Tremble at the Presence of the Lord

The Sign of the Fleece

^36 (A)Then Gideon said to God, “If you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said, ³⁷ behold, I am laying a fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If there is dew on the fleece alone, and it is dry on all the ground, then I shall know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said.” ³⁸ And it was so. When he rose early next morning and squeezed the fleece, he wrung enough dew from the fleece to fill a bowl with water. ³⁹ Then Gideon said to God, ^(B)“Let not your anger burn against me; let me speak just once more. Please let me test just once more with the fleece. Please let it be dry on the fleece only, and on all the ground let there be dew.” ⁴⁰ And God did so that night; and it was dry on the fleece only, and on all the ground there was dew.

The Resurrection of the Dead

¹² Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, ^(A)how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? ¹³ But if there is no resurrection of the dead, ^(B)then not even Christ has been raised. ¹⁴ And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. ¹⁵ We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that ^(C)he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. ¹⁶ For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. ¹⁷ And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and ^(D)you are still in your sins. ¹⁸ Then those also who ^(E)have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. ¹⁹ If in Christ we have hope^[a] in this life only, ^(F)we are of all people most to be pitied.

²⁰ But in fact ^(G)Christ has been raised from the dead, ^(H)the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.