Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
7 Hear me,[a] O Lord, when I cry out.
Have mercy on me and answer me.
8 My heart tells me to pray to you,[b]
and I do pray to you, O Lord.[c]
9 Do not reject me.[d]
Do not push your servant away in anger.
You are my deliverer.[e]
Do not forsake or abandon me,
O God who vindicates me.
10 Even if my father and mother abandoned me,[f]
the Lord would take me in.[g]
11 Teach me how you want me to live,[h] Lord;
lead me along a level path[i] because of those who wait to ambush me.[j]
12 Do not turn me over to my enemies,[k]
for false witnesses who want to destroy me testify against me.[l]
13 Where would I be if I did not believe I would experience
the Lord’s favor in the land of the living?[m]
14 Rely[n] on the Lord!
Be strong and confident![o]
Rely on the Lord!
12 Now the Midianites, Amalekites, and the people from the east covered the valley like a swarm of locusts.[a] Their camels could not be counted; they were as innumerable as the sand on the seashore. 13 When Gideon arrived, he heard a man telling another man about a dream he had.[b] The man[c] said, “Look! I had a dream. I saw[d] a stale cake of barley bread rolling into the Midianite camp. It hit a tent so hard it knocked it over and turned it upside down. The tent just collapsed.”[e] 14 The other man said,[f] “Without a doubt this symbolizes[g] the sword of Gideon son of Joash, the Israelite. God is handing Midian and all the army over to him.”
Gideon Routs the Enemy
15 When Gideon heard the report of the dream and its interpretation, he praised God.[h] Then he went back to the Israelite camp and said, “Get up, for the Lord is handing the Midianite army over to you!” 16 He divided the 300 men into three units.[i] He gave them all trumpets and empty jars with torches inside them.[j] 17 He said to them, “Watch me and do as I do. Watch closely![k] I am going to the edge of the camp. Do as I do! 18 When I and all who are with me blow our trumpets, you also blow your trumpets all around the camp. Then say, ‘For the Lord and for Gideon!’”
19 Gideon took 100 men to the edge of the camp[l] at the beginning of the middle watch, just after they had changed the guards. They blew their trumpets and broke the jars they were carrying.[m] 20 All three units blew their trumpets and broke their jars. They held the torches in their left hand and the trumpets in their right.[n] Then they yelled, “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!” 21 They stood in order[o] all around the camp. The whole Midianite[p] army ran away; they shouted as they scrambled away.[q] 22 When the 300 men blew their trumpets, the Lord caused the Midianites to attack one another with their swords[r] throughout[s] the camp. The army fled to Beth Shittah on the way to Zererah. They went[t] to the border of Abel Meholah near Tabbath.
Lights in the World
12 So then, my dear friends, just as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence but even more in my absence, continue working out your salvation with awe and reverence,[a] 13 for the one bringing forth in you both the desire and the effort—for the sake of his good pleasure—is God. 14 Do everything without grumbling or arguing, 15 so that you may be blameless and pure, children of God without blemish though you live in a crooked and perverse society, in which you shine as lights in the world[b] 16 by holding on to[c] the word of life so that on the day of Christ I will have a reason to boast that I did not run in vain nor labor in vain. 17 But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I am glad and rejoice together with all of you. 18 And in the same way you also should be glad and rejoice together with me.
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