Our first reading is from Judges 15:9-20

May the Lord bless you as you receive his word.

The Philistines went up and camped in Judah. They spread out near Lehi. The people of Judah asked, “Why have you come to fight against us?” “We’ve come to take Samson as our prisoner,” they answered. “We want to do to him what he did to us.”

Then 3,000 men from Judah went to get Samson. They went down to the cave in the rock of Etam. They said to Samson, “Don’t you realize the Philistines are ruling over us? What have you done to us?” Samson answered, “I only did to them what they did to me.” The men of Judah said to him, “We’ve come to tie you up. We’re going to hand you over to the Philistines.” Samson said, “Promise me you won’t kill me yourselves.” “We agree,” they answered. “We’ll only tie you up and hand you over to them. We won’t kill you.” So, they tied him up with two new ropes. They led him up from the rock.

Samson approached Lehi. The Philistines came toward him shouting. Then the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully on Samson. The ropes on his arms became like burned thread. They dropped off his hands. He found a fresh jawbone of a donkey. He grabbed it and struck down 1,000 men.

Then Samson said, “By using a donkey’s jawbone I’ve made them look like donkeys. By using a donkey’s jawbone I’ve struck down 1,000 men.” Samson finished speaking. Then he threw the jawbone away. That’s why the place was called Ramath Lehi.

Samson was very thirsty. So, he cried out to the Lord. He said, “You have helped me win this great battle. Do I have to die of thirst now? Must I fall into the power of people who haven’t even been circumcised? They aren’t your people.” Then God opened up the hollow place in Lehi. Water came out of it. When Samson drank the water, his strength returned. He felt as good as new. So, the spring was called En Hakkore. It’s still there in Lehi. Samson led Israel for 20 years. In those days the Philistines were in the land.

Our Second Reading is from Matthew 17:9-20

When they came to the crowd, a man approached Jesus and knelt before him. “Lord, have mercy on my son,” he said. “He has seizures and is suffering greatly. He often falls into the fire or into the water. I brought him to your disciples, but they could not heal him.”

“You unbelieving and perverse generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me.” Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy, and he was healed at that moment.

Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?” He 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.”

This is the Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. As you journey on, go with his blessing:

Guide us waking, O Lord, and guard us sleeping, that awake we may watch with Christ, and asleep rest in his peace. May Almighty God bless, preserve, and keep us, this day and forevermore. Amen.