19. And Gideon went and prepared a young goat and unleavened cakes from an ephah of flour; he put meat in a basket, and the broth he put in a pot, and he brought them to him under the oak and presented them.
20. The angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened cakes and put them on this rock; pour the broth over it.” And he did so.
21. Then the angel of Yahweh reached out the tip of the staff that was in his hand, and he touched the meat and the unleavened cakes; and fire went up from the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened cakes. And the angel of Yahweh went from his sight.
22. And Gideon realized that he was the angel of Yahweh; and Gideon said, “Oh, my lord Yahweh! For now I have seen the angel of Yahweh face to face.”
23. And Yahweh said to him, “Peace be with you. Do not fear; you will not die.”
24. And Gideon built there an altar to Yahweh, and he called it “Yahweh is peace.” To this day it is still in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
25. Now on that same night Yahweh said to him, “Take the bull of the cattle that belongs to your father, and a second bull seven years old, and pull down the altar of Baal that belongs to your father, and cut down the Asherah that is beside it;
26. and build an altar to Yahweh your God on the top of this stronghold in the proper arrangement, and take a second bull and offer it as a burnt offering with the wood of the Asherah that you will cut down.
27. Gideon took ten men from his servants, and he did just as Yahweh told him; and because he was too afraid of his father’s family and the men of the city to do it during the day, he did it during night.
28. When the men of the city got up early in the morning, look, the altar of Baal and the Asherah that was beside it were cut down, and the second bull was offered on the altar that had been built.
29. And they said to one another, “Who did this thing?” So they searched and inquired, and they said, “Gideon son of Jehoash did this thing.”
30. And the men of the city said to Jehoash, “Bring out your son so that he may die, for he has pulled down the altar of Baal and cut down the Asherah that was beside it.”
31. But Jehoash said to all who stood against him, “Will you contend for Baal? Will you rescue him? Whoever contends for him will be put to death by the morning. If he is a god, let him contend for himself because his altar has been pulled down.”
32. Thus, on that day he was called Jerub-Baal, which means, “Let Baal contend against him,” because he had pulled down his altar.
33. Then all the Midianites, Amalekites, and the people of the east gathered together and crossed the Jordan; and they camped in the valley of Jezreel.
34. So the Spirit of Yahweh took possession of Gideon, and he blew on the trumpet, and the Abiezrites were called to follow him.
35. He sent messengers throughout all Manasseh, and they were also called to follow him; and he sent messengers throughout Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, and they went up to meet them.
36. Then Gideon said to God, “In order to see that you will deliver Israel by my hand, just as you have said,
37. I will place a fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If there is dew on the fleece only, and all of the ground is dry, I will know that you will deliver Israel by my hand, just as you have said.”