Study Desk

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

When Gideon perceived that he was the angel of the LORD, he said, "Oh, Lord GOD! For I have seen the angel of the LORD face to face!"

and build an altar to the LORD your God on the top of this stronghold in an orderly way, and take a second bull and offer a burnt offering with the wood of the Asherah which you shall cut down."

But Joash said to all who stood against him, "Will you contend for Baal, or will you save him? Whoever will contend for him shall be put to death by morning. If he is a god, let him contend for himself, since someone has torn down his altar!"

Then Gideon said to God, "If You are going to save Israel through me, as You have spoken,

Then Gideon said to God, "Do not let Your anger burn against me, so that I may speak only one more time; please let me put You to the test only one more time with the fleece: let it now be dry only on the fleece, and let there be dew on all the ground."

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

And his friend replied, "This is nothing other than the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel; God has handed over to him Midian and all the camp."

"God has handed over to you the leaders of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb; and what was I able to do in comparison with you?" Then their anger toward him subsided when he said that.

Then it came about, as soon as Gideon was dead, that the sons of Israel again committed infidelity with the Baals, and made Baal-berith their god.

So the sons of Israel did not remember the LORD their God, who had saved them from the hands of all their enemies on every side;

Now when they told Jotham, he went and stood on the top of Mount Gerizim, and raised his voice and called out. And he said to them, "Listen to me, you leaders of Shechem, that God may listen to you.

"But the olive tree said to them, 'Shall I give up my fatness with which God and mankind are honored, and go to wave over the trees?'

"But the vine said to them, 'Shall I give up my new wine, which cheers God and mankind, and go to wave over the trees?'

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

So they went out to the field and gathered the grapes of their vineyards and trampled them, and held a festival; and they went into the house of their god, and ate and drank and cursed Abimelech.

So God repaid the wickedness of Abimelech, which he had done to his father in killing his seventy brothers.

God also returned all the wickedness of the men of Shechem on their heads, and the curse of Jotham the son of Jerubbaal came upon them.

Then the sons of Israel cried out to the LORD, saying, "We have sinned against You, for indeed, we have abandoned our God and served the Baals."

'And the LORD, the God of Israel, handed Sihon and all his people over to Israel, and they defeated them; so Israel took possession of all the land of the Amorites, the inhabitants of that country.