Catholic Public Domain Version

Judges 6:22-34 Catholic Public Domain Version (CPDV)

22. And Gideon, realizing that it had been the Angel of the Lord, said: "Alas, my Lord God! For I have seen the Angel of the Lord face to face."

23. And the Lord said to him: "Peace be with you. Do not be afraid; you shall not die."

24. Therefore, Gideon built an altar to the Lord there, and he called it, the Peace of the Lord, even to the present day. And while he was still at Ophrah, which is of the family of Ezri,

25. that night, the Lord said to him: "Take a bull of your father's, and another bull of seven years, and you shall destroy the altar of Baal, which is your father's. And you shall cut down the sacred grove which is around the altar.

26. And you shall build an altar to the Lord your God, at the summit of this rock, on which you placed the sacrifice before. And you shall take the second bull, and you shall offer a holocaust upon a pile of the wood, which you shall cut down from the grove."

27. Therefore, Gideon, taking ten men from his servants, did just as the Lord had instructed him. But fearing his father's household, and the men of that city, he was not willing to do it by day. Instead, he completed everything by night.

28. And when the men of that town had risen up in the morning, they saw the altar of Baal destroyed, and the sacred grove cut down, and the second bull set upon the altar, which then had been built.

29. And they said one to another, "Who has done this?" And when they inquired everywhere as to the author of the deed, it was said, "Gideon, the son of Joash, did all these things."

30. And they said to Joash: "Bring forward your son here, so that he may die. For he has destroyed the altar of Baal, and he has cut down the sacred grove."

31. But he responded to them: "Could you be the avengers of Baal, so that you fight on his behalf? Whoever is his adversary, let him die before the light arrives tomorrow; if he is a god, let him vindicate himself against him who has overturned his altar."

32. From that day, Gideon was called Jerubbaal, because Joash had said, "Let Baal avenge himself against him who has overturned his altar."

33. And so, all of Midian, and Amalek, and the eastern peoples were gathered together. And crossing the Jordan, they encamped in the valley of Jezreel.

34. But the Spirit of the Lord entered Gideon, who, sounding the trumpet, summoned the house of Abiezer so that he might follow him.