Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Davidic
A Prayer for Help
28 To you, Lord, I cry out!
My Rock, do not refuse to answer me.[a]
If you remain silent,
I will become like those who descend into the Pit.[b]
2 Hear the sound of my supplications when I cry to you for help,
as I lift up my hands toward your most holy sanctuary.
3 Do not drag me away with the wicked,
with those who practice iniquity,
who speak peace to their neighbors
while harboring evil in their hearts.
4 Reward them according to their deeds;
according to the evil of their actions.
Reward them based on what they do;[c]
give them what they deserve.
5 Because they do not understand the deeds of the Lord
or the work of his hands,
He will tear them down and never build them up.
6 Blessed be the Lord!
For he has heard the sound of my supplications.
7 The Lord is my strength and my shield;
my heart trusts in him,
and I received help.
My heart rejoices,
and I give thanks to him with my song.
8 The Lord is the strength of his people;[d]
he is a refuge of deliverance for his anointed.
9 Deliver your people
and bless your inheritance!
Shepherd them
and lift them up forever!
Samson’s Troubles in Gaza
16 Sometime later, Samson went to Gaza, saw a prostitute there, and went in to have sex with her. 2 When the Gazites were informed,[a] “Samson has come here!” they surrounded him, intending to lay in wait for him at the city gate throughout the entire night. They kept quiet all night, telling each other,[b] “At first light, let’s kill him!”
3 Meanwhile, Samson had sex until midnight, then at midnight he got up, grabbed the doors, the two door posts, and the bars of the city gate, and uprooted them. He put them on his shoulders and carried them to the top of the mountain opposite Hebron.
Samson Meets Delilah
4 After this incident, he loved a woman in Sorek Valley whose name was Delilah. 5 The Philistine officials approached her and told her, “Entice him to discover where his great strength is, and how we can overpower him. We intend to tie him up and torture him. We’ll each pay you 1,100 silver coins.”
6 So Delilah asked Samson, “Please tell me the secret to[c] your great strength and how you may be tied up and tortured.”
7 Samson replied, “If I’m tied up with seven green cords[d] that have never been dried out, then I’ll become weak and just like any other[e] human being.”
8 Then the Philistine leaders brought her seven green cords[f] that had never been dried, and she tied him up with them. 9 Meanwhile, some kidnappers were hiding inside an inner room, waiting for her signal.[g] So she told him, “The Philistines are attacking you!” But he snapped the cords[h] as one might break a burned candle wick.[i] So his secret[j] remained undiscovered.
10 Some time later, Delilah told Samson, “Look here! You’ve been mocking me and lying to me. Now please tell me how you can be tied up.”
11 He told her, “If I’m tied up securely with new ropes that have never been used, then I’ll become weak and just like any other[k] human being.”
12 So Delilah grabbed some new ropes and tied him up. Then she told him, “The Philistines are attacking you, Samson!” because some kidnappers were hiding inside an inner room. But he snapped the ropes[l] from his arms like thread.
13 Later on, Delilah told Samson, “You’re still mocking me and telling me lies! Tell me how to tie you up!”
He answered her, “If you weave the seven locks on my head into a loom and fasten it with a peg, then I will become weak and just like any other human being.”
14 So Delilah took the seven locks on his head and wove them into the loom while he slept.[m] She fastened his hair with a peg and then told him, “The Philistines are attacking you, Samson!” But he woke up from his nap and pulled the pin from the loom and the weaving.
Samson Tells Delilah His Secret
15 Some time later, she asked him, “How can you keep saying ‘I love you!’ when your heart isn’t with me? These three times you’ve lied to me and haven’t told me where your great strength lies.” 16 She nagged him every day with this speech, pestering him until he[n] was annoyed nearly[o] to death.
17 So he finally disclosed everything. He told her,[p] “A razor has never touched my head, because I’ve been a Nazirite for God before I was born.[q] If I am shaved, then my strength will abandon me and I will become weak like every human being.”
18 When Delilah realized that he had disclosed everything[r] to her, she sent for the Philistine officials and told them, “Hurry up and come here at once, because he has told me everything.”[s] So the Philistine officials went to her and brought their money with them. 19 So she enticed him to fall asleep on her lap, called for a man to shave off his seven locks of hair[t] from his head, and so began to humiliate him. Then his strength abandoned him.
20 When she cried out, “The Philistines are attacking you, Samson!” he woke from his sleep and told himself,[u] “I’ll go out like I did at other times like this and shake myself free.” But he didn’t know that the Lord had abandoned him.
Samson is Imprisoned by the Philistines
21 Then the Philistines grabbed him, gouged out his eyes, brought him down to Gaza, tied him up in bronze chains,[v] and made him grind grain in their prison.[w] 22 But the hair on his head began to grow again after it had been shaved off.
15 Some are preaching the Messiah[a] because of jealousy and dissension, while others do so[b] because of their good will. 16 The latter are motivated[c] by love, because they know that I have been appointed to defend the gospel. 17 The former proclaim the Messiah[d] because they are selfishly ambitious and insincere, thinking that they will stir up trouble for me during my imprisonment.
18 But so what? Just this—that in every way, whether by false or true motives, the Messiah[e] is being proclaimed. Because of this, I rejoice and will continue to rejoice. 19 I know that this will result in my deliverance through your prayers and the help that comes from the Spirit of Jesus the Messiah.[f] 20 I rejoice because I eagerly expect and hope that I will have nothing to be ashamed of, because through my[g] boldness the Messiah[h] will be exalted through me,[i] now as always, whether I live or die.[j]
21 For to me, to go on living is the Messiah,[k] and to die is gain.
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