Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
7 Lord, hear my voice when I call;
be gracious to me and answer me.(A)
8 My heart says this about You,
“You[a] are to seek My face.”
Lord, I will seek Your face.(B)
9 Do not hide Your face from me;(C)
do not turn Your servant away in anger.(D)
You have been my helper;(E)
do not leave me or abandon me,
God of my salvation.
10 Even if my father and mother abandon me,
the Lord cares for me.(F)
The Lord Calls Gideon
11 The Angel[a] of the Lord(A) came, and He[b] sat under the oak that was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash, the Abiezrite. His son Gideon was threshing wheat in the wine vat in order to hide it from the Midianites. 12 Then the Angel of the Lord appeared to him and said: “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.”
13 Gideon said to Him, “Please Sir,[c] if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened?[d] And where are all His wonders that our fathers told us about? They said, ‘Hasn’t the Lord brought us out of Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and handed us over to Midian.”
14 The Lord[e] turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and deliver Israel from the power of Midian. Am I not sending you?”
15 He said to Him, “Please, Lord, how can I deliver Israel? Look, my family is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my father’s house.”
16 “But I will be with you,”(B) the Lord said to him. “You will strike Midian down as if it were one man.”
17 Then he said to Him, “If I have found favor in Your sight,(C) give me a sign(D) that You are speaking with me. 18 Please do not leave this place until I return to You. Let me bring my gift and set it before You.”
And He said, “I will stay until you return.”
19 So Gideon went and prepared a young goat and unleavened bread from a half bushel[f] of flour. He placed the meat in a basket and the broth in a pot. He brought them out and offered them to Him under the oak.
20 The Angel of God(E) said to him, “Take the meat with the unleavened bread, put it on this stone, and pour the broth on it.” And he did so.
21 The Angel of the Lord extended the tip of the staff that was in His hand and touched the meat and the unleavened bread. Fire came up from the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened bread. Then the Angel of the Lord vanished from his sight.
22 When Gideon realized that He was the Angel of the Lord, he said, “Oh no, Lord God!(F) I have seen the Angel of the Lord face to face!”(G)
23 But the Lord said to him, “Peace to you. Don’t be afraid, for you will not die.” 24 So Gideon built an altar to the Lord there and called it Yahweh Shalom.[g] It is in Ophrah of the Abiezrites until today.
Light versus Darkness
6 Let no one deceive you with empty arguments, for God’s wrath(A) is coming on the disobedient because of these things.[a] 7 Therefore, do not become their partners. 8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light(B) in the Lord. Walk as children of light(C)— 9 for the fruit of the light[b] results in all goodness, righteousness, and truth(D)— 10 discerning(E) what is pleasing(F) to the Lord. 11 Don’t participate in the fruitless(G) works of darkness, but instead expose them. 12 For it is shameful even to mention what is done by them in secret. 13 Everything exposed by the light is made clear,(H) 14 for what makes everything clear is light. Therefore it is said:
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