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:
“Seek[a] his 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)
12 Now the Midianites, Amalekites, and all the people of the east had settled down in the valley like a swarm of locusts, and their camels were as innumerable as the sand on the seashore. 13 When Gideon arrived, there was a man telling his friend about a dream. He said, “Listen, I had a dream:(A) a loaf of barley bread came tumbling into the Midianite camp, struck a tent, and it fell. The loaf turned the tent upside down so that it collapsed.”
14 His friend answered, “This is nothing less than the sword of Gideon son of Joash, the Israelite. God has handed the entire Midianite camp over to him.”
Gideon Attacks the Midianites
15 When Gideon heard the account of the dream and its interpretation, he bowed in worship. He returned to Israel’s camp and said, “Get up, for the Lord has handed the Midianite camp over to you.” 16 Then he divided the three hundred men into three companies and gave each of the men a ram’s horn in one hand and an empty pitcher with a torch inside it in the other hand.
17 “Watch me,” he said to them, “and do what I do. When I come to the outpost of the camp, do as I do. 18 When I and everyone with me blow our rams’ horns, you are also to blow your rams’ horns all around the camp. Then you will say, ‘For the Lord and for Gideon!’”
19 Gideon and the hundred men who were with him went to the outpost of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch after the sentries had been stationed. They blew their rams’ horns and broke the pitchers that were in their hands. 20 The three companies blew their rams’ horns and shattered their pitchers. They held their torches in their left hands and their rams’ horns to blow in their right hands, and they shouted, “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!” 21 Each Israelite took his position around the camp, and the entire Midianite army began to run, and they cried out as they fled. 22 When Gideon’s men blew their three hundred rams’ horns, the Lord caused the men in the whole army to turn on each other with their swords.(B) They fled to Acacia House[a] in the direction of Zererah as far as the border of Abel-meholah(C) near Tabbath.
Lights in the World
12 Therefore, my dear friends,(A) just as you have always obeyed,(B) so now, not only in my presence but even more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. 13 For it is God who is working in you both to will and to work according to his good purpose. 14 Do everything without grumbling(C) and arguing,(D) 15 so that you may be blameless(E) and pure,(F) children of God who are faultless(G) in a crooked(H) and perverted(I) generation,(J) among whom you shine like stars in the world, 16 by holding firm to the word(K) of life. Then I can boast(L) in the day of Christ(M) that I didn’t run or labor for nothing. 17 But even if I am poured out(N) as a drink offering(O) on the sacrificial service of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you. 18 In the same way you should also be glad and rejoice with me.
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