Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 54[a]
Prayer in Time of Danger
1 For the director.[b] On stringed instruments. A maskil of David. 2 When the Ziphites came to Saul and said, “David is hiding among us.”
3 O God, save me by your name;[c]
vindicate me by your power.
4 Hear my prayer, O God;
give ear to the words of my mouth.
5 Strangers[d] have risen against me;
those who are ruthless seek my life,
and they have no thought of God. Selah
6 Surely God is my helper;
the Lord is the one who sustains me.
7 May their own evil recoil on my foes:
you who are faithful, destroy them.[e]
8 [f]I will freely offer sacrifice to you,
and I will praise your name, O Lord, for it is good.
9 For you have rescued me from all my troubles,
and my eyes have seen the downfall of my enemies.
Chapter 6[a]
Gideon’s Call.[b] 1 The Israelites once again did what is evil in the sight of the Lord, so the Lord delivered them into the hands of Midian for seven years. 2 The hand of Midian weighed heavy upon Israel, and because of the Midianites, the Israelites prepared refuges for themselves in mountain caverns, caves, and strongholds. 3 Whenever the Israelites sowed their crops, the Midianites, the Amalekites and other peoples from the East would attack them. 4 They camped against them and devastated the produce of the land all the way up to Gaza. They did not leave a living thing in Israel, not a sheep, nor an ox, nor a donkey. 5 They came up with their livestock and their tents like swarms of locusts. They and their camels were impossible to count; they invaded the land and laid it waste.
6 The Midianites oppressed Israel so terribly that the Israelites cried out to the Lord. 7 When the Israelites cried out to the Lord on account of the Midianites, 8 the Lord sent the Israelites a prophet[c] who said to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘I brought you up from the land of Egypt, bringing you forth from the land of your slavery. 9 I delivered you out of the hands of the Egyptians, out of the hands of everyone who oppressed you. I drove them out before you and gave you their land. 10 I said to you, “I am the Lord, your God. Do not show reverence to the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell.” But you did not listen to my voice.’ ”
Chapter 2
Jesus Christ—and Him Crucified. 1 When I came to you, brethren, I did not proclaim to you the mystery of God[a] with words of eloquence or wisdom. 2 For I resolved that, while I was with you, I would know nothing except Jesus Christ—and him crucified. 3 I came to you in weakness, in fear, and in great trepidation. 4 My message and my proclamation were not made with persuasive words of wisdom, but in a demonstration of the Spirit and of power,[b] 5 so that your faith might rest not on human wisdom but on the power of God.
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