Then the angel of the LORD came and sat beneath the great tree…
Gideon son of Joash was threshing wheat
at the bottom of a winepress
to hide the grain from the Midianites.
The angel of the LORD appeared to him and said,
“Mighty hero, the LORD is with you!”
“Sir,” Gideon replied,
“if the LORD is with us, why has all this happened to us?…
Then the LORD turned to him and said,
Go with the strength you have…
I am sending you!”
“But Lord,” Gideon replied,
“how can I…?
The LORD said to him,
“I will be with you…”
