Samson’s Marriage

14 Then Samson went down to Timnah, and he saw a woman in Timnah, one of the daughters of the Philistines. ² So he came ^[a]back and told his father and ^[b]mother, “I saw a woman in Timnah, one of the daughters of the Philistines; so now, get her for me as a wife.” ³ But his father and his mother said to him, “Is there no woman among the daughters of your ^(A)relatives, or among all ^[c]our people, that you go to ^(B)take a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines?” Yet Samson said to his father, “Get her for me, because she is right ^[d]for me.” ⁴ However, his father and mother did not know that ^(C)this was of the Lord, for He was seeking an occasion against the Philistines. And at that time the Philistines were ruling over Israel.

⁵ Then Samson went down to Timnah with his father and mother, and came as far as the vineyards of Timnah; and behold, a young lion came roaring toward him. ⁶ And ^(D)the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon him, so that ^(E)he tore it apart as one tears apart a young goat, though he had nothing in his hand; but he did not tell his father or mother what he had done. ⁷ So he went down and talked to the woman; and she ^[e]looked pleasing to Samson. ⁸ When he returned later to take her, he turned aside to look at the carcass of the lion; and behold, a swarm of bees and honey were in the body of the lion. ⁹ So he took out ^[f]the honey on his ^[g]hands and went on, eating as he went. When he came to his father and mother, he gave some to them and they ate it; but he did not tell them that he had took the honey out of the body of the lion.

¹⁰ Then his father went down to the woman; and Samson held a feast there, for the young men customarily did this. ¹¹ When they saw him, they brought thirty companions to be with him.

Samson’s Riddle

¹² Then Samson said to them, “Let me now ^(F)propose a riddle for you; if you actually tell me ^[h]the answer within the seven days of the feast, and solve it, then I will give you thirty linen wraps and thirty ^(G)outfits of clothes. ¹³ But if you are unable to tell me, then you shall give me thirty linen wraps and thirty outfits of clothes.” And they said to him, “Propose your riddle, so that we may hear it.” ¹⁴ So he said to them,

But they could not tell the answer to the riddle in three days.

¹⁵ Then it came about on the ^[i]fourth day that they said to Samson’s wife, “^(H)Entice your husband, so that he will tell us the riddle, ^(I)or we will burn you and your father’s house with fire. Have you invited us to impoverish us? Is this not so?” ¹⁶ So Samson’s wife wept in front of him and said, “^(J)You only hate me, and you do not love me; you have proposed a riddle to the sons of my people, and have not told it to me.” And he said to her, “Behold, I have not told it to my father or mother; so should I tell you?” ¹⁷ However she wept before him for seven days while their feast lasted. And on the seventh day he told her because she pressed him so hard. She then told the riddle to the sons of her people. ¹⁸ So the men of the city said to him on the seventh day before the sun went down,

And he said to them,

¹⁹ Then ^(K)the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon him, and he went down to Ashkelon and killed thirty men of them and took what they were wearing and gave the outfits of clothes to those who told the riddle. And his anger burned, and he went up to his father’s house. ²⁰ But Samson’s wife was ^(L)given to his companion who had been his ^[j]friend.

Paul in Corinth

18 After these events Paul left ^(A)Athens and went to ^(B)Corinth. ² And he found a Jew named ^(C)Aquila, a native of ^(D)Pontus having recently come from ^(E)Italy with his wife ^(F)Priscilla, because ^(G)Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome. He came to them, ³ and because he was of the same trade he stayed with them, and ^(H)they worked together, for they were tent-makers by trade. ⁴ And Paul was reasoning ^(I)in the synagogue every ^(J)Sabbath and trying to persuade ^(K)Jews and Greeks.

⁵ But when ^(L)Silas and Timothy ^(M)came down from ^(N)Macedonia, Paul began devoting himself completely to the word, ^(O)testifying to the Jews that ^(P)Jesus was the ^[a]Christ. ⁶ But when they resisted and blasphemed, he ^(Q)shook out his garments and said to them, “Your ^(R)blood is ^[b]on your own heads! I am clean. From now on I will go ^(S)to the Gentiles.” ⁷ Then he left ^[c]the synagogue and went to the house of a man named ^[d]Titius Justus, ^(T)a worshiper of God, whose house was next door to the synagogue. ^8 (U)Crispus, ^(V)the leader of the synagogue, believed in the Lord ^(W)together with his entire household; and many of the ^(X)Corinthians, as they listened to Paul, were believing and being baptized. ⁹ And the Lord said to Paul by ^(Y)a vision at night, “Do not be afraid any longer, but go on speaking and do not be silent; ¹⁰ for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many people in this city.” ¹¹ And he settled there for a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.

¹² But while Gallio was ^(Z)proconsul of ^(AA)Achaia, ^(AB)the Jews rose up together against Paul and brought him before ^(AC)the ^[e]judgment seat, ¹³ saying, “This man is inciting the people to worship God contrary to ^(AD)the ^[f]law.” ¹⁴ But when Paul was about to ^(AE)open his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, “If it were a matter of some crime or vicious, unscrupulous act, O Jews, it would be reasonable for me to put up with you; ¹⁵ but if there are ^[g](AF)questions about ^[h]teaching and ^[i]persons and your own law, see to it yourselves; I am unwilling to be a judge of these matters.” ¹⁶ And he drove them away from ^(AG)the ^[j]judgment seat. ¹⁷ But they all took hold of ^(AH)Sosthenes, ^(AI)the leader of the synagogue, and began beating him in front of ^(AJ)the judgment seat. And yet Gallio was not concerned about any of these things.

¹⁸ Now Paul, when he had remained many days longer, ^(AK)took leave of ^(AL)the brothers and sisters and sailed away to ^(AM)Syria, and ^(AN)Priscilla and ^(AO)Aquila were with him. ^[k]Paul first ^(AP)had his hair cut at ^(AQ)Cenchrea, for he was keeping a vow. ¹⁹ They came to ^(AR)Ephesus, and he left them there. Now he himself entered ^(AS)the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews. ²⁰ When they asked him to stay for a longer time, he did not consent, ²¹ but ^(AT)took leave of them and said, “I will return to you again ^(AU)if God wills,” and he set sail from ^(AV)Ephesus.

²² When he had landed in ^(AW)Caesarea, he went up to Jerusalem and greeted the church, and went down to ^(AX)Antioch.

Third Missionary Journey

²³ And after spending some time there, he left and passed successively through the ^(AY)Galatian region and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples.

²⁴ Now a Jew named ^(AZ)Apollos, an ^(BA)Alexandrian by birth, ^[l]an eloquent man, came to ^(BB)Ephesus; and he was proficient in the Scriptures. ²⁵ This man had been instructed in ^(BC)the way of the Lord; and being fervent in spirit, he was accurately speaking and teaching things about Jesus, being acquainted only with ^(BD)the baptism of John; ²⁶ and ^[m]he began speaking boldly in the synagogue. But when ^(BE)Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained ^(BF)the way of God more accurately to him. ²⁷ And when he wanted to go across to ^(BG)Achaia, ^(BH)the brothers encouraged him and wrote to ^(BI)the disciples to welcome him; and when he had arrived, he greatly ^[n]helped those who had believed through grace, ²⁸ for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, demonstrating ^(BJ)by the Scriptures that ^(BK)Jesus was the ^[o]Christ.