Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
7 Hear, O Lord, when I cry aloud.
Have pity on me, and answer me.
8 ⌞When you said,⌟
“Seek my face,”
my heart said to you,
“O Lord, I will seek your face.” [a]
9 Do not hide your face from me.
Do not angrily turn me away.
You have been my help.
Do not leave me!
Do not abandon me, O God, my savior!
10 Even if my father and mother abandon me, the Lord will take care of me.
11 Teach me your way, O Lord.
Lead me on a level path
because I have enemies who spy on me.
12 Do not surrender me to the will of my opponents.
False witnesses have risen against me.
They breathe out violence.
13 I believe that I will see the goodness of the Lord
in this world of the living.
14 Wait with hope for the Lord.
Be strong, and let your heart be courageous.
Yes, wait with hope for the Lord.
12 Midian, Amalek, and all of Kedem were spread out in the valley like a swarm of locusts. There were so many camels that they could not be counted. They were as numerous as the grains of sand on the seashore.
13 When Gideon got there, he heard a man telling his friend a dream. The man said, “I had a strange dream. There was a loaf of barley bread rolling around in the camp of Midian. When it got to the command post, the loaf of bread hit that tent so hard that the tent collapsed, turned upside down, and fell flat.”
14 His friend replied, “That can only be the sword of Gideon, son of Joash, from Israel. God is going to hand Midian and the whole camp over to him.”
15 When Gideon heard the dream and its interpretation, he worshiped the Lord. Then he went back to the camp of Israel and said, “Attack! The Lord will hand Midian’s camp over to you.”
16 Gideon divided the 300 men into three companies. He gave them each rams’ horns and jars with torches inside. 17 He said to them, “Watch me, and do what I do. When I come to the edge of the camp, do exactly as I do. 18 When I and those with me blow our rams’ horns, then the rest of you around the camp do the same and shout, ‘For the Lord and for Gideon!’ ”
19 Gideon and his 100 men came to the edge of the camp. It was the beginning of the midnight watch just at the change of the guards. They blew their rams’ horns and smashed the jars they were holding in their hands. 20 The three companies also blew their rams’ horns and broke their jars. They held the torches in their left hands and the rams’ horns in their right hands so that they could blow them. They shouted, “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!” 21 While each man kept his position around the camp, everyone in the Midianite camp began to run away, screaming as they fled. 22 The 300 men kept on blowing their rams’ horns, and the Lord caused the whole camp of Midian to fight among themselves. They fled as far as Beth Shittah, toward Zererah, and as far as the bank of the stream at Abel Meholah near Tabbath.
12 My dear friends, you have always obeyed, not only when I was with you but even more now that I’m absent. In the same way continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling. 13 It is God who produces in you the desires and actions that please him.
14 Do everything without complaining or arguing. 15 Then you will be blameless and innocent. You will be God’s children without any faults among people who are crooked and corrupt. You will shine like stars among them in the world 16 as you hold firmly to the word of life. Then I can brag on the day of Christ that my effort was not wasted and that my work produced results. 17 My life is being poured out as a part of the sacrifice and service ⌞I offer to God⌟ for your faith. Yet, I am filled with joy, and I share that joy with all of you. 18 For this same reason you also should be filled with joy and share that joy with me.
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