Old/New Testament

The Birth of Samson

13 The people of Israel sinned in the eyes of the Lord again. So the Lord gave them into the hands of the Philistines for forty years.

² There was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites. His name was Manoah. His wife was not able to have children. ³ Then the angel of the Lord came to the woman and said to her, “See, you have not been able to have any children. But the Lord will make it possible for you to have a child and you will give birth to a son. ⁴ So be careful not to drink wine or strong drink. Do not eat anything that is unclean. ⁵ You will have a child and give birth to a son. His hair must never be cut. Because the boy will be a Nazirite to God from the time he is born. He will begin to take Israel away from the Philistines’ power.” ⁶ Then the woman came and told her husband. She said, “A man of God came to me. He looked like the angel of God, filling me with fear. I did not ask him where he came from. And he did not tell me his name. ⁷ But he said to me, ‘See, it will be possible for you to have a child and give birth to a son. Do not drink wine or strong drink or eat anything that is unclean. For the boy will be a Nazirite to God from the time he is born to the time he dies.’”

⁸ Then Manoah asked the Lord, saying, “O Lord, let the man of God whom You have sent come to us again. Let him teach us what to do for the boy who is to be born.” ⁹ God listened to Manoah. The angel of God came again to the woman while she was sitting in the field. But Manoah her husband was not with her. ¹⁰ So the woman ran to her husband in a hurry. She told him, “See, the man who came the other day has come to me again.” ¹¹ Manoah got up and followed his wife. When he came to the man he said to him, “Are you the man who spoke to the woman?” And he said, “I am.” ¹² Manoah said, “When your words come true, what will be the boy’s way of life? What should he do?” ¹³ The angel of the Lord said to Manoah, “Let the woman be careful to do all I have said. ¹⁴ She must not eat anything from the vine or drink wine or strong drink. She must not eat anything that is unclean. Let her obey all I have told her.”

¹⁵ Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, “We ask of you, stay with us. So we may get a young goat ready for you to eat.” ¹⁶ The angel of the Lord said to Manoah, “I will stay, but I will not eat your food. But if you get a burnt gift ready, then give it to the Lord.” For Manoah did not know that he was the angel of the Lord. ¹⁷ Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, “What is your name? So we may honor you when your words come true.” ¹⁸ But the angel of the Lord said to him, “Why do you ask my name? It is a name of wonder.” ¹⁹ So Manoah took the young goat with the grain gift. And he gave it on the rock to the Lord. Then the Lord did powerful works while Manoah and his wife watched. ²⁰ For the fire went up from the altar toward heaven. And the angel of the Lord went up in the fire of the altar. When Manoah and his wife saw this, they fell with their faces on the ground. ²¹ The angel of the Lord did not show himself to Manoah or his wife again. Then Manoah knew that he was the angel of the Lord. ²² So Manoah said to his wife, “We will die for sure. For we have seen God.” ²³ But his wife said to him, “If the Lord had wanted to kill us, He would not have received a burnt gift and grain gift from us. He would not have shown us all these things, or let us hear these things.”

²⁴ Then the woman gave birth to a son and named him Samson. The child grew up and the Lord brought good to him. ²⁵ And the Spirit of the Lord began to work through him at the tents of Dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.

Samson’s Philistine Wife

14 Samson went down to Timnah. There he saw a woman, one of the daughters of the Philistines. ² He returned and told his father and mother, “I saw a woman in Timnah. She is one of the daughters of the Philistines. Now get her for me as a wife.” ³ But his father and mother said to him, “Is there no woman among the daughters of your family or among all our people? Must you take a wife from the Philistines who have not gone through the religious act of the Jews?” Samson said to his father, “Get her for me, for she looks good to me.” ⁴ His father and mother did not know that it was the Lord’s leading. For He was planning a way to go against the Philistines. At that time the Philistines were ruling over Israel.

⁵ Samson went down to Timnah with his father and mother. They came as far as the grape-fields of Timnah. There a young lion came running toward him, making a loud noise. ⁶ The Spirit of the Lord came upon Samson with power. Samson tore the lion apart like one tears a young goat. He had nothing in his hand. But he did not tell his father or mother what he had done. ⁷ Then Samson went down and talked to the woman. She looked good to him. ⁸ When he returned later to take her, he turned to look at the dead lion. He saw that a lot of bees and some honey were inside the lion’s body. ⁹ So he took the honey out with his hands and went on his way, eating as he went. He came to his father and mother and gave some honey to them, and they ate it. But he did not tell them he had taken the honey out of the lion’s body.

¹⁰ Then his father went down to the woman. Samson made a special supper there. The young men used to do this. ¹¹ When the people saw him, they brought thirty friends to be with him. ¹² And Samson said to them, “Let me see if you can answer this question. If you can find the answer within the seven days of the special supper, I will give you thirty linen coats and thirty pieces of clothing. ¹³ But if you cannot answer me, you must give me thirty linen coats and thirty pieces of clothing.” And they said to him, “Ask your question. Let us hear it.” ¹⁴ So Samson said to them, “Out of the eater came something to eat. Out of the strong came something sweet. Now what does this mean?” But they could not answer the question in three days.

¹⁵ On the fourth day they said to Samson’s wife, “Make your husband tell us the answer. Or we will burn you and your father’s house with fire. Have you asked us to come here so you can make us poor? Is it not true?” ¹⁶ So Samson’s wife cried in front of Samson, saying, “You only hate me. You do not love me. You have asked my people a question. And you have not told me the answer.” Samson said to her, “See, I have not told the answer to my father or mother. Should I tell it to you?” ¹⁷ But she cried in front of him for seven days while their special supper lasted. On the seventh day Samson told her the answer because she begged him so much. Then she told the answer to her people. ¹⁸ So the men of the city said to Samson before the sun went down on the seventh day, “What is more sweet than honey? What is stronger than a lion?” Samson said to them, “If you had not plowed with my young cow, you would not have found the answer.” ¹⁹ Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon him with power. Samson went down to Ashkelon and killed thirty men of the town. He took their clothing and gave it to the men who answered his question. He was very angry and returned to his father’s house. ²⁰ Samson’s wife was given to his friend who had been his best man at his wedding.

Samson Wins over the Philistines

15 But later Samson visited his wife during grain gathering time with a young goat. Samson said, “I will go in to my wife in her room.” But her father did not let him go in. ² Her father said, “I thought you hated her. So I gave her to your friend. Is not her younger sister more beautiful than she? Let her be yours instead.” ³ Samson said to him, “This time I will be without blame when I hurt the Philistines.” ⁴ So Samson went and caught 300 foxes. He tied them together tail to tail. And he put a fire stick between the tails of every two foxes. ⁵ Then he set fire to the sticks and let the foxes go into the standing grain of the Philistines. So the standing grain and cut grain and vines and olive trees were burned up. ⁶ The Philistines said, “Who did this?” And they were told, “Samson, the son-in-law of the Timnite, because the Timnite took his wife and gave her to his friend.” So the Philistines came and burned her and her father with fire. ⁷ Samson said to them, “For sure I will punish you for acting like this. After that I will stop.”

⁸ He killed many of them without mercy. Then Samson went down and lived in the opening of the rock of Etam.

⁹ The Philistines went and set up their tents in Judah, and spread out in Lehi. ¹⁰ The men of Judah said, “Why have you come up against us?” The Philistines said, “We have come to take Samson and do to him as he did to us.” ¹¹ Then 3,000 men of Judah went down to the opening of the rock of Etam and said to Samson, “Do you not know that the Philistines rule over us? What is this that you have done to us?” Samson said to them, “I have done to them as they did to me.” ¹² They said to him, “We have come to take you and give you to the Philistines.” Samson said to them, “Promise me that you will not kill me.” ¹³ So they said to him, “No, we will only tie you up and give you to them. We will not kill you.” So they tied him with two new ropes and brought him up from the rock.

¹⁴ When Samson came to Lehi, the Philistines came with a loud noise to meet him. The Spirit of the Lord came upon Samson with power. The ropes on his arms became as weak as a burning plant, and fell from his hands. ¹⁵ Samson found a jawbone of a donkey and took it in his hand. He killed 1,000 men with it. ¹⁶ Then Samson said, “With the bone of a donkey there are bodies upon bodies. With the bone of a donkey I have killed 1,000 men.” ¹⁷ When he was done speaking, he threw the bone from his hand. And he called that place Ramath-lehi. ¹⁸ Then Samson became very thirsty. He called to the Lord and said, “You have taken us away from trouble by the hand of Your servant. Now must I die of thirst and fall into the hands of those who have not gone through our religious act?” ¹⁹ But God broke open a place in Lehi, and water came out of it. When Samson drank, his strength returned. He received new life. So he called the place En-hakkore. It is in Lehi to this day. ²⁰ Samson ruled Israel for twenty years in the days of the Philistines.

Jesus Teaches What the Law Says about Love

²⁷ “I say to you who hear Me, love those who work against you. Do good to those who hate you. ²⁸ Respect and give thanks for those who try to bring bad to you. Pray for those who make it very hard for you. ²⁹ Whoever hits you on one side of the face, turn so he can hit the other side also. Whoever takes your coat, give him your shirt also. ³⁰ Give to any person who asks you for something. If a person takes something from you, do not ask for it back. ³¹ Do for other people what you would like to have them do for you.

³² “If you love those who love you, what pay can you expect from that? Sinners also love those who love them. ³³ If you do good to those who do good to you, what pay can you expect from that? Sinners also do good to those who do good to them. ³⁴ If you let people use your things and expect to get something back, what pay can you expect from that? Even sinners let sinners use things and they expect to get something back. ³⁵ But love those who hate you. Do good to them. Let them use your things and do not expect something back. Your reward will be much. You will be the children of the Most High. He is kind to those who are not thankful and to those who are full of sin.

Jesus Teaches about Finding Bad in Others

³⁶ “You must have loving-kindness just as your Father has loving-kindness. ³⁷ Do not say what is wrong in other people’s lives. Then other people will not say what is wrong in your life. Do not say someone is guilty. Then other people will not say you are guilty. Forgive other people and other people will forgive you.

³⁸ “Give, and it will be given to you. You will have more than enough. It can be pushed down and shaken together and it will still run over as it is given to you. The way you give to others is the way you will receive in return.”

³⁹ Jesus used a picture-story as He spoke to them. He said, “Can one blind man lead another blind man? Will they not fall into the ditch together? ⁴⁰ The follower is not more important than his teacher. But everyone who learns well will be like his teacher.

Jesus Teaches about Saying What Is Wrong in Others

⁴¹ “Why do you look at the small piece of wood in your brother’s eye and do not see the big piece of wood in your own eye? ⁴² How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take that small piece of wood out of your eye,’ when you do not see the big piece of wood in your own eye? You pretend to be someone you are not. First, take the big piece of wood out of your own eye. Then you can see better to take the small piece of wood out of your brother’s eye.

Jesus Teaches about False Teachers

⁴³ “A good tree cannot have bad fruit. A bad tree cannot have good fruit. ⁴⁴ For every tree is known by its own fruit. Men do not gather figs from thorns. They do not gather grapes from thistles. ⁴⁵ Good comes from a good man because of the riches he has in his heart. Sin comes from a sinful man because of the sin he has in his heart. The mouth speaks of what the heart is full of.

Jesus Teaches about Houses Built on Rock and Sand

⁴⁶ “And why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ but do not do what I say? ⁴⁷ Whoever comes to Me and hears and does what I say, I will show you who he is like. ⁴⁸ He is like a man who built a house. He dug deep to put the building on rock. When the water came up and the river beat against the house, the building could not be shaken because it was built on rock. ⁴⁹ But he who hears and does not do what I say, is like a man who built a house on nothing but earth. The water beat against the house. At once it fell and was destroyed.”