Chapter 12

The Shibboleth Incident. ¹ The men of Ephraim were called out, and they crossed over to Zaphon. They said to Jephthah, “Why did you go to fight with the Ammonites without calling us to go with you?^(A) We will burn your house on top of you.” ² Jephthah answered them, “My soldiers and I were engaged in a contest with the Ammonites. They were pressing us hard, and I cried out to you, but you did not come to save me from their power. ³ When I saw that you were not coming to save me, I took my life in my own hand and crossed over against the Ammonites, and the Lord delivered them into my power. Why, then, should you come up against me this day to fight with me?”

⁴ Then Jephthah gathered together all the men of Gilead and fought against Ephraim. The men of Gilead defeated Ephraim, ⁵ and Gilead seized the fords of the Jordan against Ephraim. When any of the fleeing Ephraimites said, “Let me pass,” the men of Gilead would say to him, “Are you an Ephraimite?” If he answered, “No!” ⁶ they would ask him to say “Shibboleth.”^[a] If he said “Sibboleth,” not pronouncing it exactly right, they would seize him and kill him at the fords of the Jordan. Forty-two thousand Ephraimites fell at that time.

⁷ Jephthah judged Israel for six years, and Jephthah the Gileadite died and was buried in his city in Gilead.^(B)

Ibzan. ⁸ After him Ibzan^[b] of Bethlehem judged Israel. ^9 (C)He had thirty sons and thirty daughters whom he gave in marriage outside the family, while bringing in thirty wives for his sons from outside the family. He judged Israel for seven years. ¹⁰ Ibzan died and was buried in Bethlehem.

Elon. ¹¹ After him Elon the Zebulunite judged Israel; he judged Israel for ten years. ¹² Elon the Zebulunite died and was buried at Aijalon in the land of Zebulun.

Abdon. ¹³ After him Abdon, son of Hillel, the Pirathonite, judged Israel. ^14 (D)He had forty sons and thirty grandsons, who rode on seventy donkeys. He judged Israel for eight years. ¹⁵ Abdon, son of Hillel, the Pirathonite, died and was buried in Pirathon in the land of Ephraim in the mountain region of the Amalekites.

Chapter 13

The Birth of Samson. ^1 (E)The Israelites again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, who therefore delivered them into the power of the Philistines for forty years.

² There was a certain man from Zorah, of the clan of the Danites,^[c] whose name was Manoah. His wife was barren and had borne no children.^{(F) 3 (G)}An angel of the Lord appeared to the woman and said to her: Though you are barren and have had no children, you will conceive and bear a son. ^4 (H)Now, then, be careful to drink no wine or beer and to eat nothing unclean, ⁵ for you will conceive and bear a son. No razor shall touch his head, for the boy is to be a nazirite for God^[d] from the womb. It is he who will begin to save Israel from the power of the Philistines.

⁶ The woman went and told her husband, “A man of God came to me; he had the appearance of an angel of God, fearsome indeed. I did not ask him where he came from, nor did he tell me his name. ⁷ But he said to me, ‘You will conceive and bear a son. So drink no wine or beer, and eat nothing unclean. For the boy shall be a nazirite for God from the womb, until the day of his death.’” ⁸ Manoah then prayed to the Lord. “Please, my Lord,” he said, “may the man of God whom you sent return to us to teach us what to do for the boy who is to be born.”

⁹ God heard the prayer of Manoah, and the angel of God came again to the woman as she was sitting in the field; but her husband Manoah was not with her. ¹⁰ The woman ran quickly and told her husband. “The man who came to me the other day has appeared to me,” she said to him; ¹¹ so Manoah got up and followed his wife. When he reached the man, he said to him, “Are you the one who spoke to my wife?” I am, he answered. ¹² Then Manoah asked, “Now, when what you say comes true, what rules must the boy follow? What must he do?” ¹³ The angel of the Lord answered Manoah: Your wife must be careful about all the things of which I spoke to her. ¹⁴ She must not eat anything that comes from the vine, she must not drink wine or beer, and she must not eat anything unclean. Let her observe all that I have commanded her. ¹⁵ Then Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, “Permit us to detain you, so that we may prepare a young goat for you.” ¹⁶ But the angel of the Lord answered Manoah: Though you detained me, I would not eat your food. But if you want to prepare a burnt offering, then offer it up to the Lord. For Manoah did not know that he was the angel of the Lord. ^17 [e]Then Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, “What is your name, that we may honor you when your words come true?” ^18 (I)The angel of the Lord answered him: Why do you ask my name? It is wondrous. ^19 (J)Then Manoah took a young goat with a grain offering and offered it on the rock to the Lord, who works wonders. While Manoah and his wife were looking on, ²⁰ as the flame rose to the heavens from the altar, the angel of the Lord ascended in the flame of the altar. When Manoah and his wife saw this, they fell on their faces to the ground; ²¹ but the angel of the Lord was seen no more by Manoah and his wife.^(K) Then Manoah, realizing that it was the angel of the Lord, ²² said to his wife, “We will certainly die,^[f] for we have seen God.” ²³ But his wife said to him, “If the Lord had meant to kill us, he would not have accepted a burnt offering and grain offering from our hands! Nor would he have let us see all this, or hear what we have heard.”

²⁴ The woman bore a son and named him Samson, and when the boy grew up the Lord blessed him. ²⁵ The spirit of the Lord came upon him for the first time^(L) in Mahaneh-dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.

Chapter 14

Marriage of Samson. ¹ Samson went down to Timnah where he saw one of the Philistine women. ² On his return he told his father and mother, “I saw in Timnah a woman, a Philistine. Get her for me as a wife.” ^3 (M)His father and mother said to him, “Is there no woman among your kinsfolk or among all your people, that you must go and take a woman from the uncircumcised Philistines?” But Samson answered his father, “Get her for me, for she is the one I want.” ^4 (N)Now his father and mother did not know that this had been brought about by the Lord, who was seeking an opportunity against the Philistines;^[g] for at that time they ruled over Israel.^(O)

⁵ So Samson went down to Timnah with his father and mother. When he turned aside to the vineyards of Timnah, a young lion came roaring out toward him. ^6 (P)But the spirit of the Lord rushed upon Samson, and he tore the lion apart barehanded,^(Q) as one tears a young goat. Without telling his father or mother what he had done, ⁷ he went down and spoke to the woman. He liked her. ⁸ Later, when he came back to marry her, he turned aside to look at the remains of the lion, and there was a swarm of bees in the lion’s carcass, and honey. ⁹ So he scooped the honey out into his hands and ate it as he went along. When he came to his father and mother, he gave them some to eat, but he did not tell them that he had scooped the honey from the lion’s carcass.

¹⁰ His father also went down to the woman, and Samson gave a feast there, since it was customary for the young men to do this. ¹¹ Out of their fear of him, they brought thirty men to be his companions. ¹² Samson said to them, “Let me propose a riddle to you. If within the seven days of the feast you solve it for me, I will give you thirty linen tunics and thirty sets of garments. ¹³ But if you cannot answer it for me, you must give me thirty tunics and thirty sets of garments.” “Propose your riddle,” they responded, “and we will listen to it.” ¹⁴ So he said to them,

For three days they were unable to answer the riddle, ¹⁵ and on the fourth day they said to Samson’s wife,^(R) “Trick your husband into solving the riddle for us, or we will burn you and your family.^(S) Did you invite us here to reduce us to poverty?” ^16 [h](T)So Samson’s wife wept at his side and said, “You just hate me! You do not love me! You proposed a riddle to my people, but did not tell me the answer.” He said to her, “If I did not tell even my father or my mother, must I tell you?” ¹⁷ But she wept beside him during the seven days the feast lasted, and on the seventh day, he told her the answer, because she pressed him, and she explained the riddle to her people.^(U)

¹⁸ On the seventh day, before the sun set, the men of the city said to him,

He replied to them,

^19 (V)The spirit of the Lord rushed upon him, and he went down to Ashkelon, where he killed thirty of their men and stripped them; he gave their garments to those who had answered the riddle. Then he went off to his own family in anger, ²⁰ and Samson’s wife was married to the companion who had been his best man.^(W)

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I. The Preparation for the Public Ministry of Jesus^[a]

Chapter 1

¹ The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ [the Son of God].^[b]

The Preaching of John the Baptist. ^2 (A)As it is written in Isaiah the prophet:^[c](B)

⁴ John [the] Baptist appeared in the desert proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. ⁵ People of the whole Judean countryside and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the Jordan River as they acknowledged their sins. ⁶ John was clothed in camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist.^[d] He fed on locusts and wild honey. ⁷ And this is what he proclaimed: “One mightier than I is coming after me. I am not worthy to stoop and loosen the thongs of his sandals. ^8 [e](D)I have baptized you with water; he will baptize you with the holy Spirit.”

The Baptism of Jesus. ^9 (E)It happened in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized in the Jordan by John. ¹⁰ On coming up out of the water he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit, like a dove, descending upon him.^{[f] 11 (F)}And a voice came from the heavens, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”

The Temptation of Jesus.^{[g] 12} At once the Spirit drove him out into the desert,^{(G) 13} and he remained in the desert for forty days, tempted by Satan. He was among wild beasts, and the angels ministered to him.

II. The Mystery of Jesus

The Beginning of the Galilean Ministry. ^14 (H)After John had been arrested,^[h] Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God: ^15 (I)“This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”

The Call of the First Disciples.^{[i] 16 (J)}As he passed by the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting their nets into the sea; they were fishermen. ¹⁷ Jesus said to them, “Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.” ¹⁸ Then they abandoned their nets and followed him. ¹⁹ He walked along a little farther and saw James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John. They too were in a boat mending their nets. ²⁰ Then he called them. So they left their father Zebedee in the boat along with the hired men and followed him.

The Cure of a Demoniac. ^21 [j](K)Then they came to Capernaum, and on the sabbath he entered the synagogue and taught. ^22 (L)The people were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes. ^23 [k]In their synagogue was a man with an unclean spirit; ^24 [l]he cried out, “What have you to do with us,^[m] Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!” ²⁵ Jesus rebuked him and said, “Quiet! Come out of him!” ²⁶ The unclean spirit convulsed him and with a loud cry came out of him. ²⁷ All were amazed and asked one another, “What is this? A new teaching with authority. He commands even the unclean spirits and they obey him.” ²⁸ His fame spread everywhere throughout the whole region of Galilee.