2. so that Midian held Israel subject. From fear of Midian the Israelites made dens in the mountains, the caves, and the strongholds.
3. For it used to be that whenever the Israelites had completed sowing their crops, Midian, Amalek, and the Kedemites would come up,
4. encamp against them, and lay waste the produce of the land as far as the outskirts of Gaza, leaving no sustenance in Israel, and no sheep, ox, or donkey.
5. For they would come up with their livestock, and their tents would appear as thick as locusts. They would be too many to count when they came into the land to lay it waste.
6. Israel was reduced to utter poverty by Midian, and so the Israelites cried out to the Lord.
7. When Israel cried out to the Lord because of Midian,
8. the Lord sent a prophet to the Israelites who said to them: Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: I am the one who brought you up from Egypt; I brought you out of the house of slavery.
9. I rescued you from the power of Egypt and all your oppressors. I drove them out before you and gave you their land.
10. And I said to you: I, the Lord, am your God; you shall not fear the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are dwelling. But you did not listen to me.