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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "//www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="//www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"><title>Judges 6 CEV</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/chapnew2.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /></head><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/judges/6.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="../topmenuchap/judges/6-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="//biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="../">CEV</a> > Judges 6</div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../judges/5.htm" title="Judges 5">◄</a> Judges 6 <a href="../judges/7.htm" title="Judges 7">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading">Contemporary English Version</div><div class="chap"><p class="nb"><span class="v7_6_1"><span class="reftext" id="Judg.6.1" class="v7_6_1">1</span>Then once again the Israelites started disobeying the <span class="nd">Lord</span>, so he let the nation of Midian control Israel for seven years. </span><span class="v7_6_2"><span class="reftext" id="Judg.6.2" class="v7_6_2">2</span>The Midianites were so cruel that many Israelites ran to the mountains and hid in caves.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v7_6_3"><span class="reftext" id="Judg.6.3" class="v7_6_3">3</span>Every time the Israelites planted crops, the Midianites invaded Israel together with the Amalekites and other eastern nations. </span><span class="v7_6_4"><span class="reftext" id="Judg.6.4-Judg.6.5" class="v7_6_4">4-5</span>They rode in on their camels, set up their tents, and then let their livestock eat the crops as far as the town of Gaza. The Midianites stole food, sheep, cattle, and donkeys. Like a swarm of locusts,<a href="#fn" id="link_Judg.6.4-Judg.6.5!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> they could not be counted, and they ruined the land wherever they went.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v7_6_6"><span class="reftext" id="Judg.6.6-Judg.6.7" class="v7_6_6">6-7</span>The Midianites took almost everything that belonged to the Israelites, and the Israelites begged the <span class="nd">Lord</span> for help. </span><span class="v7_6_8"><span class="reftext" id="Judg.6.8-Judg.6.9" class="v7_6_8">8-9</span>Then the <span class="nd">Lord</span> sent a prophet to them with this message:</span></p><p class="pi"><span class="v7_6_8">I am the <span class="nd">Lord</span> God of Israel, so listen to what I say. You were slaves in Egypt, but I set you free and led you out of Egypt into this land. And when nations here made life miserable for you, I rescued you and helped you get rid of them and take their land. </span><span class="v7_6_10"><span class="reftext" id="Judg.6.10" class="v7_6_10">10</span>I am your God, and I told you not to worship Amorite gods, even though you are living in the land of the Amorites. But you refused to listen.</span></p><h3 class="s1">The <span class="nd">Lord</span> Chooses Gideon</h3><p class="par"><span class="v7_6_11"><span class="reftext" id="Judg.6.11" class="v7_6_11">11</span>One day an angel from the <span class="nd">Lord</span> went to the town of Ophrah and sat down under the big tree that belonged to Joash, a member of the Abiezer clan. Joash's son Gideon was nearby, threshing grain in a shallow pit, where he could not be seen by the Midianites.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v7_6_12"><span class="reftext" id="Judg.6.12" class="v7_6_12">12</span>The angel appeared and spoke to Gideon, “The <span class="nd">Lord</span> is helping you, and you are a strong warrior.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v7_6_13"><span class="reftext" id="Judg.6.13" class="v7_6_13">13</span>Gideon answered, “Please don't take this wrong, but if the <span class="nd">Lord</span> is helping us, then why have all of these awful things happened? We've heard how the <span class="nd">Lord</span> performed miracles and rescued our ancestors from Egypt. But those things happened long ago. Now the <span class="nd">Lord</span> has abandoned us to the Midianites.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v7_6_14"><span class="reftext" id="Judg.6.14" class="v7_6_14">14</span>Then the <span class="nd">Lord</span> himself said, “Gideon, you will be strong, because I am giving you the power to rescue Israel from the Midianites.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v7_6_15"><span class="reftext" id="Judg.6.15" class="v7_6_15">15</span>Gideon replied, “But how can I rescue Israel? My clan is the weakest one in Manasseh, and everyone else in my family is more important than I am.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v7_6_16"><span class="reftext" id="Judg.6.16" class="v7_6_16">16</span>“Gideon,” the <span class="nd">Lord</span> answered, “you can rescue Israel because I am going to help you! Defeating the Midianites will be as easy as beating up one man.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v7_6_17"><span class="reftext" id="Judg.6.17" class="v7_6_17">17</span>Gideon said, “It's hard to believe that I'm actually talking to the <span class="nd">Lord</span>. Please do something so I'll know that you really are the <span class="nd">Lord</span>. </span><span class="v7_6_18"><span class="reftext" id="Judg.6.18" class="v7_6_18">18</span>And wait here until I bring you an offering.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v7_6_18">“All right, I'll wait,” the <span class="nd">Lord</span> answered.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v7_6_19"><span class="reftext" id="Judg.6.19" class="v7_6_19">19</span>Gideon went home and killed a young goat, then started boiling the meat. Next, he opened a big sack of flour and made it into thin bread.<a href="#fn" id="link_Judg.6.19!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> When the meat was done, he put it in a basket and poured the broth into a clay cooking pot. He took the meat, the broth, and the bread and placed them under the big tree.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v7_6_20"><span class="reftext" id="Judg.6.20" class="v7_6_20">20</span>God's angel said, “Gideon, put the meat and the bread on this rock, and pour the broth over them.” Gideon did as he was told. </span><span class="v7_6_21"><span class="reftext" id="Judg.6.21" class="v7_6_21">21</span>The angel was holding a walking stick, and he touched the meat and the bread with the end of the stick. Flames jumped from the rock and burned up the meat and the bread.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v7_6_21">When Gideon looked, the angel was gone. </span><span class="v7_6_22"><span class="reftext" id="Judg.6.22" class="v7_6_22">22</span>Gideon realized that he had seen one of the <span class="nd">Lord</span>'s angels. “Oh!” he moaned. “Now I'm going to die.”<a href="#fn" id="link_Judg.6.22!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> </span></p><p class="par"><span class="v7_6_23"><span class="reftext" id="Judg.6.23" class="v7_6_23">23</span>“Calm down!” the <span class="nd">Lord</span> told Gideon. “There's nothing to be afraid of. You're not going to die.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v7_6_24"><span class="reftext" id="Judg.6.24" class="v7_6_24">24</span>Gideon built an altar for worshiping the <span class="nd">Lord</span> and called it “The <span class="nd">Lord</span> Calms Our Fears.” It still stands there in Ophrah, a town in the territory of the Abiezer clan.</span></p><h3 class="s1">Gideon Tears Down Baal's Altar</h3><p class="par"><span class="v7_6_25"><span class="reftext" id="Judg.6.25" class="v7_6_25">25</span>That night the <span class="nd">Lord</span> spoke to Gideon again:</span></p><p class="pi"><span class="v7_6_25">Get your father's second-best bull, the one that's seven years old. Use it to pull down the altar where your father worships Baal and cut down the sacred pole<a href="#fn" id="link_Judg.6.25!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> next to the altar. </span><span class="v7_6_26"><span class="reftext" id="Judg.6.26" class="v7_6_26">26</span>Then build an altar for worshiping me on the highest part of the hill where your town is built. Use layers of stones for my altar, not just a pile of rocks. Cut up the wood from the pole, make a fire, kill the bull, and burn it as a sacrifice to me.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v7_6_27"><span class="reftext" id="Judg.6.27" class="v7_6_27">27</span>Gideon chose ten of his servants to help him, and they did everything God had said. But since Gideon was afraid of his family and the other people in Ophrah, he did it all at night.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v7_6_28"><span class="reftext" id="Judg.6.28" class="v7_6_28">28</span>When the people of the town got up the next morning, they saw that Baal's altar had been knocked over, and the sacred pole next to it had been cut down. Then they noticed the new altar covered with the remains of the sacrificed bull.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v7_6_29"><span class="reftext" id="Judg.6.29" class="v7_6_29">29</span>“Who could have done such a thing?” they asked. And they kept on asking, until finally someone told them, “Gideon the son of Joash did it.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v7_6_30"><span class="reftext" id="Judg.6.30" class="v7_6_30">30</span>The men of the town went to Joash and said, “Your son Gideon knocked over Baal's altar and cut down the sacred pole next to it. Hand him over, so we can kill him!”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v7_6_31"><span class="reftext" id="Judg.6.31" class="v7_6_31">31</span>The crowd pushed closer and closer, but Joash replied, “Are you trying to take revenge for Baal? Are you trying to rescue Baal? If you are, you will be the ones who are put to death, and it will happen before another day dawns. If Baal really is a god, let him take his own revenge on someone who tears down his altar.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v7_6_32"><span class="reftext" id="Judg.6.32" class="v7_6_32">32</span>That same day, Joash changed Gideon's name to Jerubbaal, explaining, “He tore down Baal's altar, so let Baal take revenge himself.”<a href="#fn" id="link_Judg.6.32!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> </span></p><h3 class="s1">Gideon Defeats the Midianites</h3><p class="par"><span class="v7_6_33"><span class="reftext" id="Judg.6.33" class="v7_6_33">33</span>All the Midianites, Amalekites, and other eastern nations got together and crossed the Jordan River. Then they invaded the land of Israel and set up camp in Jezreel Valley.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v7_6_34"><span class="reftext" id="Judg.6.34" class="v7_6_34">34</span>The <span class="nd">Lord</span>'s Spirit took control of Gideon, and Gideon blew a trumpet as a signal for the men in the Abiezer clan to follow him. </span><span class="v7_6_35"><span class="reftext" id="Judg.6.35" class="v7_6_35">35</span>He also sent messengers to the tribes of Manasseh, Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, telling the men of these tribes to come and join his army. Then they set out toward the enemy camp.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v7_6_36"><span class="reftext" id="Judg.6.36-Judg.6.37" class="v7_6_36">36-37</span>Gideon prayed to God, “I know that you promised to help me rescue Israel, but I need proof. Tonight I'll spread a sheep skin on the stone floor of that threshing-place over there. If you really will help me rescue Israel, then tomorrow morning let there be dew on the skin, but let the stone floor be dry.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v7_6_38"><span class="reftext" id="Judg.6.38" class="v7_6_38">38</span>And that's just what happened. Early the next morning, Gideon got up and checked the sheep skin. He squeezed out enough water to fill a bowl. </span><span class="v7_6_39"><span class="reftext" id="Judg.6.39" class="v7_6_39">39</span>But Gideon prayed to God again. “Don't be angry with me,” Gideon said. “Let me try this just one more time, so I'll really be sure you'll help me. Only this time, let the skin be dry and the stone floor be wet.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v7_6_40"><span class="reftext" id="Judg.6.40" class="v7_6_40">40</span>That night, God made the stone floor wet with dew, but he kept the sheep skin dry.</span></p></div> </div> <a name="fn"></a><br /><br /><br /><b>Footnotes:<br /><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">6.4,5 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">locusts: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">Insects like grasshoppers that travel in swarms and cause great damage to crops.</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">6.19 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">thin bread: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">Bread made without yeast, since there was no time for the dough to rise.</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">6.22 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">Now I'm going to die: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">The Hebrew text has “I have seen an angel of the <char style="nd">Lord</char> face to face.” Some people believed that if they saw one of the <char style="nd">Lord</char>'s angels, they would die (see 13.22).</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">6.25 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">sacred pole: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">Or “sacred tree,” used as a symbol of Asherah, the Canaanite goddess of fertility.</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">6.32 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">Jerubbaal … take revenge himself: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">In Hebrew, “Jerubbaal” means “Let Baal take revenge.”</char></note></div></div><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><div align="center"><p><span style="font-size:11pt;">Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt;">© 2006 American Bible Society. 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