Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

⁹ The P’lishtim went up, pitched camp in Y’hudah and attacked Lechi. ¹⁰ The men of Y’hudah said, “Why are you attacking us?” They replied, “To arrest Shimshon, that’s why — to treat him the way he treated us.” ¹¹ Then 3,000 men from Y’hudah went down to the cave at the Eitam Rock and said to Shimshon, “Don’t you know that the P’lishtim are our rulers? What are you doing to us?” He answered, “I’ve only treated them the way they treated me.” ¹² They said to him, “We’ve come down to arrest you and hand you over to the P’lishtim.” Shimshon replied, “Swear to me that you won’t fall on me yourselves.” ¹³ They said to him, “No, but we will tie you up and hand you over to them. However, we promise not to kill you.” So they tied him up with two new ropes and brought him up from the rock. ¹⁴ When he got to Lechi, the P’lishtim came running and shouting at him; and the Spirit of Adonai came on him powerfully. The ropes on his arms became as weak as burnt flax and fell from his arms. ¹⁵ He found a fresh donkey jawbone, took it in his hand, and with it he struck down a thousand men. ¹⁶ Shimshon said,

¹⁷ After he finished speaking he threw the jawbone away, and the place came to be called Ramat-Lechi [jawbone heights].

¹⁸ Then he felt very thirsty, so he called on Adonai, saying, “You accomplished this great rescue through your servant. But am I now to die from thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?” ¹⁹ Then God made a gash in the crater at Lechi, and water came out. When he had drunk, his spirit came back; and he revived. This is why the place was called ‘Ein-HaKorei [the spring of him who called], and it is there in Lechi until now. ²⁰ He judged Isra’el in the period of the P’lishtim for twenty years.

¹⁴ As they came up to the crowd, a man approached Yeshua, kneeled down in front of him, ¹⁵ and said, “Sir, have mercy on my son, because he is an epileptic and has such terrible fits that he often falls into the fire or into the water. ¹⁶ I brought him to your talmidim, but they couldn’t heal him.” ¹⁷ Yeshua answered, “Perverted people, without any trust! How long will I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring him here to me!” ¹⁸ Yeshua rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy, so that from that moment he was healed.

¹⁹ Then the talmidim went to him privately and said, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?” ²⁰ He said to them, “Because you have such little trust! Yes! I tell you that if you have trust as tiny as a mustard seed, you will be able to say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there!’ and it will move; indeed, nothing will be impossible for you!” ^21 [a]