^{12 Ref} And the angel of the Lord came before his eyes, and said to him, The Lord is with you, O man of war.

^{13 Ref} Then Gideon said to him, O my lord, if the Lord is with us why has all this come on us? And where are all his works of power, of which our fathers have given us word, saying, Did not the Lord take us out of Egypt? But now he has given us up, handing us over to the power of Midian.

^{14 Ref} And the Lord, turning to him, said, Go in the strength you have and be Israel's saviour from Midian: have I not sent you?

^{15 Ref} And he said to him, O Lord, how may I be the saviour of Israel? See, my family is the poorest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house.

^{16 Ref} Then the Lord said to him, Truly, I will be with you, and you will overcome the Midianites as if they were one man.

^{17 Ref} So he said to him, If now I have grace in your eyes, then give me a sign that it is you who are talking to me.

^{18 Ref} Do not go away till I come with my offering and put it before you. And he said, I will not go away before you come back.

^{19 Ref} Then Gideon went in and made ready a young goat, and with an ephah of meal he made unleavened cakes: he put the meat in a basket and the soup in which it had been cooked he put in a pot, and he took it out to him under the oak-tree and gave it to him there.

^{20 Ref} And the angel of God said to him, Take the meat and the unleavened cakes and put them down on the rock over there, draining out the soup over them. And he did so.

^{21 Ref} Then the angel of the Lord put out the stick which was in his hand, touching the meat and the cakes with the end of it; and a flame came up out of the rock, burning up the meat and the cakes: and the angel of the Lord was seen no longer.

^{22 Ref} Then Gideon was certain that he was the angel of the Lord; and Gideon said, I am in fear, O Lord God! for I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face.

^{23 Ref} But the Lord said to him, Peace be with you; have no fear: you are in no danger of death.

^{24 Ref} Then Gideon made an altar there to the Lord, and gave it the name Yahweh-shalom; to this day it is in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

^{25 Ref} The same night the Lord said to him, Take ten men of your servants and an ox seven years old, and after pulling down the altar of Baal which is your father's, and cutting down the holy tree by its side,

^{26 Ref} Make an altar to the Lord your God on the top of this rock, in the ordered way and take the ox and make a burned offering with the wood of the holy tree which has been cut down.