And Zebah and Zalmunna fled, and he pursued after them. And he took the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and discomfited all the army.

And Gideon the son of Joash returned from the battle from the ascent of Heres.

And he caught a young man of the men of Succoth, and inquired of him. And he described for him the rulers of Succoth, and the elders of it, seventy-seven men.

And he came to the men of Succoth, and said, Behold Zebah and Zalmunna, concerning whom ye taunted me, saying, Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in thy hand, that we should give bread to thy men who are weary?

And he took the elders of the city, and thorns of the wilderness and briers, and with them he taught the men of Succoth.

And he broke down the tower of Penuel, and killed the men of the city.

Then he said to Zebah and Zalmunna, What manner of men were they whom ye killed at Tabor? And they answered, As thou are, so were they. Each one resembled the sons of a king.

And he said, They were my brothers, the sons of my mother. As LORD lives, if ye had saved them alive, I would not kill you.

And he said to Jether his first-born, Up, and kill them. But the youth did not draw his sword, for he feared because he was yet a youth.

Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, Rise thou, and fall upon us, for as the man is, so is his strength. And Gideon arose, and killed Zebah and Zalmunna, and took the crescents that were on their camels' necks.

Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, Rule thou over us, both thou, and thy son, and thy son's son also, for thou have saved us out of the hand of Midian.

And Gideon said to them, I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you. LORD shall rule over you.

And Gideon said to them, I would make a request of you, that ye would give me every man the earrings of his spoil. (For they had golden earrings, because they were Ishmaelites.)

And they answered, We will willingly give them. And they spread a garment, and cast in it every man the earrings of his spoil.

And the weight of the golden earrings that he requested was a thousand and seven hundred [shekels] of gold, besides the crescents, and the pendants, and the purple raiment that was on the kings of Midian, and besides the chains tha

And Gideon made an ephod of it, and put it in his city, even in Ophrah. And all Israel played the harlot after it there, and it became a snare to Gideon, and to his house.

So Midian was subdued before the sons of Israel, and they lifted up their heads no more. And the land had rest forty years in the days of Gideon.

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

And Gideon had seventy sons begotten from his body, for he had many wives.

And his concubine who was in Shechem, she also bore him a son, and he called his name Abimelech.

And Gideon the son of Joash died in a good old age, and was buried in the sepulcher of Joash his father, in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

And it came to pass, as soon as Gideon was dead, that the sons of Israel turned again, and played the harlot after the Baalim, and made Baal-berith their god.

And the sons of Israel did not remember LORD their God, who had delivered them out of the hand of all their enemies on every side,

And Abimelech the son of Jerubbaal went to Shechem to his mother's brothers, and spoke with them, and with all the family of the house of his mother's father, saying,

Speak, I pray you, in the ears of all the men of Shechem, Which is better for you, that all the sons of Jerubbaal, who are seventy men, rule over you, or that one rule over you? remember also that I am your bone and your flesh.

And his mother's brothers spoke of him in the ears of all the men of Shechem all these words. And their hearts inclined to follow Abimelech, for they said, He is our brother.

And they gave him seventy [pieces] of silver out of the house of Baal-berith, with which Abimelech hired vain and unstable fellows who followed him.

And he went to his father's house at Ophrah, and killed his brothers the sons of Jerubbaal, being seventy men, upon one stone, but Jotham the youngest son of Jerubbaal was left, for he hid himself.

And all the men of Shechem assembled themselves together, and all the house of Millo, and went and made Abimelech king by the oak of the pillar that was in Shechem.

And when they told it to Jotham, he went and stood on the top of mount Gerizim, and lifted up his voice, and cried out, and said to them, Hearken to me, ye men of Shechem, that God may hearken to you.

The trees went forth a time to anoint a king over them. And they said to the olive tree, Reign thou over us.

But the olive tree said to them, Should I leave my fatness with which by me they honor God and man, and go to wave to and fro over the trees?

And the trees said to the fig tree, Come thou, and reign over us.

But the fig tree said to them, Should I leave my sweetness, and my good fruit, and go to wave to and fro over the trees?

And the trees said to the vine, Come thou, and reign over us.

And the vine said to them, Should I leave my new wine, which cheers God and man, and go to wave to and fro over the trees?

Then all the trees said to the bramble, Come thou, and reign over us.

And the bramble said to the trees, If in truth ye anoint me king over you, then come and take refuge in my shade, and if not, let fire come out of the bramble, and devour the cedars of Lebanon.

Now therefore, if ye have dealt truly and uprightly, in that ye have made Abimelech king, and if ye have dealt well with Jerubbaal and his house, and have done to him according to the deed of his hands

(for my father fought for you, and ventured his life, and delivered you out of the hand of Midian,

and ye have risen up against my father's house this day, and have slain his sons, seventy men, upon one stone, and have made Abimelech, the son of his maid-servant, king over the men of Shechem because he is your brother),

if ye then have dealt truly and uprightly with Jerubbaal and with his house this day, then rejoice ye in Abimelech, and let him also rejoice in you,

but if not, let fire come out from Abimelech, and devour the men of Shechem, and the house of Millo, and let fire come out from the men of Shechem, and from the house of Millo, and devour Abimelech.

And Jotham ran away, and fled, and went to Beer, and dwelt there, for fear of Abimelech his brother.

And Abimelech was ruler over Israel three years.

And God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men of Shechem, and the men of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech,

that the violence done to the seventy sons of Jerubbaal might come, and that their blood might be laid upon Abimelech their brother who killed them, and upon the men of Shechem who strengthened his hands to kill his brothers.

And the men of Shechem set ambushes for him on the tops of the mountains, and they robbed all who came along that way by them, and it was told Abimelech.

And Gaal the son of Ebed came with his brothers, and went over to Shechem, and the men of Shechem put their trust in him.

And they went out into the field, and gathered their vineyards, and trod [the grapes], and held festival, and went into the house of their god, and ate and drank, and cursed Abimelech.

And Gaal the son of Ebed said, Who is Abimelech, and who is Shechem, that we should serve him? Is not he the son of Jerubbaal, and Zebul his officer? Serve ye the men of Hamor the father of Shechem, but why should we serve him?