<p class="bodytext">Gideon son of Joash returned from the battle by the pass<n id="1" /> of Heres.

The <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s spirit took control of<n id="1" /> Gideon. He blew a trumpet,<n id="2" /> summoning the Abiezrites to follow him.<n id="3" />

<p class="bodytext">Gideon said to God, &#8220;If you really intend to use me to deliver Israel,<n id="1" /> as you promised, then give me a sign as proof.<n id="2" />

<t /><p class="bodytext">Now Gideon and his three hundred men had crossed over the Jordan River, and even though they were exhausted, they were still chasing the Midianites.<n id="1" />

<p class="bodytext">When Gideon realized<n id="1" /> that it was the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s messenger, he<n id="2" /> said, &#8220;Oh no!<n id="3" /> Master, <sc>Lordsc>!<n id="4" /> I have seen the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s messenger face to face!&#8221;

Gideon built an altar for the <sc>Lordsc> there, and named it &#8220;The <sc>Lordsc> is on friendly terms with me.&#8221;<n id="1" /> To this day it is still there in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.p>

They said to one another,<n id="1" /> &#8220;Who did this?&#8221;<n id="2" /> They investigated the matter thoroughly<n id="3" /> and concluded<n id="4" /> that Gideon son of Joash had done it.

Gideon said, &#8220;Since you will not help,<n id="1" /> after the <sc>Lordsc> hands Zebah and Zalmunna over to me, I will thresh<n id="2" /> your skin<n id="3" /> with<n id="4" /> desert thorns and briers.&#8221;

Gideon went up the road of the nomads<n id="1" /> east of Nobah and Jogbehah and ambushed the surprised army.<n id="2" />

<t /><p class="bodytext">The men of Israel said to Gideon, &#8220;Rule over us &#8211; you, your son, and your grandson. For you have delivered us from Midian&#8217;s power.&#8221;<n id="1" />

Gideon said to them, &#8220;I will not rule over you, nor will my son rule over you. The <sc>Lordsc> will rule over you.&#8221;

Gideon continued,<n id="1" /> &#8220;I would like to make one request. Each of you give me an earring from the plunder you have taken.&#8221;<n id="2" /> (The Midianites<n id="3" /> had gold earrings because they were Ishmaelites.)

Gideon used all this to make<n id="1" /> an ephod,<n id="2" /> which he put in his hometown of Ophrah. All the Israelites<n id="3" /> prostituted themselves to it by worshiping it<n id="4" /> there. It became a snare to Gideon and his family.p>

<t /><p class="bodytext">The Israelites humiliated Midian; the Midianites&#8217; fighting spirit was broken.<n id="1" /> The land had rest for forty years during Gideon&#8217;s time.<n id="2" />

Gideon son of Joash died at a very<n id="1" /> old age and was buried in the tomb of his father Joash located in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.p>

<t /><p class="bodytext">After Gideon died, the Israelites again prostituted themselves to the Baals. They made Baal-Berith<n id="1" /> their god.

They did not treat<n id="1" /> the family of Jerub-Baal (that is, Gideon) fairly in return for all the good he had done for Israel.p>

Gideon said to him, &#8220;Pardon me,<n id="1" /> but if the <sc>Lordsc> is with us, why has such disaster<n id="2" /> overtaken us? Where are all his miraculous deeds our ancestors told us about? They said,<n id="3" /> &#8216;Did the <sc>Lordsc> not bring us up from Egypt?&#8217; But now the <sc>Lordsc> has abandoned us and handed us over to Midian.&#8221;

So Gideon took ten of his servants<n id="1" /> and did just as the <sc>Lordsc> had told him. He was too afraid of his father&#8217;s family<n id="2" /> and the men of the city to do it in broad daylight, so he waited until nighttime.<n id="3" />p>

Gideon said to God, &#8220;Please do not get angry at me, when I ask for just one more sign.<n id="1" /> Please allow me one more test with the fleece. This time make only the fleece dry, while the ground around it is covered with dew.&#8221;<n id="2" />