(Judges
6:1-6) And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of
the LORD: and the LORD delivered them into the hand of Midian seven
years. And
the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel: and because of the
Midianites the
children of Israel made them the dens which are in the mountains, and
caves,
and strongholds. And so it was, when Israel had sown, that the
Midianites came
up, and the Amalekites, and the children of the east, even they came up
against
them; And they encamped against them, and destroyed the increase of the
earth,
till thou come unto Gaza, and left no sustenance for Israel, neither
sheep, nor
ox, nor ass. For they came up with their cattle and their tents, and
they came
as grasshoppers for multitude; for both they and their camels were
without
number: and they entered into the land to destroy it. And Israel was
greatly
impoverished because of the Midianites; and the children of Israel
cried unto
the LORD.
(Judges 6:11-12) And there came an angel of
the LORD, and sat under an oak
which was in Ophrah, that pertained unto Joash the Abi-ezrite: and his
son
Gideon threshed wheat by the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites.
And the
angel of the LORD appeared unto him, and said unto him, The LORD is
with thee,
thou mighty man of valor.