ched the flesh and the unleavened
cakes; and there went up fire out of the rock, and consumed the flesh
and the unleavened cakes; and the angel of the Lord departed out of
his sight. And Gideon saw that he was the angel of the Lord; and
Gideon said, "Alas, O Lord God! because I have seen the angel of the
Lord face to face."

And the Lord said unto him, "Peace be to thee; fear not: thou shalt
not die."

Then Gideon built an altar there to the Lord, and called it "Jehovah
is Peace": to this day it is yet in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

And it came to pass the same night, that the Lord said to him, "Take
thy father's bullock, and throw down the altar of Baal that thy father
hath, and cut down the pillar that is by it: and build an altar to the
Lord thy God upon the top of this stronghold, in the proper manner,
and take a bullock, and offer a burnt offering with the wood of the
pillar which thou shalt cut down." Then Gideon took ten men of his
servants, and did as the Lord had spoken to him: and it came to pass,
because he feared his father's household and the men of the city, so
that he dared not do it by day, that he did it by night. And when the
men of the city arose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal
was broken down, and the pillar was cut down that was by it, and the
bullock was offered upon {324} the altar that was built. And they said
one to another, "Who hath done this thing?" And when they inquired and
asked, they said, "Gideon the son of Joash hath done this thing."

Then the men of the city said to Joash, "Bring out thy son, that he
may die: because he hath broken down the altar of Baal, and because he
hath cut down the pillar that was by it."

And Joash said to all that stood against him, "Will ye plead for Baal?
or will ye save him? he that will plead for him, let him be put to
death whilst it is yet morning: if he be a god, let him plead for
himself, because one hath broken down his altar."

Therefore on that day he called him Jerubbaal, that is, "Let Baal
plead."

_How a Few Brave Men Saved the Nation_.

Then all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the children of the
east assembled themselves together; and they passed over, and camped
in the valley of Jezreel. But the spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon;
and he blew a trumpet; and the men of Abiezer were gathered together
after him. And he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh; and they
also were gathered together after him: and he