Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
7 Listen, Adonai, to my voice when I cry;
show favor to me; and answer me.
8 “My heart said of you, ‘Seek my face.’”
Your face, Adonai, I will seek.
9 Do not hide your face from me,
don’t turn your servant away in anger.
You are my help; don’t abandon me;
don’t leave me, God my savior.
10 Even though my father and mother have left me,
Adonai will care for me.
11 Teach me your way, Adonai;
lead me on a level path
because of my enemies —
12 don’t give me up to the whims of my foes;
for false witnesses have risen against me,
also those who are breathing violence.
13 If I hadn’t believed that I would see
Adonai’s goodness in the land of the living, . . .
14 Put your hope in Adonai, be strong,
and let your heart take courage!
Yes, put your hope in Adonai!
11 Then the angel of Adonai came and sat under the pistachio tree in ‘Ofrah that belonged to Yo’ash the Avi‘ezri. His son Gid‘on was threshing wheat in the winepress, in order to hide it from Midyan. 12 The angel of Adonai appeared to him and said to him: “You valiant hero! Adonai is with you!” 13 “Excuse me, sir,” answered Gid‘on, “but if Adonai is with us, then why is all this happening to us? And where are all his miracles our ancestors told us about when they said, ‘Didn’t Adonai bring us up from Egypt?’ For now Adonai has abandoned us and handed us over to Midyan.” 14 Adonai turned to him and said, “Go in this strength of yours and save Isra’el from the hands of Midyan. Haven’t I sent you?” 15 But Gid‘on answered him, “Forgive me, my Lord, but with what am I to save Isra’el? Why, my family is the poorest in M’nasheh, and I’m the youngest person in my father’s house!” 16 Adonai said to him, “Because I will be with you, you will strike down Midyan as easily as if they were just one man.” 17 Gid‘on replied, “If indeed you favor me, would you mind giving me a sign that it is really you talking with me? 18 Please don’t leave until I go and return with a gift and present it to you.” He replied, “I’ll wait till you come back.”
19 Gid‘on went in, cooked a young goat and made matzot from a bushel of flour. He put the meat in a basket and the broth in a pot, brought them out to him under the pistachio tree and presented them. 20 The angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and matzot, lay them on this rock, and pour out the broth.” Gid‘on did so. 21 Then the angel of Adonai reached out with the stick he was holding, touched the meat and matzot, and fire shot up out of the rock and burned up the meat and matzot. Then the angel of Adonai disappeared before his eyes. 22 Gid‘on realized that he was the angel of Adonai and said, “Oh no! My Lord! Adonai! Because I’ve seen the angel of Adonai face-to-face!” 23 But Adonai reassured him, “Shalom to you, don’t be afraid, you won’t die!” 24 Then Gid‘on built an altar there to Adonai and called it “Adonai-Shalom”; to this day it remains in ‘Ofrah of the Avi‘ezri.
6 Let no one deceive you with empty talk; for it is because of these things that God’s judgment is coming on those who disobey him. 7 So don’t become partners with them!
8 For you used to be darkness; but now, united with the Lord, you are light. Live like children of light, 9 for the fruit of the light is in every kind of goodness, rightness and truth — 10 try to determine what will please the Lord. 11 Have nothing to do with the deeds produced by darkness, but instead expose them, 12 for it is shameful even to speak of the things these people do in secret. 13 But everything exposed to the light is revealed clearly for what it is, 14 since anything revealed is a light. This is why it says,
“Get up, sleeper! Arise from the dead,
and the Messiah will shine on you!”
Copyright © 1998 by David H. Stern. All rights reserved.