Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

^(A)A Prayer for Protection from Enemies^[a]

Gideon

6 Once again the people of Israel sinned against the Lord, so he let the people of Midian rule them for seven years. ² The Midianites were stronger than Israel, and the people of Israel hid from them in caves and other safe places in the hills. ³ Whenever the Israelites would plant their crops, the Midianites would come with the Amalekites and the desert tribes and attack them. ⁴ They would camp on the land and destroy the crops as far south as the area around Gaza. They would take all the sheep, cattle, and donkeys, and leave nothing for the Israelites to live on. ⁵ They would come with their livestock and tents, as thick as locusts. They and their camels were too many to count. They came and devastated the land, ⁶ and Israel was helpless against them.

⁷ Then the people of Israel cried out to the Lord for help against the Midianites, ⁸ and he sent them a prophet who brought them this message from the Lord, the God of Israel: “I brought you out of slavery in Egypt. ⁹ I rescued you from the Egyptians and from the people who fought you here in this land. I drove them out as you advanced, and I gave you their land. ¹⁰ I told you that I am the Lord your God and that you should not worship the gods of the Amorites, whose land you are now living in. But you have not listened to me.”

The Message about the Crucified Christ

2 When I came to you, my friends, to preach God's secret truth,^[a] I did not use big words and great learning. ² For while I was with you, I made up my mind to forget everything except Jesus Christ and especially his death on the cross. ^3 (A)So when I came to you, I was weak and trembled all over with fear, ⁴ and my teaching and message were not delivered with skillful words of human wisdom, but with convincing proof of the power of God's Spirit. ⁵ Your faith, then, does not rest on human wisdom but on God's power.