Isaiah 38:10-20

New International Version

¹⁰I said, “In the prime of my life^(A)
    must I go through the gates of death^(B)
    and be robbed of the rest of my years?^(C)”
¹¹I said, “I will not again see the Lord himself^(D)
    in the land of the living;^(E)
no longer will I look on my fellow man,
    or be with those who now dwell in this world.
¹²Like a shepherd’s tent^(F) my house
    has been pulled down^(G) and taken from me.
Like a weaver I have rolled^(H) up my life,
    and he has cut me off from the loom;^(I)
    day and night^(J) you made an end of me.
¹³I waited patiently^(K) till dawn,
    but like a lion he broke^(L) all my bones;^(M)
    day and night^(N) you made an end of me.
¹⁴I cried like a swift or thrush,
    I moaned like a mourning dove.^(O)
My eyes grew weak^(P) as I looked to the heavens.
    I am being threatened; Lord, come to my aid!”^(Q)

¹⁵But what can I say?^(R)
    He has spoken to me, and he himself has done this.^(S)
I will walk humbly^(T) all my years
    because of this anguish of my soul.^(U)
¹⁶Lord, by such things people live;
    and my spirit finds life in them too.
You restored me to health
    and let me live.^(V)
¹⁷Surely it was for my benefit^(W)
    that I suffered such anguish.^(X)
In your love you kept me
    from the pit^(Y) of destruction;
you have put all my sins^(Z)
    behind your back.^(AA)
¹⁸For the grave^(AB) cannot praise you,
    death cannot sing your praise;^(AC)
those who go down to the pit^(AD)
    cannot hope for your faithfulness.
¹⁹The living, the living—they praise^(AE) you,
    as I am doing today;
parents tell their children^(AF)
    about your faithfulness.

²⁰The Lord will save me,
and we will sing^(AG) with stringed instruments^(AH)
all the days of our lives^(AI)
in the temple^(AJ) of the Lord.

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Judges 15:9-20

New International Version

⁹The Philistines went up and camped in Judah, spreading out near Lehi.^(A) ¹⁰The people of Judah asked, “Why have you come to fight us?”

“We have come to take Samson prisoner,” they answered, “to do to him as he did to us.”

¹¹Then three thousand men from Judah went down to the cave in the rock of Etam and said to Samson, “Don’t you realize that the Philistines are rulers over us?^(B) What have you done to us?”

He answered, “I merely did to them what they did to me.”

¹²They said to him, “We’ve come to tie you up and hand you over to the Philistines.”

Samson said, “Swear to me^(C) that you won’t kill me yourselves.”

¹³“Agreed,” they answered. “We will only tie you up and hand you over to them. We will not kill you.” So they bound him with two new ropes^(D) and led him up from the rock. ¹⁴As he approached Lehi,^(E) the Philistines came toward him shouting. The Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon him.^(F) The ropes on his arms became like charred flax,^(G) and the bindings dropped from his hands. ¹⁵Finding a fresh jawbone of a donkey, he grabbed it and struck down a thousand men.^(H)

¹⁶Then Samson said,

“With a donkey’s jawbone
I have made donkeys of them.^[a]^(I)
With a donkey’s jawbone
I have killed a thousand men.”

¹⁷When he finished speaking, he threw away the jawbone; and the place was called Ramath Lehi.^[b]^(J)

¹⁸Because he was very thirsty, he cried out to the Lord,^(K) “You have given your servant this great victory.^(L) Must I now die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?” ¹⁹Then God opened up the hollow place in Lehi, and water came out of it. When Samson drank, his strength returned and he revived.^(M) So the spring^(N) was called En Hakkore,^[c] and it is still there in Lehi.

²⁰Samson led^[d] Israel for twenty years^(O) in the days of the Philistines.

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Footnotes

Judges 15:16 Or made a heap or two; the Hebrew for donkey sounds like the Hebrew for heap.
Judges 15:17 Ramath Lehi means jawbone hill.
Judges 15:19 En Hakkore means caller’s spring.
Judges 15:20 Traditionally judged

Matthew 17:14-21

New International Version

Jesus Heals a Demon-Possessed Boy^(A)

¹⁴When they came to the crowd, a man approached Jesus and knelt before him. ¹⁵“Lord, have mercy on my son,” he said. “He has seizures^(B) and is suffering greatly. He often falls into the fire or into the water. ¹⁶I brought him to your disciples, but they could not heal him.”

¹⁷“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.” ¹⁸Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy, and he was healed at that moment.

¹⁹Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?”

²⁰He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith^(C) as small as a mustard seed,^(D) you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move.^(E) Nothing will be impossible for you.” ^[21]^[a]