Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Psalm 54

For the choir director; on stringed instruments; a maskil by David when people from the city of Ziph told Saul that David was hiding among them.

Israel Sins Again

6 The people of Israel did what Yahweh considered evil. So Yahweh handed them over to Midian for seven years. ² Midian’s power was too strong for Israel. The Israelites made hiding places in the mountains, caves, and mountain strongholds to protect themselves from Midian. ³ Whenever Israel planted crops, Midian, Amalek, and Kedem came and damaged the crops. ⁴ The enemy used to camp on the land and destroy the crops all the way to Gaza. They left nothing for Israel to live on—not one sheep, cow, or donkey. ⁵ Like swarms of locusts, they came with their livestock and their tents. They and their camels could not be counted. They came into the land only to ruin it. ⁶ So the Israelites became very poor because of Midian and cried out to Yahweh for help.

⁷ When the people of Israel cried out to Yahweh for help because of what the Midianites had done to them, ⁸ Yahweh sent a prophet to them. He said, “This is what Yahweh Elohim of Israel says:

2 Brothers and sisters, when I came to you, I didn’t speak about God’s mystery^[a] as if it were some kind of brilliant message or wisdom. ² While I was with you, I decided to deal with only one subject—Yeshua Christ, who was crucified. ³ When I came to you, I was weak. I was afraid and very nervous. ⁴ I didn’t speak my message with persuasive intellectual arguments. I spoke my message with a show of spiritual power ⁵ so that your faith would not be based on human wisdom but on God’s power.