Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Prayer for a Safe Place

54 Save me by Your name, O God. And stand with me by Your power. ² Hear my prayer, O God. Listen to the words of my mouth. ³ For strangers have risen against me. And men who hurt others want to take my life. They do not think about God.

⁴ See, God is my Helper. The Lord is the One Who keeps my soul alive. ⁵ He will punish those who hate me, for the wrong they have done. He will destroy them because He is faithful.

⁶ I will be glad to give You a gift on the altar. I will give thanks to Your name, O Lord, for it is good. ⁷ For He has taken me out of all trouble. And my eyes have looked without fear upon those who hate me.

Gideon

6 Then the people of Israel sinned in the eyes of the Lord. And the Lord gave them into the hands of Midian for seven years. ² Midian was stronger than Israel. Because of Midian the people of Israel made big caves in the sides of the mountains where they could live which were safe places for themselves. ³ For when Israel had planted seeds, the Midianites and Amalekites and the people of the east would come and fight against them. ⁴ They would set up their tents beside them and destroy the food of the field as far as Gaza. They would leave no food for Israel, and no sheep, cattle or donkeys. ⁵ They would come with their animals and their tents. They were like locusts, there were so many of them. There were too many of them and their camels to number. And they came into the land to destroy it. ⁶ So Israel became very poor because of Midian. The people of Israel cried to the Lord.

⁷ The people of Israel cried to the Lord because of Midian. ⁸ And the Lord sent a man to speak for Him to the people of Israel. The man said to them, “The Lord, the God of Israel, says, ‘I brought you here from Egypt. I brought you out of the house where you were made to work. ⁹ I set you free from the power of the Egyptians and from the hands of all who made it hard for you. I drove them away from in front of you and gave you their land. ¹⁰ I said to you, “I am the Lord your God. Do not be afraid of the gods of the Amorites in whose land you live.” But you have not obeyed Me.’”

Paul Received the Good News from God

2 Christian brothers, when I came to you, I did not preach the secrets of God with big sounding words or make it sound as if I were so wise. ² I made up my mind that while I was with you I would speak of nothing except Jesus Christ and of His death on the cross. ³ When I was with you, I was weak. I was afraid and I shook. ⁴ What I had to say when I preached was not in big sounding words of man’s wisdom. But it was given in the power of the Holy Spirit. ⁵ In this way, you do not have faith in Christ because of the wisdom of men. You have faith in Christ because of the power of God.