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And the angel of God said unto him, "Take the flesh and the cakes, and lay them upon this rock, and pour out the broth." And he did so. Then the angel of the Lord put forth the end of the staff that was in his hand, and touched the flesh and the cakes; and there rose up fire out of the rock and consumed the flesh and the cakes. Then the angel of the Lord departed out of his sight. And Gideon perceived that he was an angel of the Lord. Then Gideon built there an altar to the Lord. And it came to pass the same night, that the Lord said unto him, "Take thy father's young bullock, and throw down the altar of Baal, and cut down the grove that is by it, and build an altar unto the Lord thy God, and take the bullock and offer a burntsacrifice with the wood of the grove, which thou shalt cut down." Then Gideon took ten men of his servants, and did as the Lord had said unto him: and so it was, because he feared his father's household, and the men of the city, that he could not do it by day, that he did it by night. And when the men of the city rose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was cast down, and the grove was cut down that was by it, and the bullock was offered upon 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 unto Joash, "Bring out thy son, that he may die: because he hath cast down the altar of Baal, and because he hath cut down the grove that was by it." And Joash said, "If Baal be a god, let him plead for himself against him, if he hath thrown down his altar."

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Then all the Midianites gathered themselves together, a great host. And the spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon, and he blew a trumpet, and a host also were gathered after him, and came up to meet them.

And Gideon said unto God, "If thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as thou hast said, behold, I will put a fleece of wool in the floor; and if the dew be on the fleece only, and it be dry upon all the earth beside, then shall I know that thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as thou hast said." And it was so: for he rose up early on the morrow, and thrust the fleece together, and wringed the dew out of the fleece, a bowl full of water. And Gideon said unto God, "Let not thine anger be hot against me, and I will speak but this once: let me prove, I pray thee, but this once with the fleece; let it now be dry only upon the fleece, and upon all the ground let there be dew." And God did so that night: for it was dry upon the fleece only, and there was dew on all the ground.

And the Lord said unto Gideon, "The people that are with thee are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, 'Mine own hand hath saved me.' Now therefore, go to, proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, 'Whosoever is fearful and afraid, let him return."" And there returned of the people twenty-andtwo thousand; and there remained ten thousand. And the Lord said unto Gideon, "The people are yet too many; bring them down unto the water, and I will try them for thee there." So he brought down the people unto the water, and the Lord

said unto Gideon, "Every one that lappeth of the water with his tongue, as a dog lappeth, him shalt thou set by himself; likewise every one that boweth down upon his knees to drink.” And the number of them that lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, were three hundred men: but all the rest of the people bowed down upon their knees to drink water. And the Lord said unto Gideon, "By the three hundred men that lapped will I save you, and deliver the Midianites into thine hand: and let all the other people go every man unto his place."

And it came to pass the same night, that the Lord said unto him, "Arise, get thee down unto the host; for I have delivered it into thine hand. But if thou fear to go down, go thou forth alone with thy servant down to the host, and hear what they say; and afterward shall thine hands be strengthened to go down unto the host." Then went he down with his servant unto the outside of the armed men that were in the host. And the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the children of the east lay along in the valley like grasshoppers for multitude; and their camels were without number, as the sand by the sea-side for multitude. And when Gideon was come, behold, there was a man that told a dream unto his fellow, and said, “Behold, I dreamed a dream, and, lo, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the host of Midian, and came unto a tent, and smote it that it fell, and overturned it, that the tent lay along." And his fellow answered and said, "This is nothing else save the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel: for into his hand hath God delivered Midian, and all the host."

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And it was so, when Gideon heard the telling of the dream, and the interpretation thereof, that he worshipped, and returned unto the host of Israel, and said, "Arise; for the Lord hath delivered into your hand the host of Midian." And he divided the three hundred men into three companies, and he put a trumpet into every man's hand, with empty pitchers, and lamps within the pitchers. And he said unto them, "Look on me, and, behold, when I come to the outside of the camp, it shall be, that, as I do, so shall ye do. When I blow with a trumpet, then blow ye the trumpets also on every side of all the camp, and say, 'The sword of the Lord, and of Gideon."" So Gideon, and the men that were with him, came unto the outside of the camp in the beginning of the middle watch; and they had but newly set the watch: and they blew the trumpets, and brake the pitchers that were in their hands, and held the lamps in their left hands, and the trumpets in their right hands to blow withal; and they cried, "The sword of the Lord, and of Gideon." And they stood every man in his place round about the camp; and all the host of the Midianites ran and cried, and fled.

The Story of Samson.

(From the 13th, 14th, 15th, and 16th Chapters of Judges.)

THE children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord; and the Lord delivered them into the hand of the Philistines.

And there was a certain man, whose name was Manoah, who had a son, and he called his name Samson. And the angel of the Lord appeared unto his mother, and said "Behold, thou shalt let no razor come nigh his head; for the child shall be called a Nazarite from his birth; and he shall begin to deliver Israel from the Philistines.

And the child grew, and the Lord blessed him.

And on a day, as he went by the way, behold a young lion roared against him, and the spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him, and he rent him as he would have rent a kid, and he had nothing in his hand.

And the Philistines vexed Samson, and he went and caught three hundred foxes, and took firebrands, and turned tail to tail, and put a firebrand in the midst between two tails. And when he had set the brands on fire, he let them go in to the standing corn of the Philistines, and burnt up

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