Hello, this is Father Paul, and I'm glad we're
taking this journey together to read the Bible
in a year. Today's reading is from Judges chapters
14 through 16. Chapter 14 Now Samson went down
to Timnah and saw a woman in Timnah of the daughters
of the Philistines. So he went up and told his
father and mother, saying, I have seen a woman
in Timnah of the daughters of the Philistines.
Now therefore get her for me as a wife. Then
his father and mother said to him, Is there no
woman among the daughters of your brethren, or
among all my people, that you must go and get
away from the uncircumcised Philistines? And
Samson said to his father, Get her for me, for
she pleases me well. But his father and mother
did not know that it was of the Lord that he
was seeking an occasion to move against the Philistines,
for at that time the Philistines had dominion
over Israel. So Samson went down to Timnah with
his father and mother, and came to the vineyards
of Timnah. Now to his surprise a young lion came
roaring against him, and the Spirit of the Lord
came mightily upon him, and he tore the lion
apart as one would have torn apart a young goat,
though he had nothing in his hand. But he did
not tell his father or his mother what he had
done. Then he went down and talked with the woman,
and she pleased Samson well. After some time,
when he returned to get her, he turned aside
to see the carcass of the lion. And behold, a
swarm of bees and honey were in the carcass of
the lion. He took some of it in his hands and
went along eating. When he came to his father
and mother, he gave some to them, and they also
ate. But he did not tell them that he had taken
the honey out of the carcass of the lion. So
his father went down to the woman, and Samson
gave a feast there, for young men used to do
so. And it happened when they saw him that they
brought thirty companions to be with him. Then
Samson said to them, Let me pose a riddle to
you. If you can correctly solve and explain it
to me within the seven days of the feast, then
I will give you thirty linen garments and thirty
changes of clothing. But if you cannot explain
it to me, then you shall give me thirty linen
garments and thirty changes of clothing. And
they said to him, Pose your riddle, that we may
hear it. So he said to them, Out of the eater
came something to eat, and out of the strong
came something sweet. Now for three days they
could not explain the riddle, but it came to
pass on the seventh day that they said to Samson's
wife, Entice your husband that he may explain
to us, or else we will burn you and your father's
house with fire. Have you invited us in order
to take what is ours? Is that not so? Then Samson's
wife wept on him and said, You only hate me,
you do not love me. You have posed a riddle to
the sons of my people, but you have not explained
it to me. And he said to her, Look, I have not
explained it to my father or my mother, so should
I explain it to you? Now she had wept on him
the seven days while their feast lasted, and
it happened on the seventh day that he told her,
because she pressed him so much. Then she explained
the riddle to the sons of her people. So the
men of the city said to him on the seventh day
before the sun went down, What is sweeter than
honey, and what is stronger than a lion? And
he said to them, If you had not plowed with my
heifer, you would not have solved my riddle.
Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon him mightily,
and he went down to Ashkelon and killed thirty
of their men. took their apparel, and gave the
changes of clothing to those who had explained
the riddle. So his anger was aroused, and he
went back up to his father's house, and Samson's
wife was given to his companion, who had been
his best man. After a while, in the time of wheat
harvest, it happened that Samson visited his
wife with a young goat, and he said, Let me go
into my wife, into her room. But her father would
not permit him to go in. Her father said, I really
thought that you thoroughly hated her. Therefore
I gave her to your companion. Is not her younger
sister better than she? Please take her instead.
And Samson said to them, This time I shall be
blameless regarding the Philistines, if I harm
them. Then Samson went and caught three hundred
foxes, and he took torches, turned the foxes
tail to tail, and put a torch between each pair
of tails. When he had set the torches on fire,
he let the foxes go into the standing grain of
the Philistines, and burnt up both the shocks
and the standing grain, as well as the vineyards
and olive groves. Then the Philistines said,
Who has done this? And they answered, Samson,
the son -in -law of the Timnite, because he has
taken his wife and given her to his companion.
So the Philistines came up and burnt her and
her father with fire. Samson said to them, Since
you would do a thing like this, I will surely
take revenge on you, and after that I will cease.
So he attacked them hip and thigh with a great
slaughter. Then he went down and dwelt in the
cleft of the rock of Etam. Now the Philistines
went up and camped in Judah and deployed themselves
against Leahy. And the men of Judah said, Why
have you come up against us? So they answered,
We have come up to arrest Samson, to do to him
as he had done to us. Then three thousand men
of Judah went down to the cleft of the rock of
Etham and said to Samson, Do you not know that
the Philistines rule over us? What is this you
have done to us? And he said to them, As they
did to me, so I have done to them. But they said
to him, We have come down to arrest you, that
we may deliver you into the hand of the Philistines.
Then Samson said to them, Swear to me that you
will not kill me yourselves. So they spoke to
him, saying, No, but we will tie you securely
and deliver you into their hand. But we will
surely not kill you. And they bound him with
two new ropes and brought him up from the rock.
When he came to Leahy, the Philistines came shouting
against him. Then the Spirit of the Lord came
mightily upon him, and the ropes that were on
his arms became like flax that is burned with
fire, and his bonds broke loose from his hands.
He found a fresh jawbone of a donkey, reached
out his hand and took it, and killed a thousand
men with it. Then Samson said, With the jawbone
of a donkey, heaps upon heaps. With the jawbone
of a donkey, I have slain a thousand men. And
so it was, when he had finished speaking, that
he threw the jawbone from his hand and called
that place Ramat Lahi. Then he became very thirsty,
so he cried out to the Lord and said, You have
given this great deliverance by the hand of your
servant, and now shall I die of thirst and fall
into the hand of the uncircumcised? So God split
the hollow place that is in Lahi, and water came
out and he drank, and his spirit returned and
he revived. Therefore he called its name In -Hakor,
which is in Lahi to this day. And he judged Israel
twenty years in the days of the Philistines.
Chapter 16 Now Samson went to Gaza and saw a
harlot there, and went into her. When the Gazites
were told, Samson has come here, they surrounded
the place and lay in wait for him all night at
the gate of the city. They were quiet all night,
saying in the morning, when it is daylight, we
will kill him. And Samson lay low till midnight.
Then he arose at midnight, took hold of the doors
of the gate of the city, and the two gate -posts,
pulled them up, bar and all, put them on his
shoulders, and carried them to the top of the
hill that faces Hebron. Afterward it happened
that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek,
whose name was Delilah. And the lords of the
Philistines came up to her and said to her, Entice
him, and find out where his great strength lies.
And by what means we may overpower him, that
we may bind him to afflict him. And every one
of us will give you eleven hundred pieces of
silver. So Delilah said to Samson, Please tell
me where your great strength lies, and with what
you may be bound to afflict you. And Samson said
to her, If they bind me with seven fresh bowstrings,
not yet dried, then I shall become weak and be
like any other man. So the lords of the Philistines
brought up to her seven fresh bowstrings, not
yet dried, and she bound him with them. Now men
were lying in wait, staying with her in the room.
And she said to him, The Philistines are upon
you, Samson. But he broke the bow strings as
a strand of yarn breaks when it touches fire,
so the secret of his strength was not known.
Then Delilah said to Samson, Look, you have mocked
me and told me lies. Now please tell me what
you may be bound with. So he said to her, If
they bind me securely with new ropes that have
never been used, then I shall become weak and
be like any other man. Therefore Delilah took
new ropes and bound him with them and said to
him, The Philistines are upon you, Samson. And
men were lying in wait, staying in the room.
but he broke them off his arms like a thread.
Delilah said to Samson, Until now you have mocked
me and told me lies. Tell me what you may be
bound with. And he said to her, If you weave
the seven locks of my head into the web of the
loom. So she wove it tightly with the baton of
the loom, and said to him, The Philistines are
upon you, Samson. But he awoke from his sleep,
pulled out the baton and the web from the loom.
Then she said to him, How can you say I love
you when your heart is not with me? You have
mocked me these three times, and have not told
me where your great strength lies. And it came
to pass, when she pestered him daily with her
words and pressed him, so that his soul was vexed
to death, that he told her all his heart and
said to her, No razor has ever come upon my head,
for I have been a Nazarite to God from my mother's
womb. If I am shaven, then my strength will leave
me, and I shall become weak and be like any other
man. When Delilah saw that he had told her all
his heart, she sent and called for the lords
of the Philistines, saying, Come up once more,
for he has told me all his heart. So the lords
of the Philistines came up to her and brought
the money in their hand. Then she lulled him
to sleep on her knees and called for a man and
had him shave off the seven locks of his head.
Then she began to torment him. and his strength
left him. And she said, The Philistines are upon
you, Samson. So he awoke from his sleep and said,
I will go out as before at other times and shake
myself free. But he did not know that the Lord
had departed from him. Then the Philistines took
him and put out his eyes and brought him down
to Gaza. They bound him with bronze fetters,
and he became a grinder in the prison. However,
the hair of his head began to grow again after
it had been shaven. Now the lords of the Philistines
gathered together to offer a great sacrifice
to Dagon their god, and to rejoice, and they
said, Our god has delivered into our hands Samson
our enemy. When the people saw him, they praised
their god, for they said, Our god has delivered
into our hands our enemy, the destroyer of our
land, and the one who multiplied our dead. So
it happened, when their hearts were merry, that
they said, Call for Samson, that he may perform
for us. So they called for Samson from the prison,
and he performed for them. And they stationed
him between the pillars. Then Samson said to
the lad who held him by the hand, Let me feel
the pillars which support the temple so that
I can lean on them. Now the temple was full of
men and women. All the lords of the Philistines
were there, about three thousand men and women
on the roof watching while Samson performed.
Then Samson called to the Lord, saying, O Lord
God, remember me, I pray. Strengthen me, I pray,
just this once. O God, that I may with one blow
take vengeance on the Philistines for my two
eyes. And Samson took hold of the two middle
pillars which supported the temple, and he braced
himself against them, one on his right and the
other on his left. Then Samson said, Let me die
with the Philistines. And he pushed with all
his might, and the temple fell on the lords and
all the people who were in it. So the dead that
he killed at his death were more than he had
killed in his life. And his brothers and all
his father's household came down and took him,
and brought him up and buried him between Zorah
and Ishtawol in the tomb of his father Manoah.
He had judged Israel twenty years. I hope you
enjoyed today's reading as much as I did, and
I look forward to seeing you again tomorrow to
continue on our journey. God bless you and have
a great day.