^11 (A)For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare^[a] and not for evil, ^(B)to give you a future and a hope.

David's Charge to Solomon

⁹ “And you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father and serve him with a ^(A)whole heart and with a willing mind, ^(B)for the Lord searches all hearts and understands every plan and thought. ^(C)If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will cast you off forever. ¹⁰ Be careful now, for the Lord has chosen you to build a house for the sanctuary; ^(D)be strong and do it.”

The Call of Gideon

¹¹ Now the angel of the Lord came and sat under the terebinth at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash ^(A)the Abiezrite, while his son ^(B)Gideon was beating out wheat in the winepress to hide it from the Midianites. ¹² And ^(C)the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, ^(D)“The Lord is with you, O mighty man of valor.” ¹³ And Gideon said to him, “Please, my lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are ^(E)all his wonderful deeds ^(F)that our fathers recounted to us, saying, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has forsaken us and given us into the hand of Midian.” ¹⁴ And the Lord^[a] turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian; ^(G)do not I send you?” ¹⁵ And he said to him, ^(H)“Please, Lord, how can I save Israel? Behold, ^(I)my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house.” ¹⁶ And the Lord said to him, ^(J)“But I will be with you, and you shall strike the Midianites as one man.”