Book of Common Prayer

Thanksgiving for the Lord’s Saving Goodness.

The Lord Exalted for His Goodness.

A Psalm of Praise, of David.

Delilah Extracts His Secret

¹⁵ Then she said to him, “^(A)How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when your heart is not with me? You have toyed with me these three times and have not told me where your great strength is.” ¹⁶ And it came about, when she pressed him daily with her words and urged him, that his soul was ^[a]annoyed to death. ¹⁷ So he told her all that was in his heart and said to her, “A razor has never come on my head, for I have been a ^(B)Nazirite to God from my mother’s womb. If I am shaved, then my strength will leave me and I will become weak and be like any other man.”

¹⁸ When Delilah saw that he had told her all that was in his heart, she sent word and called the governors of the Philistines, saying, “Come up once more, for he has told me all that is in his heart.” Then the governors of the Philistines came up to her and brought up the money in their hands. ¹⁹ And she made him sleep on her knees, and called for a man and had him shave off the seven locks of his head. Then she began to humble him, and his strength left him. ²⁰ She said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” And he awoke from his sleep and said, “I will go out as at other times and shake myself free.” But he did not know that ^(C)the Lord had departed from him. ²¹ Then the Philistines seized him and gouged out his eyes; and they brought him down to Gaza and restrained him with bronze chains, and he became a grinder in the prison. ²² However, the hair of his head began to grow again after it was shaved off.

²³ Now the governors of the Philistines assembled to offer a great sacrifice to ^(D)Dagon their god, and to celebrate, for they said,

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

²⁵ It so happened when ^[b]they were in high spirits, that they said, “Call for Samson, that he may amuse us.” So they called for Samson from the prison, and he ^[c]entertained them. And they made him stand between the pillars. ²⁶ Then Samson said to the boy who was holding his hand, “^[d]Let me feel the pillars on which the house rests, so that I may lean against them.” ²⁷ Now the house was full of men and women, and all the governors of the Philistines were there. And about three thousand men and women were on the roof looking on while Samson was entertaining them.

Samson Is Avenged

^28 (F)Then Samson called to the Lord and said, “Lord ^[e]God, please remember me and please strengthen me just this time, O God, that I may at once ^(G)take vengeance on the Philistines for my two eyes.” ²⁹ Then Samson grasped the two middle pillars on which the house rested, and braced himself against them, the one with his right hand and the other with his left. ³⁰ And Samson said, “Let ^[f]me die with the Philistines!” And he pushed outwards powerfully, so that the house fell on the governors and all the people who were in it. And the dead whom he killed at his death were more than those whom he killed during his lifetime. ³¹ Then his brothers and all his father’s household came down and took him, and brought him up and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of his father Manoah. ^(H)So he had judged Israel for twenty years.

Examine Yourselves

13 ^(A)This is the third time that I am coming to you. ^(B)On the ^[a]testimony of two or three witnesses every matter shall be confirmed. ² I have previously said when I was present the second time, and though now absent I say in advance to those who have ^(C)sinned in the past and to all the rest as well, that ^(D)if I come again I will not ^(E)spare anyone, ³ since you are ^(F)seeking proof of the ^(G)Christ who speaks in me, who is not weak toward you, but ^(H)mighty in you. ⁴ For indeed He was ^(I)crucified because of weakness, yet He lives ^(J)because of the power of God. For we too are ^(K)weak ^[b]in Him, yet ^(L)we will live with Him because of the power of God directed toward you.

^5 (M)Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; ^(N)examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you—unless indeed you ^[c](O)fail the test? ⁶ But I expect that you will realize that we ourselves ^[d]do not fail the test. ⁷ Now we pray to God that you do nothing wrong; not so that we ourselves may appear approved, but that you may do what is right, though we may ^[e]appear unapproved. ⁸ For we cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the truth. ⁹ For we rejoice when we ourselves are ^(P)weak, but you are strong; this we also pray for, ^[f]that you ^(Q)become mature. ¹⁰ For this reason I am writing these things while absent, so that when present ^(R)I need not use ^(S)severity, in accordance with the ^(T)authority which the Lord gave me for building up and not for tearing down.

^11 (U)Finally, brothers and sisters, ^[g]rejoice, ^(V)mend your ways, be comforted, ^(W)be like-minded, ^(X)live in peace; and ^(Y)the God of love and peace will be with you.

²⁵ A woman who had had a hemorrhage for twelve years, ²⁶ and had endured much at the hands of many physicians, and had spent all that she had and was not helped at all, but instead had become worse— ²⁷ after hearing about Jesus, she came up in the crowd behind Him and touched His ^[a]cloak. ²⁸ For she had been saying to herself, “If I just touch His garments, I will ^[b]get well.” ²⁹ And immediately the flow of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her ^(A)disease. ³⁰ And immediately Jesus, perceiving in Himself that ^(B)power from Him had gone out, turned around in the crowd and said, “Who touched My garments?” ³¹ And His disciples said to Him, “You see the crowd pressing in on You, and You say, ‘Who touched Me?’” ³² And He looked around to see the woman who had done this. ³³ But the woman, fearing and trembling, aware of what had happened to her, came and fell down before Him and told Him the whole truth. ³⁴ And He said to her, “Daughter, ^(C)your faith has ^[c]made you well; ^(D)go in peace and be cured of your ^(E)disease.”