M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
16 When Samson went to Gaza, he saw a prostitute there who pleased him, so he went in to be with her. 2 Word went out to the men of Gaza that Samson had arrived. So they surrounded the house and waited quietly for him at the city gate, thinking, “When morning comes, we will strike him down.” 3 But Samson fooled the men of Gaza: he stayed with the prostitute only until midnight. Then he rose from the bed, took hold of the closed city gates, and pulled them, still barred, and the posts that held them, out of the ground. Then he hoisted them onto his shoulders and carried them up onto the hill in front of Hebron.
4 After this he fell in love with Delilah, a woman from the valley of Sorek. 5 The rulers of the Philistines came to her with a plan.
Philistine Rulers: If you can charm him into giving you the secret of his great strength so that we can overpower and capture him, each of us will give you 1,100 pieces of silver.
6 Delilah agreed. On one of their visits, she questioned him.
Delilah (to Samson): What makes you so strong? How could anyone bind you and control you?
Samson: 7 If you were to bind me with seven fresh bowstrings that have not dried yet, I would be weak and no different from any other man.
It seems as though Samson is toying with Delilah in his answer.
8 The Philistine rulers brought Delilah seven fresh bowstrings. As Samson slept, she bound him with them. 9 When the warriors had taken their places in the inner chamber, Delilah called out to him.
Delilah: Wake up, Samson! The Philistines are attacking!
But he snapped the bowstrings the way a thread snaps when it is touched by a flame and fended off the attackers. So the secret of his strength remained hidden.
Delilah (to Samson): 10 You’re making fun of me now. You haven’t told me the truth. Please tell me: how could I bind you and take away your strength?
Samson: 11 If you were to bind me with new ropes that have never been used, I would be weak and no different from any other man.
12 Using new ropes Delilah bound Samson as he slept. When the warriors had taken their places in the inner chamber, Delilah called out to him.
Delilah: Wake up, Samson! The Philistines are attacking!
But he snapped the ropes like a thread and fended off the attackers. So the secret of his strength remained hidden.
Delilah (to Samson): 13 You just go on making fun of me. You haven’t told me the truth. Please tell me: how could I bind you and take away your strength?
Samson: If you were to weave my seven locks of hair into the loom’s web and make it tight with a pin, I would be weak and no different from any other man.
14 While he slept, Delilah wove his seven locks of hair into the loom’s web and tightened it with the weaver’s comb. When the warriors had taken their places in the inner chamber, Delilah called out,
Delilah: Wake up, Samson! The Philistines are attacking!
But Samson woke up and easily pulled out the comb from the loom and his hair from the web and fended off the attackers. So the secret of his strength remained hidden.
Delilah: 15 How can you say you love me when your actions prove your heart is somewhere else? Three times now you’ve lied to me and haven’t told me why you have such great strength.
16 She continued to ask him, day after day, always nagging; and finally he was tired of it, so tired he couldn’t stand to hear it any longer. 17 Samson told her the truth.
Samson: I have been a Nazirite, set aside to God since I was in my mother’s womb, and my hair has never been cut. If my head were shaved, my strength would vanish. I would be weak and no different from any other man.
18 Delilah at last saw that he was telling her the truth. She sent for the rulers of the Philistines and told them, “This time he has told me his whole secret.” So the lords of the Philistines came, bringing the money they had promised to pay her for betraying Samson.
Samson’s bride and Delilah are both presented as unfaithful and deceitful, and Delilah’s name has become synonymous with any wily and seductive woman who wants to ruin a man. Although these betrayals are part of God’s purpose, some readers have used these particular stories to put down all women. It’s good to remind ourselves that earlier in the Book of Judges God uses Deborah and Jael, brave and strong women, to achieve His purpose. The characters in the story of God’s people—men and women alike—are sometimes good and sometimes evil. Even a Levite, someone set aside to the priesthood of God, can behave with selfishness and cowardice.
19 She helped Samson fall asleep in her lap and called in a man to shave off the seven locks of Samson’s hair. Immediately his strength left him. 20 This time she called to him.
Delilah: Wake up, Samson! The Philistines are attacking!
His strength was gone. Samson woke up and thought he would shake himself free, as he had before, because he did not know that the Spirit of the Eternal had left him.
21 But this time the Philistines seized and held him. They put out his eyes. Then they took him to Gaza, where they bound him with bronze chains and put him to work grinding grain in the prison mill. 22 But while he was there, his hair began to grow back.
23 One day, the rulers of the Philistines gathered for a festival of sacrifice to their god Dagon to celebrate Dagon giving their great enemy, Samson, into their control. 24 Whenever the Philistines saw Samson trudging in the mill, it made them joyful.
Philistines: Our god has given us the great ravager of our land, Samson, who killed so many of us.
25 And during the festival when they were feeling merry, they called for Samson.
Philistine Mob: Bring Samson out, and have him entertain us.
So Samson was led out of the prison and brought before all the people gathered for the festival. They displayed him between the pillars for their entertainment, 26 and Samson spoke to the boy leading him.
Samson: Put me between the main pillars, the ones that hold up the roof, so that I can lean against them.
27 For this occasion the building was full of people—men and women and all the rulers of the Philistines were there. About 3,000 people stood on the roof watching as Samson leaned against the pillars. The crowd watched and waited with anticipation.
Samson (crying out to the Lord): 28 Lord, Eternal One, remember me and fill me with strength this one last time, O True God, so that with this last act of revenge I can pay back the Philistines for the loss of my sight.
29 He took hold of the two main pillars of the building, the ones supporting the roof, and he leaned hard against them, his right hand on one, his left hand on the other.
Samson: 30 Let me die here with the Philistines.
He pushed with all his might. The pillars gave; the building collapsed on the rulers and all the Philistine people who were in it. The number of enemies that he killed at his death was greater than the number of Philistines he had killed during the rest of his life.
31 Then his brothers and the rest of his family came down from the hill country and took his body back up to be buried between the towns of Zorah and Eshtaol in the burial ground of his father Manoah. Samson had been judge of Israel for 20 years.
The message of Jesus not only has the power to annihilate economic supremacy, but also turns the world upside down in the process. In the kingdom of God, a worker is always paid a wage worthy of his work: anyone who works has enough to eat, and no one is left out of the profitable bounty of God. No longer do businesses profit from dishonesty, manipulation, or selfishness.
20 As soon as the uproar ended, Paul gathered the disciples together, encouraged them once more, said farewell, and left on foot. He decided to pass through Macedonia, 2 encouraging believers wherever he found them, and came to Greece. 3 He spent three months there, and then he planned to set sail once again for Syria. But he learned that a group of Jewish opponents was plotting to kill him, so he decided to travel through Macedonia.
4-5 There was a large group of us traveling with him at this time, and we decided it was best, in light of the plot, to split up and then reunite in the city of Troas. This group included Paul, a Berean named Sopater (son of Pyrrhus), two Thessalonians named Aristarchus and Secundus, a Derbean named Gaius, two Asians named Tychicus and Trophimus, and Timothy. 6 Some of us waited until the Days of Unleavened Bread were over; then we went to Philippi where we boarded a ship for Troas. The other group left immediately on foot, passing through Macedonia. When my group landed in Troas five days later, Paul’s group had already arrived. We stayed in Troas another week.
7-8 The Sunday night before our Monday departure, we gathered to celebrate the breaking of bread.
Many wondrous events happen as Paul travels, ministering among the churches. One evening a most unusual event occurs.
Imagine you are celebrating with them:
We are in an upstairs room, with the gentle light and shadows cast by several lamps. Paul is carrying on an extended dialogue with the believers, taking advantage of every moment since we plan to leave at first light. The conversation stretches on until midnight. 9 A young fellow named Eutychus, seeking some fresh air, moves to an open window. Paul keeps on talking. Eutychus perches in the open window itself. Paul keeps talking. Eutychus drifts off to sleep. Paul continues talking until Eutychus, now overcome by deep sleep, drops out of the window and falls three stories to the ground, where he is found dead. 10 Paul joins us downstairs, bends over, and takes Eutychus in his arms.
Paul: It’s OK. He’s alive again.
11 Then Paul goes back upstairs, celebrates the breaking of bread, and—just as you might guess—keeps on conversing until first light. Then he leaves. 12 (I should add that Eutychus had been taken home long before, his friends more than a little relieved that the boy was alive!)
This may be one of the strangest stories ever told. Paul was talking about faith while one young man dozed off and fell out the window. Many a pastor has secretly prayed that slumbering congregants would fall out of their chairs. It might have been funny had he not died; instead, it was a scene of great horror. That is, until God used Paul to turn horror into celebration with a death-defying miracle. But the people were so enamored with Paul’s teaching about Jesus that they returned to their conversations, which continued until sunrise.
13 Again Paul wanted us to split up. He wanted to go by land by himself while we went by ship to Assos. 14 There he came on board with us, and we sailed on to Mitylene. 15 From there we sailed near Chios, passing by it the next day, docking briefly at Samos the day after that, then arriving at Miletus the following day. 16 This route kept us safely out of Ephesus and didn’t require Paul to spend any time at all in Asia, since he wanted to arrive in Jerusalem quickly—before Pentecost, he hoped.
17 In Miletus he sent word to the church in Ephesus, asking the elders to come down to meet with him. 18 When they arrived, he talked with them.
Paul: We will have many memories of our time together in Ephesus; but of all the memories, most of all I want you to remember my way of life. From the first day I arrived in Asia, 19 I served the Lord with humility and tears, patiently enduring the many trials that came my way through the plots of my Jewish opponents. 20 I did everything I could to help you; I held nothing back. I taught you publicly, and I taught you in your homes. 21 I told everyone the same message—Jews and Greeks alike—that we must turn toward God and have faith in our Lord Jesus the Anointed. 22 Now I feel that the Holy Spirit has taken me captive. I am being led to Jerusalem. My future is uncertain, 23 but I know—the Holy Spirit has told me—that everywhere I go from now on, I will find imprisonment and persecution waiting for me. 24 But that’s OK. That’s no tragedy for me because I don’t cling to my life for my own sake. The only value I place on my life is that I may finish my race, that I may fulfill the ministry that Jesus our King has given me, that I may gladly tell the good news of God’s grace. 25 I now realize that this is our last good-bye. You have been like family in all my travels to proclaim the kingdom of God, but after today none of you will see my face again. 26 So I want to make this clear: I am not responsible for your destiny from this point on 27 because I have not held back from telling you the purpose of God in all its dimensions.
28 Here are my instructions: diligently guard yourselves, and diligently guard the whole flock over which the Holy Spirit has given you oversight. Shepherd the church of God, this precious church which He made His own through the blood of His own Son. 29 I know that after I’ve gone, dangerous wolves will sneak in among you, savaging the flock. 30 Some of you here today will begin twisting the truth, enticing disciples to go your way, to follow you. 31 You must be on guard, and you must remember my way of life among you. For three years, I have kept on, persistently warning everyone, day and night, with tears.
32 So now I put you in God’s hands. I entrust you to the message of God’s grace, a message that has the power to build you up and to give you rich heritage among all who are set apart for God’s holy purposes. 33 Remember my example: I never once coveted a single coin of silver or gold. I never looked twice at someone’s fine clothing. 34 No, you know this: I worked with my own two hands making tents, and I paid my own expenses and my companions’ expenses as well. 35 This is my last gift to you, this example of a way of life: a life of hard work, a life of helping the weak, a life that echoes every day those words of Jesus our King, who said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”
36 Once again, imagine this scene:
As Paul finishes speaking, he kneels down; and we all join him, kneeling. He prays, and we all join him, praying. 37 There’s the sound of weeping, and then more weeping, and then more still. One by one, we embrace Paul and kiss him, 38 our sadness multiplied because of his words about this being our last good-bye. We walk with him to the ship, and he sets sail.
29 The prophet Jeremiah wrote a letter from Jerusalem to the elders, priests, prophets, and all the rest who had been taken to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar. 2 (This was after King Jeconiah of Judah and his mother had been taken into exile, along with servants of the court, officials of Judah and Jerusalem, and many of the craftsmen and artisans.)[a] 3 The letter was hand-carried by Elasah (son of Shaphan) and Gemariah (son of Hilkiah), whom Zedekiah king of Judah dispatched to Babylon on a diplomatic mission to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.
Jeremiah’s Letter: 4 This is what the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies and God of Israel, says to those He exiled from Jerusalem to Babylon: 5 “Build houses—make homes for your families because you are not coming back to Judah anytime soon. Plant gardens, and eat the food you grow there. 6 Marry and have children; find wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, so that they can have children. During these years of captivity, let your families grow and not die out. 7 Pursue the peace and welfare of the city where I sent you into exile. Pray to Me, the Eternal, for Babylon because if it has peace, you will live in peace.”
8 This is what the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies and God of Israel, says to you: “Do not be fooled by the false prophets and fortune-tellers among you. Do not listen to dreamers or their interpretations of dreams, 9 for I did not send them to you. They are prophesying lies in My name!” So says the Eternal. 10 If you want the truth, this is what the Eternal has to say: “You will remain in Babylon for 70 years. When that time is over, I will come to you, and I will keep My promise of bringing you back home. 11 For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Eternal, “plans for peace, not evil, to give you a future and hope—never forget that. 12 At that time, you will call out for Me, and I will hear. You will pray, and I will listen. 13 You will look for Me intently, and you will find Me. 14 Yes, I will be found by you,” says the Eternal, “and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations where you’ve been scattered—all the places where I have driven you. I will bring you back to the land that is your rightful home.”
These are indeed difficult days for Judah. In 598 b.c. her king was deported to Babylon along with thousands of Jerusalem’s key citizens; their capture tore the nation apart. But God has not forgotten those in exile. It is during this period of separation that Jeremiah writes a letter to those who were taken to this foreign land.
For many reasons, relations between Judah’s new king, Zedekiah, and the ruler of Babylon are strained; so messengers are sent back and forth in an effort of diplomacy. It is through these men that the prophet of God is able to communicate with those held captive in Babylon. Jeremiah’s message to them is the same as to those remaining in Judah: do not revolt against Babylon, for this season of judgment will be longer than others are telling you. In the midst of the struggle, he calls those who are far from home to trust God and His timing. Unfortunately, such words are received no better by those in exile than by those who hear them in Judah.
15 Now you might say, “The Eternal has raised up prophets here in Babylon who tell us other things.” 16-17 This is what the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies, has to say about the king who currently sits on David’s throne and all those who remain in Jerusalem and were not taken into exile: “Watch, for I will send war, famine, and disease on them. I will make them like figs so rotten they cannot be eaten. 18 I will pursue them with war, famine, and disease. I will make them a horror to the watching world, an object of cursing and terror, of scorn and blame wherever I scatter them 19 because they have not listened to Me,” says the Eternal. “They ignored the warnings I sent to them again and again through My servants, the prophets. And you who are in exile are no better, for you have not listened either.” 20 Therefore, hear now the word of the Eternal, all you who have been exiled from Jerusalem to Babylon. 21 This is what the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies and God of Israel, says about your so-called prophets, Ahab (son of Kolaiah) and Zedekiah (son of Maaseiah), who are telling lies in My name: “Watch, for I will hand them over to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, and he will execute them right in front of you. 22 Even their names will be used as a curse by those in exile from Judah when they say, ‘May the Eternal treat you like Zedekiah and Ahab who were burned alive by Babylon’s king.’ 23 These men have engaged in disgraceful acts among My people Israel. They have committed adultery with their neighbors’ wives and told lies in My name, prophesying when I never gave them a message. I know this because I am a witness to all they have done,” so says the Eternal.
Jeremiah’s letter is not well received by those in exile. They choose instead to listen to the empty promises of false prophets. One such prophet, Shemaiah, becomes so angry with Jeremiah’s correspondence that he writes back to the priest Zephaniah in Jerusalem. In this letter, he complains of Jeremiah’s prediction of a long captivity and urges the priest to punish the prophet. Hopefully this embarrassment will silence him. While Zephaniah does not place Jeremiah in shackles, he does read Shemaiah’s letter aloud to Jeremiah (and no doubt to others) in Jerusalem.
24 Say this to Shemaiah the Nehelamite:
Jeremiah’s Letter: 25 This is what the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies and God of Israel, says about you: “I know that you sent letters on your own authority to the people in Jerusalem, to the priests, and specifically to the priest Zephaniah (son of Maaseiah). In that letter to Zephaniah, you said, 26 ‘The Eternal has appointed you as the priest in charge of the temple to replace Jehoiada. When a madman tries to speak like a prophet, you must take action by putting him in shackles and in the stocks.[b] 27 So why haven’t you put a stop to Jeremiah of Anathoth who poses among you as a prophet of God? 28 He sent a letter to those of us in Babylon predicting that our exile will be a long one. He actually said we should settle in this place—building homes and planting gardens of food that we can enjoy for many years.’”
29 When Zephaniah the priest received this letter, he read it to Jeremiah the prophet. 30 It was then that a message came to Jeremiah from the Eternal concerning all of this.
Eternal One: 31 Write back to all the exiles and tell them, “This is what the Eternal says about Shemaiah the Nehelamite: ‘Because Shemaiah has acted like a prophet when I did not send him, and because he has misled you with lies, 32 watch! I will now punish him and his descendants. None of his family will live here long enough to see the good I will do for My people in the coming years because his words stirred rebellion against Me,’ so says the Eternal.”
15 When morning came, the chief priests met in council with all the Jewish leaders. They bound Jesus, led Him away, and turned Him over to the Roman governor, Pilate.
Pilate (after hearing them): 2 Are You the King of the Jews?
Jesus: You have said so.
3 The chief priests went on to accuse Jesus of many things, but Jesus simply stood quietly.
Pilate: 4 Do You have anything to say? How do You respond to all these charges that have been made against You?
5 But Jesus said nothing more, and Pilate was astonished.
6 Now it was his custom at that feast that Pilate should release one prisoner from custody, whomever the people most desired. 7 There was one rebel from those imprisoned for insurrection against the Roman occupation. He had committed murder during an uprising. His name was Barabbas. 8 A crowd had gathered in front of Pilate’s judgment seat to request that Pilate follow his usual custom.
9 Pilate turned to them.
Pilate: Why don’t I release to you the King of the Jews?
10 He knew that the chief priests had delivered Jesus because they were threatened by Him, not because Jesus was a criminal.
11 But priests moved among the crowd and persuaded them to call for Barabbas instead.
Pilate: 12 Then what do you want me to do with the King of the Jews?
Crowd: 13 Crucify Him, crucify Him!
14 But now he called to them.
Pilate: Why? What has He done to deserve such a sentence?
Crowd (crying all the louder): Crucify Him, crucify Him!
Barabbas is an active and a militant Jewish leader. In one sense, the choice that the crowd is offered—to have either Jesus or Barabbas released—can be seen as a choice between two types of revolutions. Do they want a revolution of power, a revolution that is easily visible, a revolution that will conquer their enemies in a way they can understand? Or do they want a revolution of healing, a revolution of love, a revolution that will bring the kingdom of God to earth in a mystical, transcendental way? It’s no wonder they make the choice they do. Who wants a gentle revolution in a time of war?
15 When Pilate saw that he could not persuade the crowd to change its mind, he released Barabbas to them and had Jesus publicly whipped, which was the normal prelude to crucifixion. Then he had Jesus led away to be crucified. 16 The soldiers took Him into the headquarters of the governor; and the rest of the soldiers in the detachment gathered there, hundreds of them. 17 They put a purple robe on Him and made a crown of thorns that they forced onto His head, 18 and they began to cry out in mock salute.
Soldiers: Hail to the King of the Jews!
19 For a long while they beat Him on the head with a reed, spat upon Him, and knelt down as if to honor Him. 20 When they had finished mocking Him, they stripped off His purple robe and put His own clothes back on Him. Then they took Him away to be executed.
21 Along the way, they met a man from Cyrene, Simon (the father of Rufus and Alexander), who was coming in from the fields; and they ordered him to carry the heavy crossbar of the cross. 22 And so they came at last to the execution site, a hill called Golgotha, which means the “Place of a Skull.”
23 The soldiers offered Jesus wine mixed with myrrh to dull His pain, but He refused it. 24 And so they crucified Him, divided up His clothes, and cast lots (an ancient equivalent of rolling dice) to see who would keep the clothes they had stripped from Him.
25 His crucifixion began about nine o’clock in the morning. 26 Over His head hung a sign that indicated the charge for which He was being crucified. It read, “THE KING OF THE JEWS.” 27 On either side of Him were two insurgents who also had received the death penalty. [28 And the Hebrew Scripture was completed that said, “He was considered just another criminal.”][a]
29 Those passing by on their way into or out of Jerusalem insulted and ridiculed Him.
Some in the Crowd: So You’re the One who was going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days? 30 Well, if You’re so powerful, then why don’t You rescue Yourself? Come on down from the cross!
Chief Priests and Scribes (mocking Jesus among themselves): 31 He rescued others, but He can’t rescue Himself. 32 Let the Anointed—the King of Israel—come down from the cross now, and we will see it and believe.
Even the insurgents who were being crucified next to Him taunted Him and reviled Him.
33 At noon, the day suddenly darkened for three hours across the entire land. 34 Sometime around three o’clock Jesus called out in a loud voice.
Jesus: Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?
Jesus was speaking, as in the psalms, “My God, My God, why have You turned Your back on Me?”[b]
35 Some of those standing nearby misunderstood Him.
Bystanders: Hey, He’s calling for Elijah.
36 One of them filled a sponge with wine that had turned to vinegar and lifted it to Jesus’ lips on a stick so He could drink.
Bystander: Let’s see if Elijah will come to take Him down.
37 Then Jesus cried out with a loud voice, and He took His last breath.
38 At that moment, the curtain in the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.
The tearing of the temple veil is a picture of what Jesus’ death has accomplished. The temple sanctuary is divided into two sections: the holy place and the most holy place. The most holy place is a chamber so sanctified that only the high priest can enter—and then only once a year. There God’s presence is manifest on earth.
A long curtain divides the two areas, and at the moment of Jesus’ death it is torn in two. The veil that serves as a means to protect everyone but the high priest from the power of God’s presence is no longer needed because Jesus, on account of His sacrificial death, gives everyone access to God. Only God Himself can rip the curtain in two “from top to bottom,” opening the way for people to come into His presence.
39 The Roman Centurion, the soldier in charge of the executions, stood in front of Jesus, [heard His words,][c] and saw the manner of His death.
Centurion: Surely this man was the Son of God!
40 Off in the distance, away from the crowds, stood some women who knew and had followed Jesus, including Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of the younger James, Joses, and Salome. 41 These were women who used to care for Him when He was in Galilee, and many other women who had followed Jesus to Jerusalem joined them.
42 Evening came. The crucifixion had taken place on preparation day, Friday, before the Jewish Sabbath began at sundown. 43 Joseph of Arimathea, a member of the ruling council who was also a believer anxiously waiting for the kingdom of God, went to Pilate and boldly asked for the body of Jesus.
44 Pilate could not believe Jesus was already dead, so he sent for the Centurion, 45 who confirmed it. Then Pilate gave Joseph permission to take the body.
46 Joseph had the body wrapped in a linen burial cloth he had purchased and laid Him in a tomb that had been carved out of rock. Then he had a stone rolled over the opening to seal it. 47 Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses were watching as the body was interred.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.