Daily Reading for Tuesday, August 17th, 2021

Reading 1, Judges 6:11-24

¹¹ The Angel of Yahweh came and sat under the terebinth at Ophrah which belonged to Joash of Abiezer. Gideon his son was threshing wheat inside the wine-press, to keep it hidden from Midian,

¹² and the Angel of Yahweh appeared to him and said, 'Yahweh is with you, valiant warrior!'

¹³ Gideon replied, 'Excuse me, my lord, but if Yahweh is with us, why is all this happening to us? And where are all his miracles which our ancestors used to tell us about when they said, "Did not Yahweh bring us out of Egypt?" But now Yahweh has deserted us; he has abandoned us to Midian,'

¹⁴ At this, Yahweh turned to him and said, 'Go in this strength of yours, and you will rescue Israel from the power of Midian. Am I not sending you myself?'

¹⁵ Gideon replied, 'Forgive me, my lord, but how can I deliver Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh and I am the least important of my father's family.'

¹⁶ Yahweh replied, 'I shall be with you and you will crush Midian as though it were one man.'

¹⁷ Gideon said, 'If I have found favour in your sight, give me a sign that you are speaking to me.

¹⁸ Please do not go away from here until I come back to you, bringing you my offering and laying it before you.' And he replied, 'I shall stay until you come back.'

¹⁹ Gideon went away, he prepared a young goat and from an ephah of flour he made unleavened cakes. He put the meat into a basket and the broth into a pot, then brought it all to him under the terebinth. As he approached,

²⁰ the Angel of Yahweh said to him, 'Take the meat and unleavened cakes, put them on this rock and pour the broth over them.' Gideon did so.

²¹ The Angel of Yahweh then stretched out the tip of the staff which he was carrying, and touched the meat and unleavened cakes. Fire sprang from the rock and consumed the meat and unleavened cakes, and the Angel of Yahweh vanished before his eyes.

²² Gideon then knew that this was the Angel of Yahweh, and he said, 'Alas, my Lord Yahweh! Now I have seen the Angel of Yahweh face to face!'

²³ Yahweh answered, 'Peace be with you; have no fear; you will not die.'

²⁴ Gideon built an altar there to Yahweh and called it Yahweh-Peace. This altar stands in our own day at Ophrah of Abiezer.

Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 85:9, 11-12, 13-14

⁹ His saving help is near for those who fear him, his glory will dwell in our land.

¹¹ Loyalty will spring up from the earth, and Justice will lean down from heaven.

¹² Yahweh will himself give prosperity, and our soil will yield its harvest.

¹³ Justice will walk before him, treading out a path.

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