JUDGES 15:1- 16:31
JOHN 2:1- 25
PSALM 103:1- 22
PROVERBS 14:17- 19
Later on, during the wheat harvest, Samson took a young goat as a present to his wife. He intended to sleep with her, but her father wouldn't let him in. 2 "I really thought you hated her," her father explained, "so I gave her in marriage to your best man. But look, her sister is more beautiful than she is. Marry her instead." 3 Samson said, "This time I cannot be blamed for everything I am going to do to you Philistines." 4 Then he went out and caught three hundred foxes. He tied their tails together in pairs, and he fastened a torch to each pair of tails. 5 Then he lit the torches and let the foxes run through the fields of the Philistines. He burned all their grain to the ground, including the grain still in piles and all that had been bundled. He also destroyed their grapevines and olive trees. 6 "Who did this?" the Philistines demanded. "Samson," was the reply, "because his father- in- law from Timnah gave Samson's wife to be married to his best man." So the Philistines went and got the woman and her father and burned them to death. 7 "Because you did this," Samson vowed, "I will take my revenge on you, and I won't stop until I'm satisfied!" 8 So he attacked the Philistines with great fury and killed many of them. Then he went to live in a cave in the rock of Etam. 9 The Philistines retaliated by setting up camp in Judah and raiding the town of Lehi. 10 The men of Judah asked the Philistines, "Why have you attacked us?" The Philistines replied, "We've come to capture Samson. We have come to pay him back for what he did to us." 11 So three thousand men of Judah went down to get Samson at the cave in the rock of Etam. They said to Samson, "Don't you realize the Philistines rule over us? What are you doing to us?" But Samson replied, "I only paid them back for what they did to me." 12 But the men of Judah told him, "We have come to tie you up and hand you over to the Philistines." "All right," Samson said. "But promise that you won't kill me yourselves." 13 "We will tie you up and hand you over to the Philistines," they replied. "We won't kill you." So they tied him up with two new ropes and led him away from the rock. 14 As Samson arrived at Lehi, the Philistines came shouting in triumph. But the Spirit of the LORD powerfully took control of Samson, and he snapped the ropes on his arms as if they were burnt strands of flax, and they fell from his wrists. 15 Then he picked up a donkey's jawbone that was lying on the ground and killed a thousand Philistines with it. 16 And Samson said, "With the jawbone of a donkey,
I've made heaps on heaps!
With the jawbone of a donkey,
I've killed a thousand men!"
17 When he finished speaking, he threw away the jawbone; and the place was named Jawbone Hill. 18 Now Samson was very thirsty, and he cried out to the LORD, "You have accomplished this great victory by the strength of your servant. Must I now die of thirst and fall into the hands of these pagan people?" 19 So God caused water to gush out of a hollow in the ground at Lehi, and Samson was revived as he drank. Then he named that place "The Spring of the One Who Cried Out," and it is still in Lehi to this day. 20 Samson was Israel's judge for twenty years, while the Philistines ruled the land. 16:1 ONE day Samson went to the Philistine city of Gaza and spent the night with a prostitute. 2 Word soon spread that Samson was there, so the men of Gaza gathered together and waited all night at the city gates. They kept quiet during the night, saying to themselves, "When the light of morning comes, we will kill him." 3 But Samson stayed in bed only until midnight. Then he got up, took hold of the city gates with its two posts, and lifted them, bar and all, right out of the ground. He put them on his shoulders and carried them all the way to the top of the hill across from Hebron. 4 Later Samson fell in love with a woman named Delilah, who lived in the valley of Sorek. 5 The leaders of the Philistines went to her and said, "Find out from Samson what makes him so strong and how he can be overpowered and tied up securely. Then each of us will give you eleven hundred pieces of silver." 6 So Delilah said to Samson, "Please tell me what makes you so strong and what it would take to tie you up securely." 7 Samson replied, "If I am tied up with seven new bowstrings that have not yet been dried, I will be as weak as anyone else." 8 So the Philistine leaders brought Delilah seven new bowstrings, and she tied Samson up with them. 9 She had hidden some men in one of the rooms of her house, and she cried out, "Samson! The Philistines have come to capture you!" But Samson snapped the bowstrings as if they were string that had been burned in a fire. So the secret of his strength was not discovered. 10 Afterward Delilah said to him, "You made fun of me and told me a lie! Now please tell me how you can be tied up securely." 11 Samson replied, "If I am tied up with brand- new ropes that have never been used, I will be as weak as anyone else." 12 So Delilah took new ropes and tied him up with them. The men were hiding in the room as before, and again Delilah cried out, "Samson! The Philistines have come to capture you!" But Samson snapped the ropes from his arms as if they were thread. 13 Then Delilah said, "You have been making fun of me and telling me lies! Won't you please tell me how you can be tied up securely?" Samson replied, "If you weave the seven braids of my hair into the fabric on your loom and tighten it with the loom shuttle, I will be as weak as anyone else." So while he slept, Delilah wove the seven braids of his hair into the fabric 14 and tightened it with the loom shuttle. Again she cried out, "Samson! The Philistines have come to capture you!" But Samson woke up, pulled back the loom shuttle, and yanked his hair away from the loom and the fabric. 15 Then Delilah pouted, "How can you say you love me when you don't confide in me? You've made fun of me three times now, and you still haven't told me what makes you so strong!" 16 So day after day she nagged him until he couldn't stand it any longer. 17 Finally, Samson told her his secret. "My hair has never been cut," he confessed, "for I was dedicated to God as a Nazirite from birth. If my head were shaved, my strength would leave me, and I would become as weak as anyone else." 18 Delilah realized he had finally told her the truth, so she sent for the Philistine leaders. "Come back one more time," she said, "for he has told me everything." So the Philistine leaders returned and brought the money with them. 19 Delilah lulled Samson to sleep with his head in her lap, and she called in a man to shave off his hair, making his capture certain. And his strength left him. 20 Then she cried out, "Samson! The Philistines have come to capture you!" When he woke up, he thought, "I will do as before and shake myself free." But he didn't realize the LORD had left him. 21 So the Philistines captured him and gouged out his eyes. They took him to Gaza, where he was bound with bronze chains and made to grind grain in the prison. 22 But before long his hair began to grow back. 23 The Philistine leaders held a great festival, offering sacrifices and praising their god, Dagon. They said, "Our god has given us victory over our enemy Samson!" 24 When the people saw him, they praised their god, saying, "Our god has delivered our enemy to us! The one who killed so many of us is now in our power!" 25 Half drunk by now, the people demanded, "Bring out Samson so he can perform for us!" So he was brought from the prison and made to stand at the center of the temple, between the two pillars supporting the roof. 26 Samson said to the servant who was leading him by the hand, "Place my hands against the two pillars. I want to rest against them." 27 The temple was completely filled with people. All the Philistine leaders were there, and there were about three thousand on the roof who were watching Samson and making fun of him. 28 Then Samson prayed to the LORD, "Sovereign LORD, remember me again. O God, please strengthen me one more time so that I may pay back the Philistines for the loss of my eyes." 29 Then Samson put his hands on the center pillars of the temple and pushed against them with all his might. 30 "Let me die with the Philistines," he prayed. And the temple crashed down on the Philistine leaders and all the people. So he killed more people when he died than he had during his entire lifetime. 31 Later his brothers and other relatives went down to get his body. They took him back home and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol, where his father, Manoah, was buried. Samson had been Israel's judge for twenty years.
The next day Jesus 'mother was a guest at a wedding celebration in the village of Cana in Galilee. 2 Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the celebration. 3 The wine supply ran out during the festivities, so Jesus' mother spoke to him about the problem. "They have no more wine," she told him. 4 "How does that concern you and me?" Jesus asked. "My time has not yet come." 5 But his mother told the servants, "Do whatever he tells you." 6 Six stone waterpots were standing there; they were used for Jewish ceremonial purposes and held twenty to thirty gallons each. 7 Jesus told the servants, "Fill the jars with water." When the jars had been filled to the brim, 8 he said, "Dip some out and take it to the master of ceremonies." So they followed his instructions. 9 When the master of ceremonies tasted the water that was now wine, not knowing where it had come from (though, of course, the servants knew), he called the bridegroom over. 10 "Usually a host serves the best wine first," he said. "Then, when everyone is full and doesn't care, he brings out the less expensive wines. But you have kept the best until now!" 11 This miraculous sign at Cana in Galilee was Jesus 'first display of his glory. And his disciples believed in him. 12 After the wedding he went to Capernaum for a few days with his mother, his brothers, and his disciples. 13 It was time for the annual Passover celebration, and Jesus went to Jerusalem. 14 In the Temple area he saw merchants selling cattle, sheep, and doves for sacrifices; and he saw money changers behind their counters. 15 Jesus made a whip from some ropes and chased them all out of the Temple. He drove out the sheep and oxen, scattered the money changers' coins over the floor, and turned over their tables. 16 Then, going over to the people who sold doves, he told them, "Get these things out of here. Don't turn my Father's house into a marketplace!" 17 Then his disciples remembered this prophecy from the Scriptures:"Passion for God's house burns within me." 18 "What right do you have to do these things?" the Jewish leaders demanded. "If you have this authority from God, show us a miraculous sign to prove it." 19 "All right," Jesus replied. "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." 20 "What!" they exclaimed. "It took forty- six years to build this Temple, and you can do it in three days?" 21 But by "this temple," Jesus meant his body. 22 After he was raised from the dead, the disciples remembered that he had said this. And they believed both Jesus and the Scriptures. 23 Because of the miraculous signs he did in Jerusalem at the Passover celebration, many people were convinced that he was indeed the Messiah. 24 But Jesus didn't trust them, because he knew what people were really like. 25 No one needed to tell him about human nature.
A psalm of David.
1 Praise the LORD, I tell myself;
with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name.
2 Praise the LORD, I tell myself,
and never forget the good things he does for me.
3 He forgives all my sins
and heals all my diseases.
4 He ransoms me from death
and surrounds me with love and tender mercies.
5 He fills my life with good things.
My youth is renewed like the eagle's!
6 The LORD gives righteousness
and justice to all who are treated unfairly.
7 He revealed his character to Moses
and his deeds to the people of Israel.
8 The LORD is merciful and gracious;
he is slow to get angry and full of unfailing love.
9 He will not constantly accuse us,
nor remain angry forever.
10 He has not punished us for all our sins,
nor does he deal with us as we deserve.
11 For his unfailing love toward those who fear him
is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth.
12 He has removed our rebellious acts
as far away from us as the east is from the west.
13 The LORD is like a father to his children,
tender and compassionate to those who fear him.
14 For he understands how weak we are;
he knows we are only dust.
15 Our days on earth are like grass;
like wildflowers, we bloom and die.
16 The wind blows, and we are gone--
as though we had never been here.
17 But the love of the LORD remains forever
with those who fear him.
His salvation extends to the children's children
18 of those who are faithful to his covenant,
of those who obey his commandments!
19 The LORD has made the heavens his throne;
from there he rules over everything.
20 Praise the LORD, you angels of his,
you mighty creatures who carry out his plans,
listening for each of his commands.
21 Yes, praise the LORD, you armies of angels
who serve him and do his will!
22 Praise the LORD, everything he has created,
everywhere in his kingdom.
As for me-- I, too, will praise the LORD.
Those who are short- tempered do foolish things, and schemers are hated. The simpleton is clothed with folly, but the wise person is crowned with knowledge. Evil people will bow before good people; the wicked will bow at the gates of the godly
JOHN 2:1- 25
PSALM 103:1- 22
PROVERBS 14:17- 19
Later on, during the wheat harvest, Samson took a young goat as a present to his wife. He intended to sleep with her, but her father wouldn't let him in. 2 "I really thought you hated her," her father explained, "so I gave her in marriage to your best man. But look, her sister is more beautiful than she is. Marry her instead." 3 Samson said, "This time I cannot be blamed for everything I am going to do to you Philistines." 4 Then he went out and caught three hundred foxes. He tied their tails together in pairs, and he fastened a torch to each pair of tails. 5 Then he lit the torches and let the foxes run through the fields of the Philistines. He burned all their grain to the ground, including the grain still in piles and all that had been bundled. He also destroyed their grapevines and olive trees. 6 "Who did this?" the Philistines demanded. "Samson," was the reply, "because his father- in- law from Timnah gave Samson's wife to be married to his best man." So the Philistines went and got the woman and her father and burned them to death. 7 "Because you did this," Samson vowed, "I will take my revenge on you, and I won't stop until I'm satisfied!" 8 So he attacked the Philistines with great fury and killed many of them. Then he went to live in a cave in the rock of Etam. 9 The Philistines retaliated by setting up camp in Judah and raiding the town of Lehi. 10 The men of Judah asked the Philistines, "Why have you attacked us?" The Philistines replied, "We've come to capture Samson. We have come to pay him back for what he did to us." 11 So three thousand men of Judah went down to get Samson at the cave in the rock of Etam. They said to Samson, "Don't you realize the Philistines rule over us? What are you doing to us?" But Samson replied, "I only paid them back for what they did to me." 12 But the men of Judah told him, "We have come to tie you up and hand you over to the Philistines." "All right," Samson said. "But promise that you won't kill me yourselves." 13 "We will tie you up and hand you over to the Philistines," they replied. "We won't kill you." So they tied him up with two new ropes and led him away from the rock. 14 As Samson arrived at Lehi, the Philistines came shouting in triumph. But the Spirit of the LORD powerfully took control of Samson, and he snapped the ropes on his arms as if they were burnt strands of flax, and they fell from his wrists. 15 Then he picked up a donkey's jawbone that was lying on the ground and killed a thousand Philistines with it. 16 And Samson said, "With the jawbone of a donkey,
I've made heaps on heaps!
With the jawbone of a donkey,
I've killed a thousand men!"
17 When he finished speaking, he threw away the jawbone; and the place was named Jawbone Hill. 18 Now Samson was very thirsty, and he cried out to the LORD, "You have accomplished this great victory by the strength of your servant. Must I now die of thirst and fall into the hands of these pagan people?" 19 So God caused water to gush out of a hollow in the ground at Lehi, and Samson was revived as he drank. Then he named that place "The Spring of the One Who Cried Out," and it is still in Lehi to this day. 20 Samson was Israel's judge for twenty years, while the Philistines ruled the land. 16:1 ONE day Samson went to the Philistine city of Gaza and spent the night with a prostitute. 2 Word soon spread that Samson was there, so the men of Gaza gathered together and waited all night at the city gates. They kept quiet during the night, saying to themselves, "When the light of morning comes, we will kill him." 3 But Samson stayed in bed only until midnight. Then he got up, took hold of the city gates with its two posts, and lifted them, bar and all, right out of the ground. He put them on his shoulders and carried them all the way to the top of the hill across from Hebron. 4 Later Samson fell in love with a woman named Delilah, who lived in the valley of Sorek. 5 The leaders of the Philistines went to her and said, "Find out from Samson what makes him so strong and how he can be overpowered and tied up securely. Then each of us will give you eleven hundred pieces of silver." 6 So Delilah said to Samson, "Please tell me what makes you so strong and what it would take to tie you up securely." 7 Samson replied, "If I am tied up with seven new bowstrings that have not yet been dried, I will be as weak as anyone else." 8 So the Philistine leaders brought Delilah seven new bowstrings, and she tied Samson up with them. 9 She had hidden some men in one of the rooms of her house, and she cried out, "Samson! The Philistines have come to capture you!" But Samson snapped the bowstrings as if they were string that had been burned in a fire. So the secret of his strength was not discovered. 10 Afterward Delilah said to him, "You made fun of me and told me a lie! Now please tell me how you can be tied up securely." 11 Samson replied, "If I am tied up with brand- new ropes that have never been used, I will be as weak as anyone else." 12 So Delilah took new ropes and tied him up with them. The men were hiding in the room as before, and again Delilah cried out, "Samson! The Philistines have come to capture you!" But Samson snapped the ropes from his arms as if they were thread. 13 Then Delilah said, "You have been making fun of me and telling me lies! Won't you please tell me how you can be tied up securely?" Samson replied, "If you weave the seven braids of my hair into the fabric on your loom and tighten it with the loom shuttle, I will be as weak as anyone else." So while he slept, Delilah wove the seven braids of his hair into the fabric 14 and tightened it with the loom shuttle. Again she cried out, "Samson! The Philistines have come to capture you!" But Samson woke up, pulled back the loom shuttle, and yanked his hair away from the loom and the fabric. 15 Then Delilah pouted, "How can you say you love me when you don't confide in me? You've made fun of me three times now, and you still haven't told me what makes you so strong!" 16 So day after day she nagged him until he couldn't stand it any longer. 17 Finally, Samson told her his secret. "My hair has never been cut," he confessed, "for I was dedicated to God as a Nazirite from birth. If my head were shaved, my strength would leave me, and I would become as weak as anyone else." 18 Delilah realized he had finally told her the truth, so she sent for the Philistine leaders. "Come back one more time," she said, "for he has told me everything." So the Philistine leaders returned and brought the money with them. 19 Delilah lulled Samson to sleep with his head in her lap, and she called in a man to shave off his hair, making his capture certain. And his strength left him. 20 Then she cried out, "Samson! The Philistines have come to capture you!" When he woke up, he thought, "I will do as before and shake myself free." But he didn't realize the LORD had left him. 21 So the Philistines captured him and gouged out his eyes. They took him to Gaza, where he was bound with bronze chains and made to grind grain in the prison. 22 But before long his hair began to grow back. 23 The Philistine leaders held a great festival, offering sacrifices and praising their god, Dagon. They said, "Our god has given us victory over our enemy Samson!" 24 When the people saw him, they praised their god, saying, "Our god has delivered our enemy to us! The one who killed so many of us is now in our power!" 25 Half drunk by now, the people demanded, "Bring out Samson so he can perform for us!" So he was brought from the prison and made to stand at the center of the temple, between the two pillars supporting the roof. 26 Samson said to the servant who was leading him by the hand, "Place my hands against the two pillars. I want to rest against them." 27 The temple was completely filled with people. All the Philistine leaders were there, and there were about three thousand on the roof who were watching Samson and making fun of him. 28 Then Samson prayed to the LORD, "Sovereign LORD, remember me again. O God, please strengthen me one more time so that I may pay back the Philistines for the loss of my eyes." 29 Then Samson put his hands on the center pillars of the temple and pushed against them with all his might. 30 "Let me die with the Philistines," he prayed. And the temple crashed down on the Philistine leaders and all the people. So he killed more people when he died than he had during his entire lifetime. 31 Later his brothers and other relatives went down to get his body. They took him back home and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol, where his father, Manoah, was buried. Samson had been Israel's judge for twenty years.
The next day Jesus 'mother was a guest at a wedding celebration in the village of Cana in Galilee. 2 Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the celebration. 3 The wine supply ran out during the festivities, so Jesus' mother spoke to him about the problem. "They have no more wine," she told him. 4 "How does that concern you and me?" Jesus asked. "My time has not yet come." 5 But his mother told the servants, "Do whatever he tells you." 6 Six stone waterpots were standing there; they were used for Jewish ceremonial purposes and held twenty to thirty gallons each. 7 Jesus told the servants, "Fill the jars with water." When the jars had been filled to the brim, 8 he said, "Dip some out and take it to the master of ceremonies." So they followed his instructions. 9 When the master of ceremonies tasted the water that was now wine, not knowing where it had come from (though, of course, the servants knew), he called the bridegroom over. 10 "Usually a host serves the best wine first," he said. "Then, when everyone is full and doesn't care, he brings out the less expensive wines. But you have kept the best until now!" 11 This miraculous sign at Cana in Galilee was Jesus 'first display of his glory. And his disciples believed in him. 12 After the wedding he went to Capernaum for a few days with his mother, his brothers, and his disciples. 13 It was time for the annual Passover celebration, and Jesus went to Jerusalem. 14 In the Temple area he saw merchants selling cattle, sheep, and doves for sacrifices; and he saw money changers behind their counters. 15 Jesus made a whip from some ropes and chased them all out of the Temple. He drove out the sheep and oxen, scattered the money changers' coins over the floor, and turned over their tables. 16 Then, going over to the people who sold doves, he told them, "Get these things out of here. Don't turn my Father's house into a marketplace!" 17 Then his disciples remembered this prophecy from the Scriptures:"Passion for God's house burns within me." 18 "What right do you have to do these things?" the Jewish leaders demanded. "If you have this authority from God, show us a miraculous sign to prove it." 19 "All right," Jesus replied. "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." 20 "What!" they exclaimed. "It took forty- six years to build this Temple, and you can do it in three days?" 21 But by "this temple," Jesus meant his body. 22 After he was raised from the dead, the disciples remembered that he had said this. And they believed both Jesus and the Scriptures. 23 Because of the miraculous signs he did in Jerusalem at the Passover celebration, many people were convinced that he was indeed the Messiah. 24 But Jesus didn't trust them, because he knew what people were really like. 25 No one needed to tell him about human nature.
A psalm of David.
1 Praise the LORD, I tell myself;
with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name.
2 Praise the LORD, I tell myself,
and never forget the good things he does for me.
3 He forgives all my sins
and heals all my diseases.
4 He ransoms me from death
and surrounds me with love and tender mercies.
5 He fills my life with good things.
My youth is renewed like the eagle's!
6 The LORD gives righteousness
and justice to all who are treated unfairly.
7 He revealed his character to Moses
and his deeds to the people of Israel.
8 The LORD is merciful and gracious;
he is slow to get angry and full of unfailing love.
9 He will not constantly accuse us,
nor remain angry forever.
10 He has not punished us for all our sins,
nor does he deal with us as we deserve.
11 For his unfailing love toward those who fear him
is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth.
12 He has removed our rebellious acts
as far away from us as the east is from the west.
13 The LORD is like a father to his children,
tender and compassionate to those who fear him.
14 For he understands how weak we are;
he knows we are only dust.
15 Our days on earth are like grass;
like wildflowers, we bloom and die.
16 The wind blows, and we are gone--
as though we had never been here.
17 But the love of the LORD remains forever
with those who fear him.
His salvation extends to the children's children
18 of those who are faithful to his covenant,
of those who obey his commandments!
19 The LORD has made the heavens his throne;
from there he rules over everything.
20 Praise the LORD, you angels of his,
you mighty creatures who carry out his plans,
listening for each of his commands.
21 Yes, praise the LORD, you armies of angels
who serve him and do his will!
22 Praise the LORD, everything he has created,
everywhere in his kingdom.
As for me-- I, too, will praise the LORD.
Those who are short- tempered do foolish things, and schemers are hated. The simpleton is clothed with folly, but the wise person is crowned with knowledge. Evil people will bow before good people; the wicked will bow at the gates of the godly
