Judges 6:1-40 And the children of Israel committed wickednesse in the sight of the Lord. And the Lord deliuered them into the handes of the Madianites seuen yeres.

Matthew⁽ⁱ⁾ ¹ And the children of Israel committed wickednesse in the sight of the Lord. And the Lord deliuered them into the handes of the Madianites seuen yeres. ² And when the hand of the Madianites was sore vpon Israel, the children of Israel made them dennes in the mountaynes & caues & strong holdes. ³ For when Israel had sowen, then came the Madianites the Amalechites, & they of the east contreye vpon them & pitched their tentes agaynste them ⁴ & destroyed the encrease of the earth euen vnto Azah, & left no sustinaunce in Israel, neyther shepe, oxe or asse, ⁵ for they came wyth theyr cattell & housholdes euen as greshopers in multitude: so that both they & also theyr camels were wythoute nombre. And they entrede the land to destroy it. ⁶ And so was Israel excedyngly impoueresshed by the Madianites & cryed vnto the Lord. ⁷ And when the chyldren of Israell cryed vnto the Lorde because of the Madianites, ⁸ the Lorde sent a Prophete vnto them, & sayde vnto them: Thus sayth the Lorde God of Israel: I fette you from Egipt & brought you out of the house of bondage, ⁹ and I rydde you out of the hand of the Egypcians & out of the handes of all that oppressed you, and cast them out before you, & gaue you theyr landes. ¹⁰ And I said vnto you: I am the Lorde your God, & therfore fear not the Goddes of the Amorytes, in whose lande you dwel. But you haue not obeyed my voice ¹¹ And the Angel of the Lorde came and sate vnder an Ocke in Ephrah, that pertayned vnto Ioas the father of the Eserytes. And his sonne Gedeon pressed out whete out of the eares in a presse, for to flee from the Madianites. ¹² And the angel of the Lord apeared vnto him, & sayd: the Lorde is with the, thou man of myght. ¹³ And Gedeon answered him: Oh my Lorde, yf the Lord be with vs, why is al this come vpon vs: ye & where be hys myracles whiche oure fathers tolde vs of & sayde, the Lorde brought vs out of Egyypt. But now the Lorde hath forsaken vs, & delyuered vs into the handes of the Madianites. ¹⁴ And the Lorde loked vpon hym, and sayde: Go hence in thys thy myght & delyuer Israel out of the handes of the Madianites: Behold I haue sent the: ¹⁵ And he aunswered hym: Oh Lord wherewith shuld I saue Israel? Behold my kynred is the poorest in Manasses, & am the least in my fathers house. ¹⁶ But then the Lord sayd vnto him: I wil be with the: & thou shalt smyte the Madianites, as they were but one man. ¹⁷ And he answered him, yf I haue found grace in thy syght, then shew me a sygne, that thou art the Lorde that talketh with me. ¹⁸ Depart not hence, vntil I come agayne vnto the & bryng myne offryng, & haue set it before the. And he sayde I wyll tarye vntyll thou come agayne. ¹⁹ And Gedeon went & made redy a kydde, & swetekakes of an Epha of flour & put the fleshe in a basket, & the broth in a pot & brought it oute vnto hym vnder the Ocke, & presented it. ²⁰ And the angell of God sayd vnto hym: take the fleshe and the swete kakes, & put them vpon thys rocke, & powre oute the broth. And he dyd so. ²¹ Then the aungell of the Lord put forth the ende of the staffe that was in his hand, & touched the flesh & the kakes. And there arose vp fyre out of the rocke & consumed the fleshe and the kakes. And the angel of the Lord vanyshed out of his sight. ²² And when Gedeon perceyued that it was an angel, he sayd: Alas my Lorde Iehouah, that I haue sene an angell of the Lord face to face. ²³ And the Lorde sayde vnto him: peace be with the & feare not, for thou shalte not dye. ²⁴ Then Gedeon made an aultar there vnto the Lorde & called it Iehouah Salom, which vnto thys daye is yet in Ephrath that pertayneth vnto the father of the Eserites. ²⁵ And that same nyght the Lord sayd vnto him, take an oxe of thy fathers & another of .vij. yeares olde & destroye the aultare of Baal that belongeth vnto thy father, and cutte doune the groue that is about it, ²⁶ & make an aultare vnto the Lord thy God vpon the toppe of this rocke & furnesshe it. And take the seconde oxe & offer burnt sacryfyce wt the wood of the groue which thou shalt haue cut doune. ²⁷ Then Gedeon toke ten men of his seruauntes & did as the Lorde bad hym. But because he durst not do it by day for feare of his fathers houshold and of the men of the citie, he dyd it by night. ²⁸ When the men of the citie were vp erlie in the mornynge, beholde the aultare of Baal was broken, & the groue that stode about it cut doune. And the seconde oxe offered vpon the aulter that was made. ²⁹ And they sayd one to another, who hath done thys thyng, and they enquered & asked. And it was tolde them that Gedeon the sonne of Ioas had done it. ³⁰ Then the men of the cytie sayde vnto Ioas, brynge out thy sonne that he maye dye, because he hath broken the aultare of Baal, & cut doune the groue that was about it. ³¹ And Ioas sayde vnto all that stode by hym, wyll ye fighte for Baal, or wyl ye be hys defenders: he that stryueth for hym, shal dye thys mornyng. If he be a God, let him stryue wyth him that caste doune his aulter. ³² And he called Gedeon Ierobaal the same tyme, saying: let Baal stryue wt hym because he hath broken doune his aulter. ³³ When al the Madianytes, the Amalekites and they of the east, were gathered together, & had gone and pitched in the valeye of Ierael: ³⁴ the spryte of the Lorde entered into to Gedeon. And he blew a trompette, & called Abiezer to folowe hym, ³⁵ & sent messengers thorou out all Manasses, & called them vp to folowe hym also. And he sent messengers vnto Aser, Zabulon and Nephtalim, which came also to mete hym. ³⁶ And Gedeon sayd vnto God: yf thou wilt saue Israel by my hande as thou haste sayde: ³⁷ Beholde I wyll put a flece of wolle in the threasshing place. And yf the dewe be on the flece onelye, and drye vpon al the earth beside then I shalbe sure that thou wilt saue Israell by my hande, as thou saydest. ³⁸ And it came so to passe. And he rose vp erlye on the morowe, and he thruste the flece together and wronge the dew thereout, and filled a boole of water. ³⁹ And Gedeon sayde vnto God: be not angrye with me that I speake once more, let me proue onelye once agayne with the flece. Let it be drye onelye vpon the flece, and dewe vpon al the ground about. ⁴⁰ And God dyd so that same nyght: so that it was drye vpon the flece only and on all the grounde aboute, dewe.