Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

A Prayer for Help, and Praise for Its Answer.

A Psalm of David.

Samson’s Weakness

16 Now Samson went to ^(A)Gaza and saw a harlot there, and went in to her. ² When it was told to the Gazites, saying, “Samson has come here,” they ^(B)surrounded the place and lay in wait for him all night at the gate of the city. And they kept silent all night, saying, “Let us wait until the morning light, then we will kill him.” ³ Now Samson lay until midnight, and at midnight he arose and took hold of the doors of the city gate and the two posts and pulled them up along with the bars; then he put them on his shoulders and carried them up to the top of the mountain which is opposite Hebron.

⁴ After this it came about that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah. ⁵ The ^(C)lords of the Philistines came up to her and said to her, “^(D)Entice him, and see where his great strength lies and ^[a]how we may overpower him that we may bind him to afflict him. Then we will each give you eleven hundred pieces of silver.” ⁶ So Delilah said to Samson, “Please tell me where your great strength is and ^[b]how you may be bound to afflict you.” ⁷ Samson said to her, “If they bind me with seven fresh cords that have not been dried, then I will become weak and be like any other man.” ⁸ Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven fresh cords that had not been dried, and she bound him with them. ⁹ Now she had men lying in wait in an inner room. And she said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” But he snapped the cords as a string of tow snaps when it ^[c]touches fire. So his strength was not discovered.

¹⁰ Then Delilah said to Samson, “Behold, you have deceived me and told me lies; now please tell me ^[d]how you may be bound.” ¹¹ He said to her, “If they bind me tightly with new ropes ^[e]which have not been used, then I will become weak and be like any other man.” ¹² So Delilah took new ropes and bound him with them and said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” For the men were lying in wait in the inner room. But he snapped ^[f]the ropes from his arms like a thread.

¹³ Then Delilah said to Samson, “Up to now you have deceived me and told me lies; tell me ^[g]how you may be bound.” And he said to her, “If you weave the seven locks of my ^[h]hair with the web ^[i][and fasten it with a pin, then I will become weak and be like any other man.” ¹⁴ So while he slept, Delilah took the seven locks of his ^[j]hair and wove them into the web]. And she fastened it with the pin and said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” But he awoke from his sleep and pulled out the pin of the loom and the web.

Delilah Extracts His Secret

¹⁵ Then she said to him, “^(E)How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when your heart is not with me? You have deceived me these three times and have not told me where your great strength is.” ¹⁶ It came about when she pressed him daily with her words and urged him, that his soul was ^[k]annoyed to death. ¹⁷ So he told her all that was in his heart and said to her, “A razor has never come on my head, for I have been a ^(F)Nazirite to God from my mother’s womb. If I am shaved, then my strength will leave me and I will become weak and be like any other man.”

¹⁸ When Delilah saw that he had told her all that was in his heart, she sent and called the lords of the Philistines, saying, “Come up once more, for he has told me all that is in his heart.” Then the lords of the Philistines came up to her and brought the money in their hands. ¹⁹ She made him sleep on her knees, and called for a man and had him shave off the seven locks of his ^[l]hair. Then she began to afflict him, and his strength left him. ²⁰ She said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” And he awoke from his sleep and said, “I will go out as at other times and shake myself free.” But he did not know that ^(G)the Lord had departed from him. ²¹ Then the Philistines seized him and gouged out his eyes; and they brought him down to Gaza and bound him with bronze chains, and he was a grinder in the prison. ²² However, the hair of his head began to grow again after it was shaved off.

^15 (A)Some, to be sure, are preaching Christ even ^[a]from envy and strife, but some also ^[b]from good will; ¹⁶ the latter do it out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the ^(B)gospel; ¹⁷ the former proclaim Christ ^(C)out of selfish ambition ^[c]rather than from pure motives, thinking to cause me distress in my ^[d](D)imprisonment. ¹⁸ What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed; and in this I rejoice.

Yes, and I will rejoice, ¹⁹ for I know that this will turn out for my ^[e]deliverance ^(E)through your ^[f]prayers and the provision of ^(F)the Spirit of Jesus Christ, ²⁰ according to my ^(G)earnest expectation and ^(H)hope, that I will not be put to shame in anything, but that with ^(I)all boldness, Christ will even now, as always, be ^(J)exalted in my body, ^(K)whether by life or by death.

To Live Is Christ

²¹ For to me, ^(L)to live is Christ and to die is gain.