25. That same night the Lord spoke to Gideon. The Lord said, “Take the bull that belongs to your father and a second bull seven years old. Pull down your father’s altar to Baal. Cut down the Asherah idol beside it.
26. Then build an altar to the Lord your God. Build it on this high ground. Lay its stones in the right order. Then kill and burn the bull on this altar. Use the wood from the Asherah idol to burn your offering.”
27. So Gideon got ten of his servants. And he did what the Lord had told him to do. But Gideon was afraid that his family and the men of the city might see him. So he did it at night, not in the daytime.
28. The men of the city got up the next morning. They saw that the altar for Baal had been destroyed! And they saw that the Asherah idol beside it had been cut down! They also saw the altar Gideon had built. And they saw the bull that had been sacrificed on it.
29. The men of the city looked at each other and asked, “Who did this?” They asked many questions and looked for the person who had done those things.Someone told them, “Gideon son of Joash did this.”
30. So they said to Joash, “Bring your son out. He has pulled down the altar of Baal. He has cut down the Asherah idol beside it. So your son must die!”
31. But Joash spoke to the angry crowd around him. He said, “Are you going to take Baal’s side? Are you going to defend Baal? Anyone who takes Baal’s side will be killed by morning! If Baal is a god, let him fight for himself. It’s his altar that has been pulled down.”
32. So on that day Gideon got the name Jerub-Baal. The name means “let Baal fight against him.” They named him this because Gideon pulled down Baal’s altar.
33. All the Midianites, the Amalekites and other peoples from the east joined together. They came across the Jordan River and camped in the Valley of Jezreel.
34. But the Spirit of the Lord entered Gideon! Gideon blew a trumpet to call the Abiezrites to follow him.
35. He sent messengers to all of Manasseh. The people of Manasseh were called to follow Gideon. Gideon also sent messengers to the people of Asher, Zebulun and Naphtali. They also went up to meet Gideon and his men.
36. Then Gideon said to God, “You said you would help me save Israel.
37. I will put some wool on the threshing floor. Let there be dew only on the wool. But let all of the ground be dry. Then I will know what you said is true. I will know that you will use me to save Israel.”
38. And that is just what happened. Gideon got up early the next morning and squeezed the wool. He got a full bowl of water from the wool.
39. Then Gideon said to God, “Don’t be angry with me. Let me ask just one more thing. Please let me make one more test. Let the wool be dry while the ground around it gets wet with dew.”
40. That night God did that very thing. Just the wool was dry, but the ground around it was wet with dew.