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Israel
Oppressed by Midian |
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| Judges 6:1 |
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Then the sons of Israel did what was evil in
the sight of the LORD; and the LORD gave them into the hands of Midian seven years. |
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| Judges 6:2 |
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The power of Midian prevailed against Israel.
Because of Midian the sons of Israel made for themselves the dens which were in
the mountains and the caves and the strongholds. |
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| Judges 6:3 |
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For it was when Israel had sown, that the Midianites
would come up with the Amalekites and the sons of the east and go against them. |
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| Judges 6:4 |
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So they would camp against them and destroy
the produce of the earth as far as Gaza, and leave no sustenance in Israel as
well as no sheep, ox, or donkey. |
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| Judges 6:5 |
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For they would come up with their livestock
and their tents, they would come in like locusts for number, both they and their
camels were innumerable; and they came into the land to devastate it. |
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| Judges 6:6 |
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So Israel was brought very low because of Midian,
and the sons of Israel cried to the LORD. |
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| Judges 6:7 |
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Now it came about when the sons of Israel cried
to the LORD on account of Midian, |
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| Judges 6:8 |
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that the LORD sent a prophet to the sons of
Israel, and he said to them, "Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, 'It was I
who brought you up from Egypt and brought you out from the house of slavery. |
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| Judges 6:9 |
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I delivered you from the hands of the Egyptians
and from the hands of all your oppressors, and dispossessed them before you and
gave you their land, |
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| Judges 6:10 |
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and I said to you, "I am the LORD your God;
you shall not fear the gods of the Amorites in whose land you live. But you have
not obeyed Me."'" |
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Gideon
Is Visited |
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| Judges 6:11 |
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Then the angel of the LORD came and sat under
the oak that was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite as his son Gideon
was beating out wheat in the wine press in order to save it from the Midianites. |
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| Judges 6:12 |
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The angel of the LORD appeared to him and said
to him, "The LORD is with you, O valiant warrior." |
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| Judges 6:13 |
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Then Gideon said to him, "O my lord, if the
LORD is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles
which our fathers told us about, saying, 'Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt?'
But now the LORD has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian." |
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| Judges 6:14 |
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The LORD looked at him and said, "Go in this
your strength and deliver Israel from the hand of Midian. Have I not sent you?" |
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| Judges 6:15 |
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He said to Him, "O Lord, how shall I deliver
Israel? Behold, my family is the least in Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my
father's house." |
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| Judges 6:16 |
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But the LORD said to him, "Surely I will be
with you, and you shall defeat Midian as one man." |
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| Judges 6:17 |
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So Gideon said to Him, "If now I have found
favor in Your sight, then show me a sign that it is You who speak with me. |
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| Judges 6:18 |
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Please do not depart from here, until I come
back to You, and bring out my offering and lay it before You." And He said, "I
will remain until you return." |
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| Judges 6:19 |
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Then Gideon went in and prepared a young goat
and unleavened bread from an ephah of flour; he put the meat in a basket and the
broth in a pot, and brought them out to him under the oak and presented them.
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| Judges 6:20 |
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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. |
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| Judges 6:21 |
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Then the angel of the LORD put out the end of
the staff that was in his hand and touched the meat and the unleavened bread;
and fire sprang up from the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened bread.
Then the angel of the LORD vanished from his sight. |
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| Judges 6:22 |
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When Gideon saw that he was the angel of the
LORD, he said, "Alas, O Lord GOD! For now I have seen the angel of the LORD face
to face." |
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| Judges 6:23 |
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The LORD said to him, "Peace to you, do not
fear; you shall not die." |
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| Judges 6:24 |
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Then Gideon built an altar there to the LORD
and named it The LORD is Peace. To this day it is still in Ophrah of the Abiezrites. |
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| Judges 6:25 |
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Now on the same night the LORD said to him,
"Take your father's bull and a second bull seven years old, and pull down the
altar of Baal which belongs to your father, and cut down the Asherah that is beside
it; |
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| Judges 6:26 |
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and build an altar to the LORD your God on the
top of this stronghold in an orderly manner, and take a second bull and offer
a burnt offering with the wood of the Asherah which you shall cut down." |
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| Judges 6:27 |
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Then Gideon took ten men of his servants and
did as the LORD had spoken to him; and because he was too afraid of his father's
household and the men of the city to do it by day, he did it by night. |
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The
Altar of Baal Destroyed |
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| Judges 6:28 |
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When the men of the city arose early in the
morning, behold, the altar of Baal was torn down, and the Asherah which was beside
it was cut down, and the second bull was offered on the altar which had been built. |
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| Judges 6:29 |
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They said to one another, "Who did this thing?"
And when they searched about and inquired, they said, "Gideon the son of Joash
did this thing." |
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| Judges 6:30 |
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Then the men of the city said to Joash, "Bring
out your son, that he may die, for he has torn down the altar of Baal, and indeed,
he has cut down the Asherah which was beside it." |
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| Judges 6:31 |
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But Joash said to all who stood against him,
"Will you contend for Baal, or will you deliver him? Whoever will plead for him
shall be put to death by morning. If he is a god, let him contend for himself,
because someone has torn down his altar." |
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| Judges 6:32 |
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Therefore on that day he named him Jerubbaal,
that is to say, "Let Baal contend against him," because he had torn down his altar. |
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| Judges 6:33 |
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Then all the Midianites and the Amalekites and
the sons of the east assembled themselves; and they crossed over and camped in
the valley of Jezreel. |
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| Judges 6:34 |
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So the Spirit of the LORD came upon Gideon;
and he blew a trumpet, and the Abiezrites were called together to follow him. |
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| Judges 6:35 |
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He sent messengers throughout Manasseh, and
they also were called together to follow him; and he sent messengers to Asher,
Zebulun, and Naphtali, and they came up to meet them. |
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Sign
of the Fleece |
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| Judges 6:36 |
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Then Gideon said to God, "If You will deliver
Israel through me, as You have spoken, |
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| Judges 6:37 |
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behold, I will put a fleece of wool on the threshing
floor. If there is dew on the fleece only, and it is dry on all the ground, then
I will know that You will deliver Israel through me, as You have spoken." |
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| Judges 6:38 |
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And it was so. When he arose early the next
morning and squeezed the fleece, he drained the dew from the fleece, a bowl full
of water. |
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| Judges 6:39 |
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Then Gideon said to God, "Do not let Your anger
burn against me that I may speak once more; please let me make a test once more
with the fleece, let it now be dry only on the fleece, and let there be dew on
all the ground." |
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| Judges 6:40 |
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God did so that night; for it was dry only on
the fleece, and dew was on all the ground. |
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