Study Desk

Thus let all thine enemies perish, O Lord: and they that love him shall be as the going forth of the sun in his strength.

And an angel of the Lord came, and sat down under the fir tree, which was in Ephratha in the land of Joas father of Esdri; and Gedeon his son was threshing wheat in a wine-press in order to escape from the face of Madiam.

And Gedeon said to him, Be gracious with me, my Lord: but if the Lord is with us, why have these evils found us? and where are all his miracles, which our fathers have related to us, saying, Did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt? and now he has cast us out, and given us into the hand of Madiam.

And the angel of the Lord stretched out the end of the rod that was in his hand, and touched the flesh and the unleavened bread; and fire came up out of the rock, and consumed the flesh and the unleavened bread, and the angel of the Lord vanished from his sight.

And Gedeon took ten men of his servants, and did as the Lord spoke to him: and it came to pass, as he feared the house of his father and the men of the city if he should do it by day, that he did it by night.

And a man said to his neighbour, Who has done this thing? and they enquired and searched, and learnt that Gedeon the son of Joas had done this thing.

And Gedeon the son of Joas said to all the men who rose up against him, Do ye now plead for Baal, or will ye save him? whoever will plead for him, let him be slain this morning: if he be a god let him plead for himself, because one has thrown down his altar.

And he called it in that day Jerobaal, saying, Let Baal plead thereby, because his altar has been thrown down.

And he brought the people down to the water; and the Lord said to Gedeon, Whosoever shall lap of the water with his tongue as if a dog should lap, thou shalt set him apart, and also whosoever shall bow down upon his knees to drink.

And the Lord said to Gedeon, I will save you by the three hundred men that lapped, and I will give Madiam into thy hand; and all the rest of the people shall go every one to his place.

And they took the provision of the people in their hand, and their horns; and he sent away every man of Israel each to his tent, and he strengthened the three hundred; and the army of Madiam were beneath him in the valley.

And thou shalt hear what they shall say, and afterwards thy hands shall be strong, and thou shalt go down into the camp: and he went down and Phara his servant to the extremity of the companies of fifty, which were in the camp.

And Gedeon came, and behold a man was relating to his neighbour a dream, and he said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream, and behold, a cake of barley bread rolling into the camp of Madiam, and it came as far as a tent, and smote it, and it fell, and it turned it up, and the tent fell.

And his neighbour answered and said, This is none other than the sword of Gedeon, son of Joas, a man of Israel: God has delivered Madiam and all the host into his hand.

And every man stood in his place round about the host; and all the host ran, and sounded an alarm, and fled.

And they sounded with the three hundred horns; and the Lord set every man’s sword in all the host against his neighbour.

And he said to Jether his first-born, Rise and slay them; but the lad drew not his sword, for he was afraid, for he was yet very young.

And Gedeon said to them, I will make a request of you, and do ye give me every man an earring out of his spoils: for they had golden earrings, for they were Ismaelites.

And they said, We will certainly give them: and he opened his garment, and each man cast therein an earring of his spoils.

And Gedeon made an ephod of it, an set it in his city in Ephratha; and all Israel went thither a whoring after it, and it became a stumbling-block to Gedeon and his house.