World English Bible · The judges
Judges 6
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The did that which was evil in sight, so them into the hand of seven years. The hand of prevailed against Israel; and because of the made themselves the dens which are in the mountains, the caves, and the strongholds. So it was, when Israel had sown, that , , and the children of the east came up against them. They encamped against them, and destroyed the increase of the earth, until you come to . They left no sustenance in Israel, and no sheep, ox, or donkey. For they came up with their livestock and their tents. They came in as for multitude. Both they and their camels were without number; and they came into the land to destroy it. Israel was brought very low because of ; and the cried to . 7When the cried to because of , sent a to the ; and he said to them, ", the of Israel, says, 'I brought you up from , and brought you out of the house of bondage. I you out of the hand of the and out of the hand of all who oppressed you, and drove them out from before you, and gave you their land. I said to you, "I am your . You shall not fear the gods of the , in whose land you ." But you have not listened to my voice.'" came and sat under the oak which was in , that belonged to the Abiezrite. His son was beating out wheat in the press, to hide it from . appeared to him, and said to him, " is with you, you mighty man of valor!" said to him, "Oh, my , if 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 bring us up from ?' But now has cast us off, and us into the hand of ." looked at him, and said, "Go in this your might, and Israel from the hand of . Haven't I sent you?" He said to him, "O , how shall I Israel? Behold, my family is the poorest in , and I am the least in house." said to him, "Surely I will be with you, and you shall strike as one man." He said to him, "If now I have in your sight, then show me a sign that it is you who talk with me. Please don't go away until I come to you, and bring out my present, and lay it before you." He said, "I will wait until you come back." went in and prepared a young goat and cakes of an ephah of meal. He put the meat in a basket and he put the broth in a pot, and brought it out to him under the oak, and presented it. said to him, "Take the meat and the cakes, and lay them on this , and pour out the broth." He did so. Then stretched out the end of the that was in his hand, and touched the meat and the cakes; and went up out of and consumed the meat and the cakes. Then departed out of his sight. saw that he was ; and said, "Alas, ! Because I have seen to !" said to him, "Peace be to you! Don't be afraid. You shall not ." Then built an there to , and called it " is Peace." To this day it is still in of the Abiezrites. That same night, said to him, "Take your bull, even the second bull seven years old, and throw down the of that your has, and cut down the that is by it. Then build an to your on the top of this , in an orderly way, and take the second bull, and offer a burnt offering with the wood of the which you shall cut down." Then took ten men of his servants, and did as had spoken to him. Because he feared his household and the men of the city, he could not do it by day, but he did it by night. 28When the men of the city arose early in the morning, behold, the of was broken down, and the was cut down that was by it, and the second bull was offered on the that was built. 29They said to one another, "Who has done this thing?" When they inquired and asked, they said, " the son of has done this thing." Then the men of the city said to , "Bring out your son, that he may , because he has broken down the of , and because he has cut down the that was by it." said to all who stood against him, "Will you contend for ? Or will you him? He who will contend for him, let him be put to by morning! If he is a , let him contend for himself, because someone has broken down his !" Therefore on that day he named him Jerub-, saying, "Let contend against him, because he has broken down his ." Then all and and the children of the east assembled themselves together; and they passed over, and encamped in the valley of . But came on , and he blew a ; and Abiezer was gathered together to follow him. He sent throughout all , and they also were gathered together to follow him. He sent to Asher, to , and to ; and they came up to meet them. said to , "If you will Israel by my hand, as you have spoken, behold, I will put a fleece of wool on the . If there is on the fleece only, and it is dry on all the ground, then I'll know that you will Israel by my hand, as you have spoken." It was so; for he rose up early on the next day, and pressed the fleece together, and wrung the out of the fleece, a bowl full of water. said to , "Don't let your be kindled against me, and I will speak but this once. Please let me make a this once with the fleece. Let it now be dry only on the fleece, and on all the ground let there be ." 40 did so that night; for it was dry on the fleece only, and there was on all the ground.
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The world at this moment · The judges, 1200 BC to 1050 BC ›
No central government and no standing army. The great empires are weak, which is precisely why Israel's troubles come from close neighbors: Moab, Ammon, Midian, and the newly arrived Philistines on the coast.
- Egypt
- Broken into competing power centres and no longer able to project force into Canaan. Its withdrawal is the single biggest reason this period has no imperial overlord.
- Mesopotamia
- Assyria exists but is dormant, hemmed in and looking east. The century that would have crushed a stateless Israel simply has not arrived yet.
- The coast
- The Philistines settle their five cities after arriving from the Aegean world, bringing Mycenaean-style pottery, a taste for pork, and an early advantage in ironworking. Further north the Phoenician ports of Tyre and Sidon start the trading expansion that will eventually give the alphabet to Greece.
- Further afield
- Greece has entered its dark age: the palaces are gone, Linear B is forgotten, and writing disappears from the Aegean for three centuries. In China the Zhou dynasty replaces the Shang in 1046 BC and issues the doctrine that heaven withdraws its mandate from unjust kings, an idea with an interesting resemblance to the book of Judges.