Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath^(A)(B)

12 At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain^(C) and eat them. ² When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, “Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath.”^(D)

³ He answered, “Haven’t you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry?^{(E) 4} He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread—which was not lawful for them to do, but only for the priests.^{(F) 5} Or haven’t you read in the Law that the priests on Sabbath duty in the temple desecrate the Sabbath^(G) and yet are innocent? ⁶ I tell you that something greater than the temple is here.^{(H) 7} If you had known what these words mean, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’^[a](I) you would not have condemned the innocent. ⁸ For the Son of Man^(J) is Lord of the Sabbath.”

⁹ Going on from that place, he went into their synagogue, ¹⁰ and a man with a shriveled hand was there. Looking for a reason to bring charges against Jesus,^(K) they asked him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”^(L)

¹¹ He said to them, “If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out?^{(M) 12} How much more valuable is a person than a sheep!^(N) Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.”

¹³ Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he stretched it out and it was completely restored, just as sound as the other. ¹⁴ But the Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus.^(O)

God’s Chosen Servant

¹⁵ Aware of this, Jesus withdrew from that place. A large crowd followed him, and he healed all who were ill.^{(P) 16} He warned them not to tell others about him.^{(Q) 17} This was to fulfill^(R) what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah:

Jesus and Beelzebul^(V)

²² Then they brought him a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute, and Jesus healed him, so that he could both talk and see.^{(W) 23} All the people were astonished and said, “Could this be the Son of David?”^(X)

²⁴ But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, “It is only by Beelzebul,^(Y) the prince of demons, that this fellow drives out demons.”^(Z)

²⁵ Jesus knew their thoughts^(AA) and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand. ²⁶ If Satan^(AB) drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand? ²⁷ And if I drive out demons by Beelzebul,^(AC) by whom do your people^(AD) drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. ²⁸ But if it is by the Spirit of God that I drive out demons, then the kingdom of God^(AE) has come upon you.

²⁹ “Or again, how can anyone enter a strong man’s house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can plunder his house.

³⁰ “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.^{(AF) 31} And so I tell you, every kind of sin and slander can be forgiven, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.^{(AG) 32} Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age^(AH) or in the age to come.^(AI)

³³ “Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit.^{(AJ) 34} You brood of vipers,^(AK) how can you who are evil say anything good? For the mouth speaks^(AL) what the heart is full of. ³⁵ A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. ³⁶ But I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken. ³⁷ For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.”^(AM)

The Sign of Jonah^(AN)(AO)

³⁸ Then some of the Pharisees and teachers of the law said to him, “Teacher, we want to see a sign^(AP) from you.”^(AQ)

³⁹ He answered, “A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.^{(AR) 40} For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish,^(AS) so the Son of Man^(AT) will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.^{(AU) 41} The men of Nineveh^(AV) will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah,^(AW) and now something greater than Jonah is here. ⁴² The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for she came^(AX) from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon’s wisdom, and now something greater than Solomon is here.

⁴³ “When an impure spirit comes out of a person, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. ⁴⁴ Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order. ⁴⁵ Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that person is worse than the first.^(AY) That is how it will be with this wicked generation.”

Jesus’ Mother and Brothers^(AZ)

⁴⁶ While Jesus was still talking to the crowd, his mother^(BA) and brothers^(BB) stood outside, wanting to speak to him. ⁴⁷ Someone told him, “Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you.”

⁴⁸ He replied to him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” ⁴⁹ Pointing to his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. ⁵⁰ For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven^(BC) is my brother and sister and mother.”

Samson’s Marriage

14 Samson^(A) went down to Timnah^(B) and saw there a young Philistine woman. ² When he returned, he said to his father and mother, “I have seen a Philistine woman in Timnah; now get her for me as my wife.”^(C)

³ His father and mother replied, “Isn’t there an acceptable woman among your relatives or among all our people?^(D) Must you go to the uncircumcised^(E) Philistines to get a wife?^(F)”

But Samson said to his father, “Get her for me. She’s the right one for me.” ⁴ (His parents did not know that this was from the Lord,^(G) who was seeking an occasion to confront the Philistines;^(H) for at that time they were ruling over Israel.)^(I)

⁵ Samson went down to Timnah together with his father and mother. As they approached the vineyards of Timnah, suddenly a young lion came roaring toward him. ⁶ The Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon him^(J) so that he tore the lion apart^(K) with his bare hands as he might have torn a young goat. But he told neither his father nor his mother what he had done. ⁷ Then he went down and talked with the woman, and he liked her.

⁸ Some time later, when he went back to marry her, he turned aside to look at the lion’s carcass, and in it he saw a swarm of bees and some honey. ⁹ He scooped out the honey with his hands and ate as he went along. When he rejoined his parents, he gave them some, and they too ate it. But he did not tell them that he had taken the honey from the lion’s carcass.

¹⁰ Now his father went down to see the woman. And there Samson held a feast,^(L) as was customary for young men. ¹¹ When the people saw him, they chose thirty men to be his companions.

¹² “Let me tell you a riddle,^(M)” Samson said to them. “If you can give me the answer within the seven days of the feast,^(N) I will give you thirty linen garments and thirty sets of clothes.^{(O) 13} If you can’t tell me the answer, you must give me thirty linen garments and thirty sets of clothes.”

“Tell us your riddle,” they said. “Let’s hear it.”

¹⁴ He replied,

For three days they could not give the answer.

¹⁵ On the fourth^[a] day, they said to Samson’s wife, “Coax^(Q) your husband into explaining the riddle for us, or we will burn you and your father’s household to death.^(R) Did you invite us here to steal our property?”

¹⁶ Then Samson’s wife threw herself on him, sobbing, “You hate me! You don’t really love me.^(S) You’ve given my people a riddle, but you haven’t told me the answer.”

“I haven’t even explained it to my father or mother,” he replied, “so why should I explain it to you?” ¹⁷ She cried the whole seven days^(T) of the feast. So on the seventh day he finally told her, because she continued to press him. She in turn explained the riddle to her people.

¹⁸ Before sunset on the seventh day the men of the town said to him,

Samson said to them,

¹⁹ Then the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon him.^(V) He went down to Ashkelon,^(W) struck down thirty of their men, stripped them of everything and gave their clothes to those who had explained the riddle. Burning with anger,^(X) he returned to his father’s home. ²⁰ And Samson’s wife was given to one of his companions^(Y) who had attended him at the feast.

Samson’s Vengeance on the Philistines

15 Later on, at the time of wheat harvest,^(Z) Samson^(AA) took a young goat^(AB) and went to visit his wife. He said, “I’m going to my wife’s room.”^(AC) But her father would not let him go in.

² “I was so sure you hated her,” he said, “that I gave her to your companion.^(AD) Isn’t her younger sister more attractive? Take her instead.”

³ Samson said to them, “This time I have a right to get even with the Philistines; I will really harm them.” ⁴ So he went out and caught three hundred foxes^(AE) and tied them tail to tail in pairs. He then fastened a torch^(AF) to every pair of tails, ⁵ lit the torches^(AG) and let the foxes loose in the standing grain of the Philistines. He burned up the shocks^(AH) and standing grain, together with the vineyards and olive groves.

⁶ When the Philistines asked, “Who did this?” they were told, “Samson, the Timnite’s son-in-law, because his wife was given to his companion.^(AI)”

So the Philistines went up and burned her^(AJ) and her father to death.^{(AK) 7} Samson said to them, “Since you’ve acted like this, I swear that I won’t stop until I get my revenge on you.” ⁸ He attacked them viciously and slaughtered many of them. Then he went down and stayed in a cave in the rock^(AL) of Etam.^(AM)

⁹ The Philistines went up and camped in Judah, spreading out near Lehi.^{(AN) 10} The people of Judah asked, “Why have you come to fight us?”

“We have come to take Samson prisoner,” they answered, “to do to him as he did to us.”

¹¹ Then three thousand men from Judah went down to the cave in the rock of Etam and said to Samson, “Don’t you realize that the Philistines are rulers over us?^(AO) What have you done to us?”

He answered, “I merely did to them what they did to me.”

¹² They said to him, “We’ve come to tie you up and hand you over to the Philistines.”

Samson said, “Swear to me^(AP) that you won’t kill me yourselves.”

¹³ “Agreed,” they answered. “We will only tie you up and hand you over to them. We will not kill you.” So they bound him with two new ropes^(AQ) and led him up from the rock. ¹⁴ As he approached Lehi,^(AR) the Philistines came toward him shouting. The Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon him.^(AS) The ropes on his arms became like charred flax,^(AT) and the bindings dropped from his hands. ¹⁵ Finding a fresh jawbone of a donkey, he grabbed it and struck down a thousand men.^(AU)

¹⁶ Then Samson said,

¹⁷ When he finished speaking, he threw away the jawbone; and the place was called Ramath Lehi.^[c](AW)

¹⁸ Because he was very thirsty, he cried out to the Lord,^(AX) “You have given your servant this great victory.^(AY) Must I now die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?” ¹⁹ Then God opened up the hollow place in Lehi, and water came out of it. When Samson drank, his strength returned and he revived.^(AZ) So the spring^(BA) was called En Hakkore,^[d] and it is still there in Lehi.

²⁰ Samson led^[e] Israel for twenty years^(BB) in the days of the Philistines.

Samson and Delilah

16 One day Samson^(BC) went to Gaza,^(BD) where he saw a prostitute.^(BE) He went in to spend the night with her. ² The people of Gaza were told, “Samson is here!” So they surrounded the place and lay in wait for him all night at the city gate.^(BF) They made no move during the night, saying, “At dawn^(BG) we’ll kill him.”

³ But Samson lay there only until the middle of the night. Then he got up and took hold of the doors of the city gate, together with the two posts, and tore them loose, bar and all. He lifted them to his shoulders and carried them to the top of the hill that faces Hebron.^(BH)

⁴ Some time later, he fell in love^(BI) with a woman in the Valley of Sorek whose name was Delilah.^{(BJ) 5} The rulers of the Philistines^(BK) went to her and said, “See if you can lure^(BL) him into showing you the secret of his great strength^(BM) and how we can overpower him so we may tie him up and subdue him. Each one of us will give you eleven hundred shekels^[f] of silver.”^(BN)

⁶ So Delilah^(BO) said to Samson, “Tell me the secret of your great strength and how you can be tied up and subdued.”

⁷ Samson answered her, “If anyone ties me with seven fresh bowstrings that have not been dried, I’ll become as weak as any other man.”

⁸ Then the rulers of the Philistines brought her seven fresh bowstrings that had not been dried, and she tied him with them. ⁹ With men hidden in the room,^(BP) she called to him, “Samson, the Philistines are upon you!”^(BQ) But he snapped the bowstrings as easily as a piece of string snaps when it comes close to a flame. So the secret of his strength was not discovered.

¹⁰ Then Delilah said to Samson, “You have made a fool of me;^(BR) you lied to me. Come now, tell me how you can be tied.”

¹¹ He said, “If anyone ties me securely with new ropes^(BS) that have never been used, I’ll become as weak as any other man.”

¹² So Delilah took new ropes and tied him with them. Then, with men hidden in the room, she called to him, “Samson, the Philistines are upon you!”^(BT) But he snapped the ropes off his arms as if they were threads.

¹³ Delilah then said to Samson, “All this time you have been making a fool of me and lying to me. Tell me how you can be tied.”

He replied, “If you weave the seven braids of my head into the fabric on the loom and tighten it with the pin, I’ll become as weak as any other man.” So while he was sleeping, Delilah took the seven braids of his head, wove them into the fabric ¹⁴ and^[g] tightened it with the pin.

Again she called to him, “Samson, the Philistines are upon you!”^(BU) He awoke from his sleep and pulled up the pin and the loom, with the fabric.

¹⁵ Then she said to him, “How can you say, ‘I love you,’^(BV) when you won’t confide in me? This is the third time^(BW) you have made a fool of me and haven’t told me the secret of your great strength.^(BX)” ¹⁶ With such nagging she prodded him day after day until he was sick to death of it.

¹⁷ So he told her everything.^(BY) “No razor has ever been used on my head,” he said, “because I have been a Nazirite^(BZ) dedicated to God from my mother’s womb. If my head were shaved, my strength would leave me, and I would become as weak as any other man.”

¹⁸ When Delilah saw that he had told her everything, she sent word to the rulers of the Philistines^(CA), “Come back once more; he has told me everything.” So the rulers of the Philistines returned with the silver in their hands.^{(CB) 19} After putting him to sleep on her lap, she called for someone to shave off the seven braids of his hair, and so began to subdue him.^[h] And his strength left him.^(CC)

²⁰ Then she called, “Samson, the Philistines are upon you!”^(CD)

He awoke from his sleep and thought, “I’ll go out as before and shake myself free.” But he did not know that the Lord had left him.^(CE)

²¹ Then the Philistines^(CF) seized him, gouged out his eyes^(CG) and took him down to Gaza.^(CH) Binding him with bronze shackles, they set him to grinding grain^(CI) in the prison. ²² But the hair on his head began to grow again after it had been shaved.

The Death of Samson

²³ Now the rulers of the Philistines assembled to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon^(CJ) their god and to celebrate, saying, “Our god has delivered Samson, our enemy, into our hands.”

²⁴ When the people saw him, they praised their god,^(CK) saying,

²⁵ While they were in high spirits,^(CM) they shouted, “Bring out Samson to entertain us.” So they called Samson out of the prison, and he performed for them.

When they stood him among the pillars, ²⁶ Samson said to the servant who held his hand, “Put me where I can feel the pillars that support the temple, so that I may lean against them.” ²⁷ Now the temple was crowded with men and women; all the rulers of the Philistines were there, and on the roof^(CN) were about three thousand men and women watching Samson perform. ²⁸ Then Samson prayed to the Lord,^(CO) “Sovereign Lord, remember me. Please, God, strengthen me just once more, and let me with one blow get revenge^(CP) on the Philistines for my two eyes.” ²⁹ Then Samson reached toward the two central pillars on which the temple stood. Bracing himself against them, his right hand on the one and his left hand on the other, ³⁰ Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines!” Then he pushed with all his might, and down came the temple on the rulers and all the people in it. Thus he killed many more when he died than while he lived.

³¹ Then his brothers and his father’s whole family went down to get him. They brought him back and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of Manoah^(CQ) his father. He had led^[i](CR) Israel twenty years.^(CS)

Micah’s Idols

17 Now a man named Micah^(CT) from the hill country of Ephraim ² said to his mother, “The eleven hundred shekels^[j] of silver that were taken from you and about which I heard you utter a curse—I have that silver with me; I took it.”

Then his mother said, “The Lord bless you,^(CU) my son!”

³ When he returned the eleven hundred shekels of silver to his mother, she said, “I solemnly consecrate my silver to the Lord for my son to make an image overlaid with silver.^(CV) I will give it back to you.”

⁴ So after he returned the silver to his mother, she took two hundred shekels^[k] of silver and gave them to a silversmith, who used them to make the idol.^(CW) And it was put in Micah’s house.

⁵ Now this man Micah had a shrine,^(CX) and he made an ephod^(CY) and some household gods^(CZ) and installed^(DA) one of his sons as his priest.^{(DB) 6} In those days Israel had no king;^(DC) everyone did as they saw fit.^(DD)

⁷ A young Levite^(DE) from Bethlehem in Judah,^(DF) who had been living within the clan of Judah, ⁸ left that town in search of some other place to stay. On his way^[l] he came to Micah’s house in the hill country of Ephraim.

⁹ Micah asked him, “Where are you from?”

“I’m a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah,^(DG)” he said, “and I’m looking for a place to stay.”

¹⁰ Then Micah said to him, “Live with me and be my father^(DH) and priest,^(DI) and I’ll give you ten shekels^[m] of silver a year, your clothes and your food.” ¹¹ So the Levite agreed to live with him, and the young man became like one of his sons to him. ¹² Then Micah installed^(DJ) the Levite, and the young man became his priest^(DK) and lived in his house. ¹³ And Micah said, “Now I know that the Lord will be good to me, since this Levite has become my priest.”^(DL)