Judg 6:11-16 | HCSB | STEP | The Angel of the Lord came , and He sat under the oak that was in Ophrah , which belonged to Joash , the Abiezrite . His son Gideon was threshing wheat in the wine vat in order to hide it from the Midianites .

‏ Judges 6:11-16

The Lord Calls Gideon

11 The Angel ^{▼▼Or angel} of the Lord ^b came, and He ^{▼▼Or he} sat under the oak that was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash, the Abiezrite. His son Gideon was threshing wheat in the wine vat in order to hide it from the Midianites. 12 Then the Angel of the Lord appeared to him and said: “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.”

13 Gideon said to Him, “Please Sir, ^{▼▼Lit Please, my Lord, or Please, my lord} if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened? ^{▼▼Lit this found us out} And where are all His wonders that our fathers told us about? They said, ‘Hasn’t the Lord brought us out of Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and handed us over to Midian.”

14 The Lord ^{▼▼LXX reads The Angel of the Lord} turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and deliver Israel from the power of Midian. Am I not sending you?”

15 He said to Him, “Please, Lord, how can I deliver Israel? Look, my family is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my father’s house.”

16 “But I will be with you,” ^g the Lord said to him. “You will strike Midian down as if it were one man.”