Study Desk

the Lord sent a prophet to the people of Israel. And he said to them, "Thus says the Lord , the God of Israel: I led you up from Egypt and brought you out of the house of slavery.

And I said to you, ‘I am the Lord your God; you shall not fear the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell.' But you have not obeyed my voice."

And the angel of God said to him, "Take the meat and the unleavened cakes, and put them on this rock, and pour the broth over them." And he did so.

Then Gideon perceived that he was the angel of the Lord . And Gideon said, "Alas, O Lord God ! For now I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face."

and build an altar to the Lord your God on the top of the stronghold here, with stones laid in due order. Then take the second bull and offer it as a burnt offering with the wood of the Asherah that you shall cut down."

But Joash said to all who stood against him, "Will you contend for Baal? Or will you save him? Whoever contends for him shall be put to death by morning. If he is a god, let him contend for himself, because his altar has been broken down."

Then Gideon said to God, "If you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said,

Then Gideon said to God, "Let not your anger burn against me; let me speak just once more. Please let me test just once more with the fleece. Please let it be dry on the fleece only, and on all the ground let there be dew."

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

And his comrade answered, "This is no other than the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel; God has given into his hand Midian and all the camp."

God has given into your hands the princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb. What have I been able to do in comparison with you?" Then their anger against him subsided when he said this.

As soon as Gideon died, the people of Israel turned again and whored after the Baals and made Baal-berith their god.

And the people of Israel did not remember the Lord their God, who had delivered them from the hand of all their enemies on every side,

When it was told to Jotham, he went and stood on top of Mount Gerizim and cried aloud and said to them, "Listen to me, you leaders of Shechem, that God may listen to you.

But the vine said to them, ‘Shall I leave my wine that cheers God and men and go hold sway over the trees?'

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

And they went out into the field and gathered the grapes from their vineyards and trod them and held a festival; and they went into the house of their god and ate and drank and reviled Abimelech.

Thus God returned the evil of Abimelech, which he committed against his father in killing his seventy brothers.

And God also made all the evil of the men of Shechem return on their heads, and upon them came the curse of Jotham the son of Jerubbaal.

And the people of Israel cried out to the Lord , saying, "We have sinned against you, because we have forsaken our God and have served the Baals."