Philistines Oppress Again

13 Now the sons of Israel ^(A)again did evil in the sight of the Lord, so that the Lord gave them into the hands of the Philistines forty years.

² There was a certain man of ^(B)Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren and had borne no children. ^3 (C)Then the angel of the Lord appeared to the woman and said to her, “Behold now, you are barren and have borne no children, but you shall conceive and give birth to a son. ⁴ Now therefore, be careful ^(D)not to drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing. ^5 (E)For behold, you shall conceive and give birth to a son, and no razor shall come upon his head, for the boy shall be a ^(F)Nazirite to God from the womb; and he shall begin to deliver Israel from the hands of the Philistines.” ⁶ Then the woman came and told her husband, saying, “^(G)A man of God came to me and his appearance was like the appearance of the angel of God, very awesome. And I did not ask him where he came from, nor did he tell me his name. ⁷ But he said to me, ‘Behold, you shall conceive and give birth to a son, and now you shall not drink wine or strong drink nor eat any unclean thing, for the boy shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb to the day of his death.’”

⁸ Then Manoah entreated the Lord and said, “O Lord, please let ^(H)the man of God whom You have sent come to us again that he may teach us what to do for the boy who is to be born.” ⁹ God listened to the voice of Manoah; and ^(I)the angel of God came again to the woman as she was sitting in the field, but Manoah her husband was not with her. ¹⁰ So the woman ran quickly and told her ^[a]husband, “Behold, ^(J)the man who ^[b]came the other day has appeared to me.” ¹¹ Then Manoah arose and followed his wife, and when he came to the man he said to him, “Are you ^(K)the man who spoke to the woman?” And he said, “I am.” ¹² Manoah said, “Now when your words come to pass, what shall be the boy’s mode of life and his vocation?” ¹³ So ^(L)the angel of the Lord said to Manoah, “^(M)Let the woman pay attention ^[c]to all that I said. ¹⁴ She should not eat anything that comes from the ^(N)vine nor drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing; let her observe all that I commanded.”

¹⁵ Then Manoah said to ^(O)the angel of the Lord, “Please let us detain you so that we may prepare a young goat for you.” ¹⁶ The angel of the Lord said to Manoah, “Though you detain me, ^(P)I will not eat your ^[d]food, but if you prepare a burnt offering, then offer it to the Lord.” For Manoah did not know that he was the angel of the Lord. ¹⁷ Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, “^(Q)What is your name, so that when your words come to pass, we may honor you?” ¹⁸ But the angel of the Lord said to him, “Why do you ask my name, seeing it is ^[e](R)wonderful?” ¹⁹ So ^(S)Manoah took the young goat with the grain offering and offered it on the rock to the Lord, and He performed wonders while Manoah and his wife looked on. ²⁰ For it came about when the flame went up from the altar toward heaven, that the angel of the Lord ascended in the flame of the altar. When Manoah and his wife saw this, they ^(T)fell on their faces to the ground.

²¹ Now the angel of the Lord did not appear to Manoah or his wife again. ^(U)Then Manoah knew that he was the angel of the Lord. ²² So Manoah said to his wife, “^(V)We will surely die, for we have seen God.” ²³ But his wife said to him, “If the Lord had desired to kill us, He would not have accepted a burnt offering and a grain offering from our hands, nor would He have ^(W)shown us all these things, nor would He have let us hear things like this at this time.”

²⁴ Then the woman gave birth to a son and named him Samson; and the ^(X)child grew up and the Lord blessed him. ²⁵ And ^(Y)the Spirit of the Lord began to stir him in ^[f](Z)Mahaneh-dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.

The Impartiality of God

2 Therefore you have ^(A)no excuse, ^[a](B)everyone of you who passes judgment, for in that which ^(C)you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things. ² And we know that the judgment of God ^[b]rightly falls upon those who practice such things. ³ But do you suppose this, ^(D)O man, ^[c]when you pass judgment on those who practice such things and do the same yourself, that you will escape the judgment of God? ⁴ Or do you think lightly of ^(E)the riches of His ^(F)kindness and ^(G)tolerance and ^(H)patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance? ⁵ But ^[d]because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart ^(I)you are storing up wrath for yourself ^(J)in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, ^6 (K)who will render to each person according to his deeds: ⁷ to those who by ^(L)perseverance in doing good seek for ^(M)glory and honor and ^(N)immortality, ^(O)eternal life; ⁸ but to those who are ^(P)selfishly ambitious and ^(Q)do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, wrath and indignation. ⁹ There will be ^(R)tribulation and distress ^[e]for every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew ^(S)first and also of the Greek, ¹⁰ but ^(T)glory and honor and peace to everyone who does good, to the Jew ^(U)first and also to the Greek. ¹¹ For ^(V)there is no partiality with God.

¹² For all who have sinned ^[f](W)without the Law will also perish ^[g]without the Law, and all who have sinned ^[h]under the Law will be judged ^[i]by the Law; ¹³ for it is ^(X)not the hearers ^[j]of the Law who are ^[k]just before God, but the doers ^[l]of the Law will be justified. ¹⁴ For when Gentiles who do not have ^[m]the Law do ^[n](Y)instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having ^[o]the Law, are a law to themselves, ¹⁵ in that they show ^(Z)the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them, ¹⁶ on the day when, ^(AA)according to my gospel, ^(AB)God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus.

The Jew Is Condemned by the Law

¹⁷ But if you bear the name “Jew” and ^(AC)rely ^[p]upon the Law and boast in God, ¹⁸ and know His will and ^[q](AD)approve the things that are essential, being instructed out of the Law, ¹⁹ and are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, ²⁰ a ^[r]corrector of the foolish, a teacher of ^[s]the immature, having in the Law ^(AE)the embodiment of knowledge and of the truth, ²¹ you, therefore, ^(AF)who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who ^[t]preach that one shall not steal, do you steal? ²² You who say that one should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you ^(AG)rob temples? ²³ You who ^(AH)boast ^[u]in the Law, through your breaking the Law, do you dishonor God? ²⁴ For “^(AI)the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles ^(AJ)because of you,” just as it is written.

²⁵ For indeed circumcision is of value if you ^(AK)practice ^[v]the Law; but if you are a transgressor ^[w]of the Law, ^(AL)your circumcision has become uncircumcision. ^26 (AM)So if ^(AN)the ^[x]uncircumcised man ^(AO)keeps the requirements of the Law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? ²⁷ And ^(AP)he who is physically uncircumcised, if he keeps the Law, will he not ^(AQ)judge you who ^[y]though having the letter of the Law and circumcision are a transgressor ^[z]of the Law? ²⁸ For ^(AR)he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh. ²⁹ But ^(AS)he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and ^(AT)circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the ^(AU)Spirit, not by the letter; ^(AV)and his praise is not from men, but from God.