Samson’s Weakness

16 Now Samson went to ^(A)Gaza and saw a prostitute there, and had relations with her. ² When it was reported to the Gazites, saying, “Samson has come here,” they ^(B)surrounded the place and lay in wait for him all night at the gate of the city. And they kept silent all night, saying, “Let’s wait until the morning light, then we will kill him.” ³ Now Samson lay asleep until midnight, and at midnight he got up and took hold of the doors of the city gate and the two doorposts, and pulled them up along with the bars; then he put them on his shoulders, and carried them up to the top of the mountain which is opposite Hebron.

⁴ After this it came about that he was in love with a woman in the Valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah. ⁵ So the ^(C)governors of the Philistines came up to her and said to her, “^(D)Entice him, and see where his great strength lies and ^[a]how we can overpower him so that we may bind him to humble him. Then we will each give you 1,100 pieces of silver.” ⁶ So Delilah said to Samson, “Please tell me where your great strength lies, and ^[b]how you can be bound to humble you.” ⁷ And Samson said to her, “If they bind me with seven fresh ^[c]animal tendons that have not been dried, then I will become weak and be like any other man.” ⁸ Then the governors of the Philistines brought up to her seven fresh ^[d]animal tendons that had not been dried, and she bound him with them. ⁹ Now she had men prepared for an ambush in an inner room. And she said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” But he tore the tendons to pieces just like a thread of flax is torn apart when it ^[e]comes too close to fire. So his strength was not discovered.

¹⁰ Then Delilah said to Samson, “Behold, you have toyed with me and told me lies; now please tell me ^[f]how you may be bound.” ¹¹ Then He said to her, “If they bind me tightly with new ropes ^[g]which have not been used, then I will become weak and be like any other man.” ¹² So Delilah took new ropes and bound him with them and said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” For the men in the ambush were waiting in the inner room. But he tore ^[h]the ropes from his arms like thread.

¹³ Then Delilah said to Samson, “Up to now you have toyed with me and told me lies; tell me ^[i]how you may be bound.” And he said to her, “If you weave the seven locks of my ^[j]hair with the ^[k]web ^[l][and fasten it with the pin, then I will be weak like any other man.” ¹⁴ So while he slept, Delilah wove the seven locks of his ^[m]hair with the web]. And she fastened it with the pin and said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” But he awoke from his sleep and pulled out the pin of the loom and the web.

Delilah Extracts His Secret

¹⁵ Then she said to him, “^(E)How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when your heart is not with me? You have toyed with me these three times and have not told me where your great strength is.” ¹⁶ And it came about, when she pressed him daily with her words and urged him, that his soul was ^[n]annoyed to death. ¹⁷ So he told her all that was in his heart and said to her, “A razor has never come on my head, for I have been a ^(F)Nazirite to God from my mother’s womb. If I am shaved, then my strength will leave me and I will become weak and be like any other man.”

¹⁸ When Delilah saw that he had told her all that was in his heart, she sent word and called the governors of the Philistines, saying, “Come up once more, for he has told me all that is in his heart.” Then the governors of the Philistines came up to her and brought up the money in their hands. ¹⁹ And she made him sleep on her knees, and called for a man and had him shave off the seven locks of his head. Then she began to humble him, and his strength left him. ²⁰ She said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” And he awoke from his sleep and said, “I will go out as at other times and shake myself free.” But he did not know that ^(G)the Lord had departed from him. ²¹ Then the Philistines seized him and gouged out his eyes; and they brought him down to Gaza and restrained him with bronze chains, and he became a grinder in the prison. ²² However, the hair of his head began to grow again after it was shaved off.

²³ Now the governors of the Philistines assembled to offer a great sacrifice to ^(H)Dagon their god, and to celebrate, for they said,

²⁴ When the people saw him, ^(I)they praised their god, for they said,

²⁵ It so happened when ^[o]they were in high spirits, that they said, “Call for Samson, that he may amuse us.” So they called for Samson from the prison, and he ^[p]entertained them. And they made him stand between the pillars. ²⁶ Then Samson said to the boy who was holding his hand, “^[q]Let me feel the pillars on which the house rests, so that I may lean against them.” ²⁷ Now the house was full of men and women, and all the governors of the Philistines were there. And about three thousand men and women were on the roof looking on while Samson was entertaining them.

Samson Is Avenged

^28 (J)Then Samson called to the Lord and said, “Lord ^[r]God, please remember me and please strengthen me just this time, O God, that I may at once ^(K)take vengeance on the Philistines for my two eyes.” ²⁹ Then Samson grasped the two middle pillars on which the house rested, and braced himself against them, the one with his right hand and the other with his left. ³⁰ And Samson said, “Let ^[s]me die with the Philistines!” And he pushed outwards powerfully, so that the house fell on the governors and all the people who were in it. And the dead whom he killed at his death were more than those whom he killed during his lifetime. ³¹ Then his brothers and all his father’s household came down and took him, and brought him up and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of his father Manoah. ^(L)So he had judged Israel for twenty years.

Paul in Macedonia and Greece

20 After the uproar had ceased, Paul sent for ^(A)the disciples, and when he had ^[a]encouraged them and taken his leave of them, he left ^(B)to go to ^(C)Macedonia. ² When he had gone through those regions and had given them much ^[b]encouragement, he came to Greece. ³ And there he spent three months, and when ^(D)a plot was formed against him by the Jews as he was about to set sail for ^(E)Syria, he decided to return through ^(F)Macedonia. ⁴ And ^[c]he was accompanied by Sopater of ^(G)Berea, the son of Pyrrhus, and by ^(H)Aristarchus and Secundus of the ^(I)Thessalonians, and ^(J)Gaius of ^(K)Derbe, and ^(L)Timothy, and ^(M)Tychicus and ^(N)Trophimus of ^[d](O)Asia. ⁵ Now these had gone on ahead and were waiting for ^(P)us at ^(Q)Troas. ^6 (R)We sailed from ^(S)Philippi after ^[e](T)the days of Unleavened Bread, and reached them at ^(U)Troas within five days; and we stayed there for seven days.

⁷ On ^(V)the first day of the week, when ^(W)we were gathered together to ^(X)break bread, Paul began talking to them, intending to leave the next day, and he prolonged his ^[f]message until midnight. ⁸ There were many ^(Y)lamps in the ^(Z)upstairs room where we were gathered together. ⁹ And there was a young man named ^[g]Eutychus sitting ^[h]on the window sill, sinking into a deep sleep; and as Paul kept on talking, Eutychus was overcome by sleep and fell down from the third floor, and was picked up dead. ¹⁰ But Paul went down and ^(AA)fell upon him, and after embracing him, he ^(AB)said, “^[i]Do not be troubled, for ^[j]he is still alive.” ¹¹ When Paul had gone back up and had ^(AC)broken the bread and ^[k]eaten, he talked with them a long while until daybreak, and then left. ¹² They took away the boy alive, and were ^[l]greatly comforted.

Troas to Miletus

¹³ But ^(AD)we went ahead to the ship and set sail for Assos, intending from there to take Paul on board; for that was what he had arranged, intending himself to go ^[m]by land. ¹⁴ And when he met us at Assos, we took him on board and came to Mitylene. ¹⁵ Sailing from there, we arrived the following day opposite Chios; and the next day we crossed over to Samos, and on the following day we came to ^(AE)Miletus. ¹⁶ For Paul had decided to sail past ^(AF)Ephesus so that he would not have to lose time in ^[n](AG)Asia; for he was hurrying, if it might be possible for him ^(AH)to be in Jerusalem ^(AI)the day of Pentecost.

Farewell to Ephesus

¹⁷ From Miletus he sent word to ^(AJ)Ephesus and called to himself ^(AK)the elders of the church. ¹⁸ And when they came to him, he said to them,

“You yourselves know, ^(AL)from the first day that I set foot in ^[o]Asia, how I was with you the whole time, ¹⁹ serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and trials which came upon me ^[p]through ^(AM)the plots of the Jews; ²⁰ how I ^(AN)did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was beneficial, and teaching you publicly and ^[q]from house to house, ²¹ solemnly ^(AO)testifying to both Jews and Greeks of ^(AP)repentance toward God and ^(AQ)faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. ²² And now, behold, bound by the ^[r]Spirit, ^(AR)I am on my way to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there, ²³ except that ^(AS)the Holy Spirit solemnly ^(AT)testifies to me in every city, saying that ^(AU)chains and afflictions await me. ²⁴ But ^(AV)I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, so that I may ^(AW)finish my course and ^(AX)the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to ^(AY)testify solemnly of the gospel of ^(AZ)God’s grace.

²⁵ “And now behold, I know that all of you, among whom I went about ^(BA)preaching the kingdom, will no longer see my face. ²⁶ Therefore, I ^[s]testify to you this day that ^(BB)I am ^[t]innocent of the blood of all people. ²⁷ For I ^(BC)did not shrink from declaring to you the whole ^(BD)purpose of God. ²⁸ Be on guard for yourselves and for all ^(BE)the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you ^[u]overseers, to shepherd ^(BF)the church of God which ^(BG)He ^[v]purchased ^[w]with His own blood. ²⁹ I know that after my departure ^(BH)savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing ^(BI)the flock; ³⁰ and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things to draw away ^(BJ)the disciples after them. ³¹ Therefore, be on the alert, remembering that night and day for a period of ^(BK)three years I did not cease to admonish each one ^(BL)with tears. ³² And now I ^(BM)entrust you to God and to ^(BN)the word of His grace, which is able to ^(BO)build you up and to give you ^(BP)the inheritance among all those who are sanctified. ^33 (BQ)I have coveted no one’s silver or gold or clothes. ³⁴ You yourselves know that ^(BR)these hands served my own needs and the ^(BS)men who were with me. ³⁵ In everything I showed you that by working hard in this way you must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

³⁶ When he had said these things, he ^(BT)knelt down and prayed with them all. ³⁷ And ^[x]they all began to weep aloud and ^[y](BU)embraced Paul, and repeatedly kissed him, ^38 [z]grieving especially over ^(BV)the word which he had spoken, that they would not see his face again. And they were ^(BW)accompanying him to the ship.