Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

This is a song that David wrote.

God answers prayer

Samson marries a Philistine woman

14 One day Samson went to Timnah. Samson saw a young Philistine woman. ² When he returned home, he said to his father and mother, ‘I have seen a young Philistine woman in Timnah and I want to marry her. Please get her for me as my wife.’

³ His parents replied, ‘You do not need to go to the Philistines to get a wife. They are not the Lord's people. There is surely someone among our own relatives or other Israelites that you would like to marry.’ But Samson said to his father, ‘You must get her for me. She is the right girl for me to marry.’

⁴ Samson's parents did not realize that the Lord was causing this to happen. The Lord wanted to prepare a way for the Israelites to attack the Philistines, because the Philistines were ruling over Israel at that time.

⁵ Samson went to Timnah, and his parents went too. When he reached some vineyards near Timnah, an angry young lion ran out to attack him. ⁶ The Lord's Spirit gave Samson great strength. He tore the lion into pieces with his hands. He made it seem very easy, as if he was killing a goat. But he did not tell his father or his mother what he had done.

⁷ Then Samson continued on his journey to Timnah. He spoke with the young woman, and she pleased him very much.

⁸ Some time later, Samson returned to Timnah to marry the young woman. He turned off the path to look at the lion's body. Inside it, there was a crowd of bees and some honey. ⁹ He took the honey out with his hands. He ate it as he walked along. Then he went to his parents. He gave some of the honey to them and they ate it. But he did not tell them that he had taken it from the body of the dead lion.

¹⁰ Then Samson's father went to Timnah for Samson's marriage. Samson prepared a party for the people there. All the young men did this when they married. ¹¹ When the Philistines saw what Samson was doing, they sent 30 young men to be his friends. ¹² Samson said to them, ‘Listen to this clever question. Try to give me an answer before my party finishes in seven days. If you answer the question, I will give you 30 linen shirts and 30 sets of clothes. ¹³ But if you cannot tell me the answer, you will give me 30 linen shirts and 30 sets of clothes.’ The young men said, ‘Tell us your question.’^[a]

¹⁴ Samson said to them:

After three days, the Philistine men could not find the answer.

¹⁵ On the fourth day they said to Samson's wife, ‘Find a way to make your husband tell you the answer. If you do not, we will use fire to destroy your father's house, with you inside it! Did you ask us to come to your marriage party to make us poor?’

¹⁶ Then Samson's wife went to him and she wept. She said to him, ‘It seems that you hate me. You do not really love me. You have asked my friends a clever question, but you have not told me the answer.’

Samson said to her, ‘I have not told the answer even to my father or mother. So why should I tell you?’

¹⁷ Samson's wife continued to weep like that all the days of the party. Finally, she gave him so much trouble that he told her the answer on the seventh day. Then she told the young men the answer to Samson's question.

¹⁸ Before sunset on the seventh day, the men of the town gave their answer to Samson:

Samson said to them, ‘You have used my young cow to do your work! Without her you would not have found the answer to my question.’

¹⁹ The Lord's Spirit took hold of Samson. He went to Ashkelon and he killed 30 Philistine men there. He took all their clothes and he gave them to the 30 men who had answered his question. He was still very angry as he went back to his family's home.

²⁰ Samson's wife became the wife of the man who had been his special friend at the party.

Paul thanks God for the believers at Philippi

³ Every time that I think about you, I thank my God because of you. ⁴ I am always praying for you. Every time that I pray for you, I feel very happy. ⁵ I am happy because together we tell people the good news about Christ. You have always helped me with that work, since the first day that you yourselves heard the good news. ⁶ I know that God has begun to do good things in you. And I am sure that he will continue to work in you. Then, on the day when Jesus Christ returns, his work in you will be finished.

⁷ It is right for me to feel like this about all of you, because I love you very much. God has been very kind to all of us. Because you know that, you have continued to help me. You have helped me while I have been here in this prison. You also helped me when I was free and I could teach the good news. I explained to people why the good news is God's true message. Together, we have known how kind God is. ⁸ God knows that I very much want to be with all of you. I love you very much, just like Christ Jesus himself loves you.

⁹ This is what I pray for you. I pray that you will continue to love each other more and more. I pray that you will know God better and better. I pray that you will understand all those things that are true. ¹⁰ Then you will be able to choose what is best in the way that you live. Then, on the day when Christ returns, you will be completely clean. You will not be guilty of any bad thing. ¹¹ Because of the work that Jesus Christ has done in you, you will be right with God. And your lives will be full of good things. As a result, people will praise God and they will say that he is very great.

Paul has served God in prison

¹² My friends, I want you to know this. The trouble that has happened to me has helped more people to know about God's good news. ¹³ I am in a prison because I am Christ's servant.^[a] The soldiers in the king's house and all the people here know that. ¹⁴ Also, because I am in a prison, most of the other believers here trust the Lord even more. The Lord has made them brave, so that they are not afraid to speak God's message to people.