at the Lord sent a prophet to the children of
Israel: and he said unto them, "Thus saith the Lord, the God of
Israel, 'I brought you up from Egypt, and brought you forth out of the
house of bondage; and I delivered you out of the hand of the
Egyptians, and out of the hand of all that oppressed you, and drove
them out from before you, and gave you their land; and I said to you,
I am the Lord your God; ye shall not fear the gods of the Amorites, in
whose land ye dwell: but ye have not hearkened unto my voice.'"

And the angel of the Lord came, and sat under the {320} oak which was
in Ophrah, which was on the land of Joash the Abiezrite: and his son
Gideon was beating out wheat in the wine press, to hide it from the
Midianites. And the angel of the Lord appeared to him, and said to
him, "The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valor."

And Gideon said to him, "O my lord, if the Lord is with us, why then
is all this befallen us? and where are all his wondrous works of which
our fathers told us, saying, 'Did not the Lord bring us up from
Egypt?' but now the Lord hath cast us off, and delivered us into the
hand of Midian."

And the Lord looked upon him, and said, "Go in thy might, and save
Israel from the hand of Midian: have not I sent thee?"

And he said to him, "O Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? behold, my
family is the poorest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's
house."

And the Lord said unto him, "Surely I will be with thee, and thou
shalt smite the Midianites as one man."

And he said unto him, "If now I have found grace in thy sight, then
show me a sign that it is thou that talkest with me. Depart not hence,
I pray thee, until I come to thee, and bring forth my present, and lay
it before thee."

And he said, "I will tarry until thou come again."

And Gideon went in, and made ready a kid, and unleavened cakes of an
ephah of meal: the flesh he put in a basket, and he put the broth in a
pot, and brought it out to him under the oak, and presented it. And
the angel of God said unto him, "Take the flesh and the unleavened
cakes, and lay them upon this rock, and pour out the broth."

{321}{322}

[Illustration]
DESERT WARRIORS

Riding thus on their camels the hosts of Midian came out of the
desert like locusts and swarmed over the fair fields of Palestine.
[End illustration]

{323}

And he did so. Then the angel of the Lord put forth the end of the
staff that was in his hand, and tou