27But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.

7But the Lord said to Samuel, Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.

20He replied, Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.

1The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord, and for seven years he gave them into the hands of the Midianites.

6Midian so impoverished the Israelites that they cried out to the Lord for help.

11The angel of the Lord came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites. 12When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, The Lord is with you, mighty warrior. 13Pardon me, my lord, Gideon replied, but if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our ancestors told us about when they said, 'Did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt?' But now the Lord has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian. 14The Lord turned to him and said, Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian's hand. Am I not sending you? 15Pardon me, my lord, Gideon replied, but how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family. 16The Lord answered, I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites, leaving none alive.

18Then Jesus came to them and said, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.

31What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all-how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? 33Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died-more than that, who was raised to life-is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.

25That same night the Lord said to him, Take the second bull from your father's herd, the one seven years old. Or [Take a full-grown, mature bull from your father's herd] Tear down your father's altar to Baal and cut down the Asherah pole That is, a wooden symbol of the goddess Asherah; also in verses 26, 28 and 30 beside it. 26Then build a proper kind of Or [build with layers of stone an] altar to the Lord your God on the top of this height. Using the wood of the Asherah pole that you cut down, offer the second Or [full-grown]; also in verse 28 bull as a burnt offering.