Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

A Prayer in Troubled Times

Of David.

Samson Goes to the City of Gaza

16 One day Samson went to Gaza. He saw a prostitute there. He went in to spend the night with her. ² Someone told the people of Gaza, “Samson has come here!” So they surrounded the place and hid and waited for him. Remaining very quiet, they stayed near the city gate all night. They said to each other, “When dawn comes, we will kill Samson!”

³ But Samson only stayed with the prostitute until midnight. Then he got up and took hold of the doors and the two posts of the city gate. He tore them loose, along with the bar. Then he put them on his shoulders. And he carried them to the top of the hill that faces the city of Hebron!

Samson and Delilah

⁴ After this, Samson fell in love with a woman named Delilah. She lived in the Valley of Sorek. ⁵ The kings of the Philistines went to Delilah. They said, “Try to find out what makes Samson so strong. Try to trick him into telling you. Find out how we could capture him and tie him up. Then we will be able to control him. If you do this, each one of us will give you 28 pounds of silver.”

⁶ So Delilah said to Samson, “Tell me why you are so strong. How could someone tie you up and take control of you?”

⁷ Samson answered, “Someone would have to tie me up. He would have to use seven new bowstrings that have not been dried. If he did that, I would be as weak as any other man.”

⁸ Then the kings of the Philistines brought seven new bowstrings to Delilah. They had not been dried. She tied Samson with them. ⁹ Some men were hiding in another room. Delilah said to Samson, “Samson, the Philistines are about to capture you!” But Samson easily broke the bowstrings. They broke like pieces of string burned in a fire. So the Philistines did not find out the secret of Samson’s strength.

¹⁰ Then Delilah said to Samson, “You’ve made me look foolish. You lied to me. Please tell me. How could someone tie you up?”

¹¹ Samson said, “They would have to tie me with new ropes that have not been used before. Then I would become as weak as any other man.”

¹² So Delilah took new ropes and tied Samson. Some men were hiding in another room. Then she called out to him, “Samson, the Philistines are about to capture you!” But he broke the ropes as easily as if they were threads.

¹³ Then Delilah said to Samson, “Until now, you have made me look foolish. You have lied to me. Tell me how someone could tie you up.”

He said, “Use the loom.^[a] Weave the seven braids of my hair into the cloth. Tighten it with a pin. Then I will become as weak as any other man.”

Then Samson went to sleep. So Delilah wove the seven braids of his hair into the cloth. ¹⁴ Then she fastened it with a pin.

Again she called out to him, “Samson, the Philistines are about to capture you!” Samson woke up and pulled up the pin and the loom with the cloth.

¹⁵ Then Delilah said to him, “How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when you don’t even trust me? This is the third time you have made me look foolish. You haven’t told me the secret of your great strength.” ¹⁶ She kept bothering Samson about his secret day after day. He became so tired of it he felt he was going to die!

¹⁷ So he told her everything. He said, “I have never had my hair cut. I have been set apart to God as a Nazirite since I was born. If someone shaved my head, then I would lose my strength. I would become as weak as any other man.”

¹⁸ Delilah saw that he had told her everything sincerely. So she sent a message to the kings of the Philistines. She said, “Come back one more time. He has told me everything.” So the kings of the Philistines came back to Delilah. They brought the silver they had promised to give her. ¹⁹ Delilah got Samson to go to sleep. He was lying in her lap. Then she called in a man to shave off the seven braids of Samson’s hair. In this way she began to make him weak. And Samson’s strength left him.

²⁰ Then she called out to him, “Samson, the Philistines are about to capture you!”

He woke up and thought, “I’ll get loose as I did before and shake myself free.” But he did not know that the Lord had left him.

²¹ Then the Philistines captured Samson. They tore out his eyes. And they took him down to Gaza. They put bronze chains on him. They put him in prison and made him grind grain. ²² But his hair began to grow again.

¹⁵ It is true that some preach about Christ because they are jealous and bitter. But others preach about Christ because they want to help. ¹⁶ They preach because they have love, and they know that God gave me the work of defending the Good News. ¹⁷ But others preach about Christ because they are selfish. Their reason for preaching is wrong. They want to make trouble for me in prison.

¹⁸ But I do not care if they make trouble for me. The important thing is that they are preaching about Christ. They should do it for the right reasons. But I am happy even if they do it for wrong reasons. And I will continue to be happy. ¹⁹ You are praying for me, and the Spirit of Jesus Christ helps me. So I know that this trouble will bring my freedom. ²⁰ The thing I want and hope for is that I will not fail Christ in anything. I hope that I will have the courage now, as always, to show the greatness of Christ in my life here on earth. I want to do that if I die or if I live. ²¹ To me the only important thing about living is Christ. And even death would be profit for me.