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Samson Versus the Philistines
15 Sometime later, during the wheat harvest,[a] Samson took a young goat as a gift and went to visit his bride.[b] He said to her father,[c] “I want to sleep with[d] my bride in her bedroom!”[e] But her father would not let him enter. 2 Her father said, “I really thought[f] you absolutely despised[g] her, so I gave her to your best man. Her younger sister is more attractive than she is. Take her instead!”[h] 3 Samson said to them,[i] “This time I am justified in doing the Philistines harm!”[j] 4 Samson went and captured 300 jackals[k] and got some torches. He tied the jackals in pairs by their tails and then tied a torch to each pair.[l] 5 He lit the torches[m] and set the jackals loose in the Philistines’ standing grain. He burned up the grain heaps and the standing grain, as well as the vineyards and olive groves. 6 The Philistines asked,[n] “Who did this?” They were told,[o] “Samson, the Timnite’s son-in-law, because the Timnite[p] took Samson’s[q] bride and gave her to his best man.” So the Philistines went up and burned her and her father.[r] 7 Samson said to them, “Because you did this,[s] I will get revenge against you before I quit fighting.”[t] 8 He struck them down and defeated them.[u] Then he went down and lived for a time in the cave in the cliff of Etam.
9 The Philistines went up and invaded[v] Judah. They arrayed themselves for battle[w] in Lehi. 10 The men of Judah said, “Why are you attacking[x] us?” The Philistines[y] said, “We have come up to take Samson prisoner so we can do to him what he has done to us.” 11 So 3,000 men of Judah went down to the cave in the cliff of Etam and said to Samson, “Do you not know that the Philistines rule over us? Why have you done this to us?” He said to them, “I have only done to them what they have done to me.” 12 They said to him, “We have come down to take you prisoner so we can hand you over to the Philistines.” Samson said to them, “Promise me[z] you will not kill[aa] me.” 13 They said to him, “We promise![ab] We will only take you prisoner and hand you over to them. We promise not to kill you.” They tied him up with two brand new ropes and led him up from the cliff. 14 When he arrived in Lehi, the Philistines shouted as they approached him. But the Lord’s Spirit empowered[ac] him. The ropes around his arms were like flax dissolving in[ad] fire, and they[ae] melted away from his hands. 15 He happened to see[af] a solid[ag] jawbone of a donkey. He grabbed it[ah] and struck down[ai] 1,000 men. 16 Samson then said,
“With the jawbone of a donkey
I have left them in heaps;[aj]
with the jawbone of a donkey
I have struck down a thousand men!”
17 When he finished speaking, he threw the jawbone down[ak] and named that place Ramath Lehi.[al]
18 He was very thirsty, so he cried out to the Lord and said, “You have given your servant[am] this great victory. But now must I die of thirst and fall into the hands of these uncircumcised Philistines?”[an] 19 So God split open the basin[ao] at Lehi and water flowed out from it. When he took a drink, his strength[ap] was restored and he revived. For this reason he named the spring[aq] En Hakkore.[ar] It remains in Lehi to this very day. 20 Samson led[as] Israel for twenty years during the days of Philistine prominence.[at]
Samson’s Downfall
16 Samson went to Gaza. There he saw a prostitute and slept with her.[au] 2 The Gazites were told,[av] “Samson has come here!” So they surrounded the town[aw] and hid all night at the city gate, waiting for him to leave.[ax] They relaxed[ay] all night, thinking,[az] “He will not leave[ba] until morning comes;[bb] then we will kill him!” 3 Samson spent half the night with the prostitute; then he got up in the middle of the night and left.[bc] He grabbed the doors of the city gate, as well as the two posts, and pulled them right off, bar and all.[bd] He put them on his shoulders and carried them up to the top of a hill east of Hebron.[be]
4 After this Samson fell in love with a woman named Delilah, who lived in the Sorek Valley. 5 The rulers of the Philistines went up to visit her and said to her, “Trick him! Find out what makes him so strong and how we can subdue him and humiliate[bf] him. Each one of us will give you 1,100 silver pieces.”
6 So Delilah said to Samson, “Tell me what makes you so strong and how you can be subdued and humiliated.”[bg] 7 Samson said to her, “If they tie me up with seven fresh[bh] bowstrings[bi] that have not been dried, I will become weak and be just like any other man.” 8 So the rulers of the Philistines brought her seven fresh bowstrings that had not been dried, and she tied him up with them. 9 They hid[bj] in the bedroom and then she said to him, “The Philistines are here,[bk] Samson!” He snapped the bowstrings as easily as a thread of yarn snaps when it is put close to fire.[bl] The secret of his strength was not discovered.[bm]
10 Delilah said to Samson, “Look, you deceived[bn] me and told me lies! Now tell me how you can be subdued.” 11 He said to her, “If they tie me tightly with brand new ropes that have never been used,[bo] I will become weak and be just like any other man.” 12 So Delilah took new ropes and tied him with them and said to him, “The Philistines are here,[bp] Samson!” (The Philistines were hiding in the bedroom.)[bq] But he tore the ropes[br] from his arms as if they were a piece of thread.
13 Delilah said to Samson, “Up to now you have deceived me and told me lies. Tell me how you can be subdued.” He said to her, “If you weave the seven braids of my hair[bs] into the fabric on the loom[bt] and secure it with the pin, I will become weak and be like any other man.” 14 So she made him go to sleep, wove the seven braids of his hair into the fabric on the loom, fastened it with the pin, and said to him, “The Philistines are here,[bu] Samson!”[bv] He woke up[bw] and tore away the pin of the loom and the fabric.
15 She said to him, “How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when you will not share your secret with me?[bx] Three times you have deceived me and have not told me what makes you so strong.” 16 She nagged him[by] every day and pressured him until he was sick to death of it.[bz] 17 Finally he told her his secret.[ca] He said to her, “My hair has never been cut,[cb] for I have been dedicated to God[cc] from the time I was conceived.[cd] If my head[ce] were shaved, my strength would leave me; I would become weak and be just like all other men.” 18 When Delilah saw that he had told her his secret,[cf] she sent for[cg] the rulers of the Philistines, saying, “Come up here again, for he has told me[ch] his secret.”[ci] So the rulers of the Philistines went up to visit her, bringing the silver in their hands. 19 She made him go to sleep on her lap[cj] and then called a man in to shave off[ck] the seven braids of his hair.[cl] She made him vulnerable[cm] and his strength left him. 20 She said, “The Philistines are here,[cn] Samson!” He woke up[co] and thought,[cp] “I will do as I did before[cq] and shake myself free.” But he did not realize that the Lord had left him. 21 The Philistines captured him and gouged out his eyes. They brought him down to Gaza and bound him in bronze chains. He became a grinder in the prison. 22 His hair[cr] began to grow back after it had been shaved off.
Samson’s Death and Burial
23 The rulers of the Philistines gathered to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god and to celebrate. They said, “Our god has handed Samson, our enemy, over to us.” 24 When the people saw him,[cs] they praised their god, saying, “Our god has handed our enemy over to us, the one who ruined our land and killed so many of us!”[ct]
25 When they really started celebrating,[cu] they said, “Call for Samson so he can entertain us!” So they summoned Samson from the prison and he entertained them.[cv] They made him stand between two pillars. 26 Samson said to the young man who held his hand, “Position me so I can touch the pillars that support the temple.[cw] Then I can lean on them.” 27 Now the temple[cx] was filled with men and women, and all the rulers of the Philistines were there. There were 3,000 men and women on the roof watching Samson entertain. 28 Samson called to the Lord, “O Sovereign Lord,[cy] remember me! Strengthen me just one more time, O God, so I can get swift revenge[cz] against the Philistines for my two eyes!” 29 Samson took hold of the two middle pillars that supported the temple[da] and he leaned against them, with his right hand on one and his left hand on the other. 30 Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines!” He pushed hard,[db] and the temple collapsed on the rulers and all the people in it. He killed many more people in his death than he had killed during his life.[dc] 31 His brothers and all his family[dd] went down and brought him back.[de] They buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of Manoah his father. He had led[df] Israel for twenty years.
Turning Water into Wine
2 Now on the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee.[a] Jesus’ mother[b] was there, 2 and Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the wedding.[c] 3 When the wine ran out, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no wine left.”[d] 4 Jesus replied,[e] “Woman,[f] why are you saying this to me?[g] My time[h] has not yet come.” 5 His mother told the servants, “Whatever he tells you, do it.”[i]
6 Now there were six stone water jars there for Jewish ceremonial washing,[j] each holding twenty or thirty gallons.[k] 7 Jesus told the servants,[l] “Fill the water jars with water.” So they filled them up to the very top. 8 Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the head steward,”[m] and they did. 9 When[n] the head steward tasted the water that had been turned to wine, not knowing where it came from[o] (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), he[p] called the bridegroom 10 and said to him, “Everyone[q] serves the good wine first, and then the cheaper[r] wine when the guests[s] are drunk. You have kept the good wine until now!” 11 Jesus did this as the first of his miraculous signs,[t] in Cana of Galilee. In this way he revealed[u] his glory, and his disciples believed in him.[v]
Cleansing the Temple
12 After this he went down to Capernaum[w] with his mother and brothers[x] and his disciples, and they stayed there a few days. 13 Now the Jewish feast of Passover[y] was near, so Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
14 [z] He found in the temple courts[aa] those who were selling oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers sitting at tables.[ab] 15 So he made a whip of cords[ac] and drove them all out of the temple courts,[ad] with the sheep and the oxen. He scattered the coins of the money changers[ae] and overturned their tables. 16 To those who sold the doves he said, “Take these things away from here! Do not make[af] my Father’s house a marketplace!”[ag] 17 His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal[ah] for your house will devour me.”[ai]
18 So then the Jewish leaders[aj] responded,[ak] “What sign can you show us, since you are doing these things?”[al] 19 Jesus replied,[am] “Destroy[an] this temple and in three days I will raise it up again.” 20 Then the Jewish leaders[ao] said to him, “This temple has been under construction[ap] for forty-six years,[aq] and are you going to raise it up in three days?” 21 But Jesus[ar] was speaking about the temple of his body.[as] 22 So after he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the scripture[at] and the saying[au] that Jesus had spoken.
Jesus at the Passover Feast
23 Now while Jesus[av] was in Jerusalem at the Feast of the Passover, many people believed in his name because they saw the miraculous signs he was doing.[aw] 24 But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people.[ax] 25 He did not need anyone to testify about man,[ay] for he knew what was in man.[az]
Psalm 103[a]
By David.
103 Praise the Lord, O my soul.
With all that is within me, praise[b] his holy name.
2 Praise the Lord, O my soul.
Do not forget all his kind deeds.[c]
3 He is the one who forgives all your sins,
who heals all your diseases,[d]
4 who delivers[e] your life from the Pit,[f]
who crowns you with his loyal love and compassion,
5 who satisfies your life with good things,[g]
so your youth is renewed like an eagle’s.[h]
6 The Lord does what is fair,
and executes justice for all the oppressed.[i]
7 The Lord revealed his faithful acts[j] to Moses,
his deeds to the Israelites.
8 The Lord is compassionate and merciful;
he is patient[k] and demonstrates great loyal love.[l]
9 He does not always accuse,
and does not stay angry.[m]
10 He does not deal with us as our sins deserve;[n]
he does not repay us as our misdeeds deserve.[o]
11 For as the skies are high above the earth,
so his loyal love towers[p] over his faithful followers.[q]
12 As far as the eastern horizon[r] is from the west,[s]
so he removes the guilt of our rebellious actions[t] from us.
13 As a father has compassion on his children,[u]
so the Lord has compassion on his faithful followers.[v]
14 For he knows what we are made of;[w]
he realizes[x] we are made of clay.[y]
15 A person’s life is like grass.[z]
Like a flower in the field it flourishes,
16 but when the hot wind[aa] blows, it disappears,
and one can no longer even spot the place where it once grew.
17 But the Lord continually shows loyal love to his faithful followers,[ab]
and is faithful to their descendants,[ac]
18 to those who keep his covenant,
who are careful to obey his commands.[ad]
19 The Lord has established his throne in heaven;
his kingdom extends over everything.[ae]
20 Praise the Lord, you angels of his,
you powerful warriors who carry out his decrees
and obey his orders.[af]
21 Praise the Lord, all you warriors of his,[ag]
you servants of his who carry out his desires.[ah]
22 Praise the Lord, all that he has made,[ai]
in all the regions[aj] of his kingdom.
Praise the Lord, O my soul.
17 A person who has a quick temper[a] will do foolish things,
and a person with crafty schemes[b] will be hated.[c]
18 The naive have inherited[d] folly,
but the shrewd[e] will be crowned[f] with knowledge.
19 Bad people have bowed[g] before good people,
and wicked people have bowed[h] at the gates[i] of someone righteous.[j]
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