Samson and Delilah

16 Now Samson went to ^(A)Gaza and saw a harlot there, and went in to her. ² When the Gazites were told, “Samson has come here!” they ^(B)surrounded the place and lay in wait for him all night at the gate of the city. They were quiet all night, saying, “In the morning, when it is daylight, we will kill him.” ³ And Samson lay low till midnight; then he arose at midnight, took hold of the doors of the gate of the city and the two gateposts, pulled them up, bar and all, put them on his shoulders, and carried them to the top of the hill that faces Hebron.

⁴ Afterward it happened that he loved a woman in the Valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah. ⁵ And the ^(C)lords of the Philistines came up to her and said to her, ^(D)“Entice him, and find out where his great strength lies, and by what means we may overpower him, that we may bind him to afflict him; and every one of us will give you eleven hundred pieces of silver.”

⁶ So Delilah said to Samson, “Please tell me where your great strength lies, and with what you may be bound to afflict you.”

⁷ And Samson said to her, “If they bind me with seven fresh bowstrings, not yet dried, then I shall become weak, and be like any other man.”

⁸ So the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven fresh bowstrings, not yet dried, and she bound him with them. ⁹ Now men were lying in wait, staying with her in the room. And she said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” But he broke the bowstrings as a strand of yarn breaks when it touches fire. So the secret of his strength was not known.

¹⁰ Then Delilah said to Samson, “Look, you have mocked me and told me lies. Now, please tell me what you may be bound with.”

¹¹ So he said to her, “If they bind me securely with ^(E)new ropes ^[a]that have never been used, then I shall become weak, and be like any other man.”

¹² Therefore Delilah took new ropes and bound him with them, and said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” And men were lying in wait, staying in the room. But he broke them off his arms like a thread.

¹³ Delilah said to Samson, “Until now you have mocked me and told me lies. Tell me what you may be bound with.”

And he said to her, “If you weave the seven locks of my head into the web of the loom”—

¹⁴ So she wove it tightly with the batten of the loom, and said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” But he awoke from his sleep, and pulled out the batten and the web from the loom.

¹⁵ Then she said to him, ^(F)“How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when your heart is not with me? You have mocked me these three times, and have not told me where your great strength lies.” ¹⁶ And it came to pass, when she pestered him daily with her words and pressed him, so that his soul was ^[b]vexed to death, ¹⁷ that he ^(G)told her all his heart, and said to her, ^(H)“No razor has ever come upon my head, for I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother’s womb. If I am shaven, then my strength will leave me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man.”

¹⁸ When Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called for the lords of the Philistines, saying, “Come up once more, for he has told me all his heart.” So the lords of the Philistines came up to her and brought the money in their hand. ^19 (I)Then she lulled him to sleep on her knees, and called for a man and had him shave off the seven locks of his head. Then ^[c]she began to torment him, and his strength left him. ²⁰ And she said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” So he awoke from his sleep, and said, “I will go out as before, at other times, and shake myself free!” But he did not know that the Lord ^(J)had departed from him.

²¹ Then the Philistines took him and ^[d]put out his ^(K)eyes, and brought him down to Gaza. They bound him with bronze fetters, and he became a grinder in the prison. ²² However, the hair of his head began to grow again after it had been shaven.

Samson Dies with the Philistines

²³ Now the lords of the Philistines gathered together to offer a great sacrifice to ^(L)Dagon their god, and to rejoice. And they said:

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

²⁵ So it happened, when their hearts were ^(N)merry, that they said, “Call for Samson, that he may perform for us.” So they called for Samson from the prison, and he performed for them. And they stationed him between the pillars. ²⁶ Then Samson said to the lad who held him by the hand, “Let me feel the pillars which support the temple, so that I can lean on them.” ²⁷ Now the temple was full of men and women. All the lords of the Philistines were there—about three thousand men and women on the ^(O)roof watching while Samson performed.

²⁸ Then Samson called to the Lord, saying, “O Lord God, ^(P)remember me, I pray! Strengthen me, I pray, just this once, O God, that I may with one blow take vengeance on the Philistines for my two eyes!” ²⁹ And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars which supported the temple, and he braced himself against them, one on his right and the other on his left. ³⁰ Then Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines!” And he pushed with all his might, and the temple fell on the lords and all the people who were in it. So the dead that he killed at his death were more than he had killed in his life.

³¹ And his brothers and all his father’s household came down and took him, and brought him up and ^(Q)buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of his father Manoah. He had judged Israel ^(R)twenty years.

Seeking a Sign^(A)

^29 (B)And while the crowds were thickly gathered together, He began to say, “This is an evil generation. It seeks a ^(C)sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah ^[a]the prophet. ³⁰ For as ^(D)Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so also the Son of Man will be to this generation. ^31 (E)The queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a ^(F)greater than Solomon is here. ³² The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for ^(G)they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here.

The Lamp of the Body^(H)

^33 (I)“No one, when he has lit a lamp, puts it in a secret place or under a ^(J)basket, but on a lampstand, that those who come in may see the light. ^34 (K)The lamp of the body is the eye. Therefore, when your eye is ^[b]good, your whole body also is full of light. But when your eye is ^[c]bad, your body also is full of darkness. ³⁵ Therefore take heed that the light which is in you is not darkness. ³⁶ If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, the whole body will be full of light, as when the bright shining of a lamp gives you light.”

Woe to the Pharisees and Lawyers

³⁷ And as He spoke, a certain Pharisee asked Him to dine with him. So He went in and sat down to eat. ^38 (L)When the Pharisee saw it, he marveled that He had not first washed before dinner.

^39 (M)Then the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees make the outside of the cup and dish clean, but ^(N)your inward part is full of ^[d]greed and wickedness. ⁴⁰ Foolish ones! Did not ^(O)He who made the outside make the inside also? ^41 (P)But rather give alms of ^[e]such things as you have; then indeed all things are clean to you.

^42 (Q)“But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and ^(R)pass by justice and the ^(S)love of God. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone. ^43 (T)Woe to you Pharisees! For you love the ^[f]best seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces. ^44 (U)Woe to you, ^[g]scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! ^(V)For you are like graves which are not seen, and the men who walk over them are not aware of them.”

⁴⁵ Then one of the lawyers answered and said to Him, “Teacher, by saying these things You reproach us also.”

⁴⁶ And He said, “Woe to you also, lawyers! ^(W)For you load men with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers. ^47 (X)Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets, and your fathers killed them. ⁴⁸ In fact, you bear witness that you approve the deeds of your fathers; for they indeed killed them, and you build their tombs. ⁴⁹ Therefore the wisdom of God also said, ^(Y)‘I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill and persecute,’ ⁵⁰ that the blood of all the prophets which was shed from the foundation of the world may be required of this generation, ^51 (Z)from the blood of Abel to ^(AA)the blood of Zechariah who perished between the altar and the temple. Yes, I say to you, it shall be required of this generation.

^52 (AB)“Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge. You did not enter in yourselves, and those who were entering in you hindered.”

^53 [h]And as He said these things to them, the scribes and the Pharisees began to assail Him vehemently, and to cross-examine Him about many things, ⁵⁴ lying in wait for Him, ^[i]and ^(AC)seeking to catch Him in something He might say, ^[j]that they might accuse Him.

Beware of Hypocrisy^(AD)

12 In ^(AE)the meantime, when an innumerable multitude of people had gathered together, so that they trampled one another, He began to say to His disciples first of all, ^(AF)“Beware of the ^[k]leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. ^2 (AG)For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, nor hidden that will not be known. ³ Therefore whatever you have spoken in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have spoken in the ear in inner rooms will be proclaimed on the housetops.

Jesus Teaches the Fear of God^(AH)

^4 (AI)“And I say to you, ^(AJ)My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. ⁵ But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear Him who, after He has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I say to you, ^(AK)fear Him!

⁶ “Are not five sparrows sold for two ^[l]copper coins? And ^(AL)not one of them is forgotten before God. ⁷ But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.

Confess Christ Before Men^(AM)

^8 (AN)“Also I say to you, whoever confesses Me ^(AO)before men, him the Son of Man also will confess before the angels of God. ⁹ But he who ^(AP)denies Me before men will be denied before the angels of God.

¹⁰ “And ^(AQ)anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but to him who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven.

^11 (AR)“Now when they bring you to the synagogues and magistrates and authorities, do not worry about how or what you should answer, or what you should say. ¹² For the Holy Spirit will ^(AS)teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.”