The Birth of Samson^(A)

13 Again the children of Israel ^(B)did evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord delivered them ^(C)into the hand of the Philistines for forty years.

² Now there was a certain man from ^(D)Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren and had no children. ³ And the ^(E)Angel of the Lord appeared to the woman and said to her, “Indeed now, you are barren and have borne no children, but you shall conceive and bear a son. ⁴ Now therefore, please be careful ^(F)not to drink wine or similar drink, and not to eat anything unclean. ⁵ For behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. And no ^(G)razor shall come upon his head, for the child shall be ^(H)a Nazirite to God from the womb; and he shall ^(I)begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.”

²⁰ Moreover ^(A)the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace ^(B)abounded much more,

⁷ And He said to me, ‘Behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. Now drink no wine or similar drink, nor eat anything unclean, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb to the day of his death.’ ”

Samson’s Philistine Wife

14 Now Samson went down ^(A)to Timnah, and ^(B)saw a woman in Timnah of the daughters of the Philistines. ² So he went up and told his father and mother, saying, “I have seen a woman in Timnah of the daughters of the Philistines; now therefore, ^(C)get her for me as a wife.”

³ Then his father and mother said to him, “Is there no woman among the daughters of ^(D)your brethren, or among all my people, that you must go and get a wife from the ^(E)uncircumcised Philistines?”

And Samson said to his father, “Get her for me, for ^[a]she pleases me well.”

⁵ So Samson went down to Timnah with his father and mother, and came to the vineyards of Timnah.

Now to his surprise, a young lion came roaring against him. ⁶ And ^(A)the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him, and he tore the lion apart as one would have torn apart a young goat, though he had nothing in his hand. But he did not tell his father or his mother what he had done.

⁷ Then he went down and talked with the woman; and she pleased Samson well. ⁸ After some time, when he returned to get her, he turned aside to see the carcass of the lion. And behold, a swarm of bees and honey were in the carcass of the lion. ⁹ He took some of it in his hands and went along, eating. When he came to his father and mother, he gave some to them, and they also ate. But he did not tell them that he had taken the honey out of the ^(B)carcass of the lion.

¹⁰ So his father went down to the woman. And Samson gave a feast there, for young men used to do so. ¹¹ And it happened, when they saw him, that they brought thirty companions to be with him.

¹² Then Samson said to them, “Let me ^(C)pose a riddle to you. If you can correctly solve and explain it to me ^(D)within the seven days of the feast, then I will give you thirty linen garments and thirty ^(E)changes of clothing. ¹³ But if you cannot explain it to me, then you shall give me thirty linen garments and thirty changes of clothing.”

And they said to him, ^(F)“Pose your riddle, that we may hear it.”

¹⁴ So he said to them:

Now for three days they could not explain the riddle.

¹⁵ But it came to pass on the ^[a]seventh day that they said to Samson’s wife, ^(G)“Entice your husband, that he may explain the riddle to us, ^(H)or else we will burn you and your father’s house with fire. Have you invited us in order to take what is ours? Is that not so?”

¹⁶ Then Samson’s wife wept on him, and said, ^(I)“You only hate me! You do not love me! You have posed a riddle to the sons of my people, but you have not explained it to me.”

And he said to her, “Look, I have not explained it to my father or my mother; so should I explain it to you?”

²⁴ O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me ^(A)from this body of death? ^25 (B)I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!

So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.