Birth of Samson

13 The Israelites again did what was evil in the Lord’s sight,^(A) so the Lord handed them over to the Philistines forty years. ² There was a certain man from Zorah,^(B) from the family of Dan, whose name was Manoah; his wife was unable to conceive and had no children. ³ The angel of the Lord appeared to the woman and said to her, “Although you are unable to conceive and have no children, you will conceive and give birth to a son. ⁴ Now please be careful not to drink wine or beer,^(C) or to eat anything unclean;^{(D) 5} for indeed, you will conceive and give birth to a son. You must never cut his hair,^[a] because the boy will be a Nazirite^(E) to God from birth, and he will begin to save Israel from the power of the Philistines.”

⁶ Then the woman went and told her husband, “A man of God came to me. He looked like the awe-inspiring angel of God. I didn’t ask him where he came from, and he didn’t tell me his name. ⁷ He said to me, ‘You will conceive and give birth to a son. Therefore, do not drink wine or beer, and do not eat anything unclean, because the boy will be a Nazirite to God from birth until the day of his death.’”

⁸ Manoah prayed^(F) to the Lord and said, “Please, Lord, let the man of God you sent come again to us and teach us what we should do for the boy who will be born.”

⁹ God listened^(G) to Manoah, and the angel of God came again to the woman. She was sitting in the field, and her husband, Manoah, was not with her. ¹⁰ The woman ran quickly to her husband and told him, “The man who came to me the other day has just come back!”

¹¹ So Manoah got up and followed his wife. When he came to the man, he asked, “Are you the man who spoke to my wife?”

“I am,” he said.

¹² Then Manoah asked, “When your words come true, what will be the boy’s responsibilities and work?”

¹³ The angel of the Lord answered Manoah, “Your wife needs to do everything I told her. ¹⁴ She must not eat anything that comes from the grapevine or drink wine or beer. And she must not eat anything unclean. Your wife must do everything I have commanded her.”

¹⁵ “Please stay here,” Manoah told him, “and we will prepare a young goat^(H) for you.”

¹⁶ The angel of the Lord said to him, “If I stay, I won’t eat your food. But if you want to prepare a burnt offering, offer it to the Lord.” (Manoah did not know he was the angel of the Lord.)

¹⁷ Then Manoah said to him, “What is your name, so that we may honor you when your words come true?”

¹⁸ “Why do you ask my name,” the angel of the Lord asked him, “since it is beyond understanding?”^(I)

¹⁹ Manoah took a young goat and a grain offering and offered them on a rock to the Lord, who did something miraculous^[b] while Manoah and his wife were watching. ²⁰ When the flame went up from the altar to the sky, the angel of the Lord went up in its flame. When Manoah and his wife saw this, they fell facedown on the ground. ²¹ The angel of the Lord did not appear again to Manoah and his wife. Then Manoah realized that it was the angel of the Lord.

²² “We’re certainly going to die,” he said to his wife, “because we have seen God!” ^(J)

²³ But his wife said to him, “If the Lord had intended to kill us, he wouldn’t have accepted the burnt offering and the grain offering from us, and he would not have shown us all these things or spoken to us like this.”

²⁴ So the woman gave birth to a son and named him Samson.^(K) The boy grew,^(L) and the Lord blessed him. ²⁵ Then the Spirit of the Lord began to stir him in the Camp of Dan,^[c] between Zorah and Eshtaol.^(M)

Samson’s Riddle

14 Samson went down to Timnah^(N) and saw a young Philistine woman there. ² He went back and told his father and his mother, “I have seen a young Philistine woman in Timnah. Now get her for me as a wife.”

³ But his father and mother said to him, “Can’t you find a young woman among your relatives or among any of our people? Must you go to the uncircumcised Philistines for a wife?”

But Samson told his father, “Get her for me. She’s the right one for me.” ⁴ Now his father and mother did not know this was from the Lord,^(O) who wanted the Philistines to provide an opportunity for a confrontation.^[d] At that time, the Philistines were ruling Israel.

⁵ Samson went down to Timnah with his father and mother and came to the vineyards of Timnah. Suddenly a young lion came roaring at him, ⁶ the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully on^(P) him, and he tore the lion apart with his bare hands as he might have torn a young goat. But he did not tell his father or mother what he had done. ⁷ Then he went and spoke to the woman, because she seemed right to Samson.

⁸ After some time, when he returned to marry her, he left the road to see the lion’s carcass, and there was a swarm of bees with honey in the carcass. ⁹ He scooped some honey into his hands and ate it as he went along. 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 scooped the honey from the lion’s carcass.^(Q)

¹⁰ His father went to visit the woman, and Samson prepared a feast there, as young men were accustomed to do. ¹¹ When the Philistines saw him, they brought thirty men to accompany him.

¹² “Let me tell you a riddle,”^(R) Samson said to them. “If you can explain it to me during the seven days of the feast and figure it out, I will give you thirty linen garments and thirty changes of clothes. ¹³ But if you can’t explain it to me, you must give me thirty linen garments and thirty changes of clothes.”

“Tell us your riddle,” they replied.^[e] “Let’s hear it.”

¹⁴ So he said to them:

After three days, they were unable to explain the riddle. ¹⁵ On the fourth^[f] day they said to Samson’s wife, “Persuade your husband to explain the riddle to us, or we will burn you and your father’s family to death. Did you invite us here to rob us?”

¹⁶ So Samson’s wife came to him, weeping, and said, “You hate me and don’t love me!^(S) You told my people the riddle, but haven’t explained it to me.”

“Look,” he said,^[g] “I haven’t even explained it to my father or mother, so why should I explain it to you?”

¹⁷ She wept the whole seven days of the feast, and at last, on the seventh day, he explained it to her, because she had nagged him so much. Then she explained it to her people. ¹⁸ On the seventh day, before sunset, the men of the city said to him:

So he said to them:

¹⁹ The Spirit of the Lord came powerfully on him, and he went down to Ashkelon and killed thirty of their men. He stripped them and gave their clothes to those who had explained the riddle. In a rage, Samson returned to his father’s house, ²⁰ and his wife was given to one of the men who had accompanied him.

The Lord’s Prayer

11 He was praying^(A) in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John also taught his disciples.”^(B)

² He said to them, “Whenever you pray, say,^(C)

Ask, Search, Knock

⁵ He also said to them, “Suppose one of you^[f] has a friend and goes to him at midnight and says to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, ⁶ because a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I don’t have anything to offer him.’ ⁷ Then he will answer from inside and say, ‘Don’t bother me! The door is already locked, and my children and I have gone to bed. I can’t get up to give you anything.’ ⁸ I tell you, even though he won’t get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his friend’s shameless boldness,^[g] he will get up and give him as much as he needs.^(L)

⁹ “So^(M) I say to you, ask,^(N) and it will be given to you. Seek,^(O) and you will find. Knock,^(P) and the door will be opened to you. ¹⁰ For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. ¹¹ What father among you, if his son^[h] asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead of a fish? ¹² Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? ¹³ If you then, who are evil,^(Q) know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father^(R) give the Holy Spirit^(S) to those who ask him?”

A House Divided

¹⁴ Now^(T) he was driving out a demon^(U) that was mute.^(V) When the demon came out, the man who had been mute spoke, and the crowds were amazed. ¹⁵ But some of them said, “He drives out demons by Beelzebul,^(W) the ruler^(X) of the demons.”^{(Y) 16} And others, as a test,^(Z) were demanding of him a sign^(AA) from heaven.

¹⁷ Knowing their thoughts,^(AB) he told them, “Every kingdom divided^(AC) against itself is headed for destruction, and a house divided against itself falls. ¹⁸ If Satan^(AD) also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom^(AE) stand? For you say I drive out demons by Beelzebul. ¹⁹ And if I drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons^(AF) drive them out? For this reason they will be your judges. ²⁰ If I drive out demons by the finger of God,^(AG) then the kingdom of God^(AH) has come upon you. ²¹ When a strong man, fully armed, guards his estate, his possessions are secure. ²² But when one stronger than he attacks and overpowers^(AI) him, he takes from him all his weapons^[i](AJ) he trusted^(AK) in, and divides up his plunder.^{(AL) 23} Anyone who is not with me is against me,^(AM) and anyone who does not gather with me scatters.

An Unclean Spirit’s Return

²⁴ “When^(AN) an unclean spirit^(AO) comes out of a person, it roams through waterless places looking for rest,^(AP) and not finding rest, it then^[j] says, ‘I’ll go back to my house that I came from.’ ²⁵ Returning, it finds the house swept and put in order. ²⁶ Then it goes and brings seven other spirits^(AQ) more evil than itself, and they enter and settle down there. As a result, that person’s last condition is worse than the first.”^(AR)

True Blessedness

²⁷ As he was saying these things, a woman from the crowd^(AS) raised her voice and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that bore you and the one who nursed you!” ^(AT)

²⁸ He said, “Rather, blessed are those who hear the word of God^(AU) and keep it.”^(AV)

Psalm 48

Zion Exalted

A song. A psalm of the sons of Korah.