11. the Lord’s angel came, and sat under the oak which was in Ophrah, that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite. His son Gideon was beating out wheat in the wine press, to hide it from the Midianites.
12. the Lord’s angel appeared to him, and said to him, “The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor!”
13. Gideon said to him, “Oh, my lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? Where are all his wondrous works which our fathers told us of, saying, ‘Didn’t the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has cast us off, and delivered us into the hand of Midian.”
14. The Lord looked at him, and said, “Go in this your might, and save Israel from the hand of Midian. Haven’t I sent you?”
15. He said to him, “O Lord, how shall I save Israel? Behold, my family is the poorest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.”
16. The Lord said to him, “Surely I will be with you, and you shall strike the Midianites as one man.”
17. He said to him, “If now I have found favor in your sight, then show me a sign that it is you who talk with me.