They were from nations about which the Lord had told the Israelites, “You must not intermarry(A) with them, because they will surely turn your hearts after their gods.” Nevertheless, Solomon held fast to them in love.

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16 And when you choose some of their daughters as wives(A) for your sons and those daughters prostitute themselves to their gods,(B) they will lead your sons to do the same.

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Do not intermarry with them.(A) Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons, for they will turn your children away from following me to serve other gods,(B) and the Lord’s anger will burn against you and will quickly destroy(C) you.

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12 “But if you turn away and ally yourselves with the survivors of these nations that remain among you and if you intermarry with them(A) and associate with them,(B) 13 then you may be sure that the Lord your God will no longer drive out(C) these nations before you. Instead, they will become snares(D) and traps for you, whips on your backs and thorns in your eyes,(E) until you perish from this good land,(F) which the Lord your God has given you.

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Warning Against Idolatry

14 Do not be yoked together(A) with unbelievers.(B) For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?(C) 15 What harmony is there between Christ and Belial[a]?(D) Or what does a believer(E) have in common with an unbeliever?(F) 16 What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols?(G) For we are the temple(H) of the living God.(I) As God has said:

“I will live with them
    and walk among them,
and I will be their God,
    and they will be my people.”[b](J)

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Corinthians 6:15 Greek Beliar, a variant of Belial
  2. 2 Corinthians 6:16 Lev. 26:12; Jer. 32:38; Ezek. 37:27

Moab Seduces Israel

25 While Israel was staying in Shittim,(A) the men began to indulge in sexual immorality(B) with Moabite(C) women,(D) who invited them to the sacrifices(E) to their gods.(F) The people ate the sacrificial meal and bowed down before these gods. So Israel yoked themselves to(G) the Baal of Peor.(H) And the Lord’s anger burned against them.

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32 Do not make a covenant(A) with them or with their gods. 33 Do not let them live in your land or they will cause you to sin against me, because the worship of their gods will certainly be a snare(B) to you.”

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33 Do not be misled:(A) “Bad company corrupts good character.”[a](B)

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Corinthians 15:33 From the Greek poet Menander

Love in Action

Love must be sincere.(A) Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.(B)

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Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first.(A)

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32 Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death,(A) they not only continue to do these very things but also approve(B) of those who practice them.

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11 Judah has been unfaithful. A detestable(A) thing has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem: Judah has desecrated the sanctuary the Lord loves(B) by marrying(C) women who worship a foreign god.(D)

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21 Do I not hate those(A) who hate you, Lord,
    and abhor(B) those who are in rebellion against you?

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Then Shekaniah son of Jehiel, one of the descendants of Elam,(A) said to Ezra, “We have been unfaithful(B) to our God by marrying foreign women from the peoples around us. But in spite of this, there is still hope for Israel.(C) Now let us make a covenant(D) before our God to send away(E) all these women and their children, in accordance with the counsel of my lord and of those who fear the commands of our God. Let it be done according to the Law. Rise up; this matter is in your hands. We will support you, so take courage and do it.”

So Ezra rose up and put the leading priests and Levites and all Israel under oath(F) to do what had been suggested. And they took the oath. Then Ezra withdrew from before the house of God and went to the room of Jehohanan son of Eliashib. While he was there, he ate no food and drank no water,(G) because he continued to mourn over the unfaithfulness of the exiles.

A proclamation was then issued throughout Judah and Jerusalem for all the exiles to assemble in Jerusalem. Anyone who failed to appear within three days would forfeit all his property, in accordance with the decision of the officials and elders, and would himself be expelled from the assembly of the exiles.

Within the three days, all the men of Judah and Benjamin(H) had gathered in Jerusalem. And on the twentieth day of the ninth month, all the people were sitting in the square before the house of God, greatly distressed by the occasion and because of the rain. 10 Then Ezra(I) the priest stood up and said to them, “You have been unfaithful; you have married foreign women, adding to Israel’s guilt.(J) 11 Now honor[a] the Lord, the God of your ancestors, and do his will. Separate yourselves from the peoples around you and from your foreign wives.”(K)

12 The whole assembly responded with a loud voice:(L) “You are right! We must do as you say. 13 But there are many people here and it is the rainy season; so we cannot stand outside. Besides, this matter cannot be taken care of in a day or two, because we have sinned greatly in this thing. 14 Let our officials act for the whole assembly. Then let everyone in our towns who has married a foreign woman come at a set time, along with the elders and judges(M) of each town, until the fierce anger(N) of our God in this matter is turned away from us.” 15 Only Jonathan son of Asahel and Jahzeiah son of Tikvah, supported by Meshullam and Shabbethai(O) the Levite, opposed this.

16 So the exiles did as was proposed. Ezra the priest selected men who were family heads, one from each family division, and all of them designated by name. On the first day of the tenth month they sat down to investigate the cases, 17 and by the first day of the first month they finished dealing with all the men who had married foreign women.

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Footnotes

  1. Ezra 10:11 Or Now make confession to

12 Therefore, do not give your daughters in marriage to their sons or take their daughters for your sons. Do not seek a treaty of friendship with them(A) at any time, that you may be strong(B) and eat the good things(C) of the land and leave it to your children as an everlasting inheritance.’(D)

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He followed the ways of the kings of Israel,(A) as the house of Ahab had done, for he married a daughter of Ahab.(B) He did evil in the eyes of the Lord.

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Jehu(A) the seer, the son of Hanani, went out to meet him and said to the king, “Should you help the wicked(B) and love[a] those who hate the Lord?(C) Because of this, the wrath(D) of the Lord is on you.

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Chronicles 19:2 Or and make alliances with

31 He not only considered it trivial to commit the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, but he also married(A) Jezebel daughter(B) of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and began to serve Baal(C) and worship him. 32 He set up an altar(D) for Baal in the temple(E) of Baal that he built in Samaria. 33 Ahab also made an Asherah pole(F) and did more(G) to arouse the anger of the Lord, the God of Israel, than did all the kings of Israel before him.

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Some time later, he fell in love(A) with a woman in the Valley of Sorek whose name was Delilah.(B) The rulers of the Philistines(C) went to her and said, “See if you can lure(D) him into showing you the secret of his great strength(E) and how we can overpower him so we may tie him up and subdue him. Each one of us will give you eleven hundred shekels[a] of silver.”(F)

So Delilah(G) said to Samson, “Tell me the secret of your great strength and how you can be tied up and subdued.”

Samson answered her, “If anyone ties me with seven fresh bowstrings that have not been dried, I’ll become as weak as any other man.”

Then the rulers of the Philistines brought her seven fresh bowstrings that had not been dried, and she tied him with them. With men hidden in the room,(H) she called to him, “Samson, the Philistines are upon you!”(I) But he snapped the bowstrings as easily as a piece of string snaps when it comes close to a flame. So the secret of his strength was not discovered.

10 Then Delilah said to Samson, “You have made a fool of me;(J) you lied to me. Come now, tell me how you can be tied.”

11 He said, “If anyone ties me securely with new ropes(K) that have never been used, I’ll become as weak as any other man.”

12 So Delilah took new ropes and tied him with them. Then, with men hidden in the room, she called to him, “Samson, the Philistines are upon you!”(L) But he snapped the ropes off his arms as if they were threads.

13 Delilah then said to Samson, “All this time you have been making a fool of me and lying to me. Tell me how you can be tied.”

He replied, “If you weave the seven braids of my head into the fabric on the loom and tighten it with the pin, I’ll become as weak as any other man.” So while he was sleeping, Delilah took the seven braids of his head, wove them into the fabric 14 and[b] tightened it with the pin.

Again she called to him, “Samson, the Philistines are upon you!”(M) He awoke from his sleep and pulled up the pin and the loom, with the fabric.

15 Then she said to him, “How can you say, ‘I love you,’(N) when you won’t confide in me? This is the third time(O) you have made a fool of me and haven’t told me the secret of your great strength.(P) 16 With such nagging she prodded him day after day until he was sick to death of it.

17 So he told her everything.(Q) “No razor has ever been used on my head,” he said, “because I have been a Nazirite(R) dedicated to God from my mother’s womb. If my head were shaved, my strength would leave me, and I would become as weak as any other man.”

18 When Delilah saw that he had told her everything, she sent word to the rulers of the Philistines(S), “Come back once more; he has told me everything.” So the rulers of the Philistines returned with the silver in their hands.(T) 19 After putting him to sleep on her lap, she called for someone to shave off the seven braids of his hair, and so began to subdue him.[c] And his strength left him.(U)

20 Then she called, “Samson, the Philistines are upon you!”(V)

He awoke from his sleep and thought, “I’ll go out as before and shake myself free.” But he did not know that the Lord had left him.(W)

21 Then the Philistines(X) seized him, gouged out his eyes(Y) and took him down to Gaza.(Z) Binding him with bronze shackles, they set him to grinding grain(AA) in the prison.

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Footnotes

  1. Judges 16:5 That is, about 28 pounds or about 13 kilograms
  2. Judges 16:14 Some Septuagint manuscripts; Hebrew replied, “I can if you weave the seven braids of my head into the fabric on the loom.” 14 So she
  3. Judges 16:19 Hebrew; some Septuagint manuscripts and he began to weaken

They took their daughters(A) in marriage and gave their own daughters to their sons, and served their gods.(B)

Othniel

The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord; they forgot the Lord(C) their God and served the Baals and the Asherahs.(D)

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His heart was drawn to Dinah(A) daughter of Jacob;(B) he loved(C) the young woman and spoke tenderly(D) to her.

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24 That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united(A) to his wife, and they become one flesh.(B)

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