29. The men of the city asked each other, “Who did this?”After they asked many questions, 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 and cut down the Asherah idol beside it. He must die!”
31. But Joash said to the angry crowd around him, “Are you going to take Baal’s side? Are you going to defend him? 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, which means “let Baal fight against him,” because Gideon pulled down Baal’s altar.
33. All the Midianites, the Amalekites, and other peoples from the east joined together and came across the Jordan River and camped in the Valley of Jezreel.
34. But the Spirit of the Lord entered Gideon, and he blew a trumpet to call the Abiezrites to follow him.
35. He sent messengers to all of Manasseh, calling them to follow him. He also sent messengers to the people of Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali. So 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. If there is dew only on the wool but all of the ground is dry, then I will know that you will use me to save Israel, as you said.”
38. And that is just what happened. When Gideon got up early the next morning and squeezed the wool, he got a full bowl of water from it.
39. Then Gideon said to God, “Don’t be angry with me if I ask just one more thing. Please let me make one more test. Let only 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.