04 April - Judges 13-15

Jude Sat Dec 08, 2018 11:21 am

My soul doth magnify my YAH, and my spirit hath rejoiced in EL my Saviour; For HE that is mighty hath done to me great things; and Holy is HIS Name. Now unto HIM who is ever present in my helpless estate; who is able to keep me from falling and to present me faultless before the presence of His Glory with exceeding joy, unto the King Eternal, Immortal, Invisible, the only wise EL our Saviour be honour and glory and majesty, dominion and power both now and for ever Halleluyah!

JUDGES 13

1And again the children of Yisra’ĕl did evil in the eyes of יהוה, so יהוה gave them into the hand of the Philistines for forty years.

2And there was a certain man from Tsor‛ah, of the clan of the Danites, whose name was Manowaḥ. And his wife was barren and had not borne.

3And a Messenger of יהוה appeared to the woman and said to her, “See now, you are barren and have not borne, but you shall conceive, and you shall bear a son.

4“And now, please guard, and do not drink wine or strong drink, and do not eat any unclean food.

5“For look, you are conceiving and bearing a son. And let no razor come upon his head, for the youth is a Nazirite to Elohim from the womb on. And he shall begin to save Yisra’ĕl out of the hand of the Philistines.”

6And the woman came and spoke to her husband, saying, “A Man of Elohim came to me, and His appearance was like the appearance of a Messenger of Elohim, very awesome. But I did not ask Him where He was from, and He did not declare to me His name.

7“And He said to me, ‘See, you are conceiving and bearing a son. And now, drink no wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean food, for the youth is a Nazirite to Elohim from the womb to the day of his death.’ ”

8And Manowaḥ prayed to יהוה, and said, “O יהוה, please let the Man of Elohim whom You sent come to us again and teach us what to do for the youth who is to be born.”

9And Elohim listened to the voice of Manowaḥ, and the Messenger of Elohim came to the woman again as she was sitting in the field, but Manowaḥ her husband was not with her.

10And the woman ran hurriedly and informed her husband, and said to him, “See, He has appeared to me, the Man who came to me the other day!”

11And Manowaḥ arose and went after his wife, and came to the Man, and he said to Him, “Are You the Man who spoke to this woman?” And He said, “I am.”

12And Manowaḥ said, “Now let Your words come true! What is to be the rule for the youth’s life and his work?”

13And the Messenger of יהוה said to Manowaḥ, “Let the woman guard all that I said to her.

14“Let her not eat any food that comes from the vine, neither let her drink wine or strong drink, or eat any unclean food. Let her guard all that which I have commanded her.”

15And Manowaḥ said to the Messenger of יהוה, “Please let us detain You, and prepare a young goat for You.”

16And the Messenger of יהוה said to Manowaḥ, “Though you detain Me, I do not eat your food. But if you offer a burnt offering, offer it to יהוה.” For Manowaḥ did not know He was a Messenger of יהוה.

17Then Manowaḥ said to the Messenger of יהוה, “What is Your name? When Your words come true, then we shall esteem You.”

18And the Messenger of יהוה said to him, “Why do you ask My name, since it is wondrous?”

19And Manowaḥ took the young goat with the grain offering, and offered it upon the rock to יהוה. And He did wondrously while Manowaḥ and his wife looked on.

20And it came to be, as the flame went up toward the heavens from the altar, that the Messenger of יהוה went up in the flame of the altar. And Manowaḥ and his wife were watching, and they fell on their faces to the ground.

21And the Messenger of יהוה did not appear any more to Manowaḥ and his wife. Then Manowaḥ knew that He was a Messenger of יהוה.

22And Manowaḥ said to his wife, “We shall certainly die, because we have seen Elohim!”

23But his wife said to him, “If יהוה had been pleased to put us to death, He would not have accepted a burnt offering and a grain offering from our hands, nor would He have shown us all this, nor would He have let us hear the like of this!”

24So the woman bore a son and called his name Shimshon. And the child grew, and יהוה blessed him.

25And the Spirit of יהוה began to move him at Maḥanĕh Dan, between Tsor‛ah and Eshta’ol.

JUDGES 14

1And Shimshon went down to Timnah, and saw a woman in Timnah of the daughters of the Philistines.

2And he went up and informed his father and mother, saying, “I have seen a woman in Timnah of the daughters of the Philistines. And now, take her for me for a wife.”

3But his father and mother said to him, “Is there no woman among the daughters of your brothers, or among all my people, that you should take a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines?” And Shimshon said to his father, “Take her for me, for she is pleasing in my eyes.”

4However, his father and mother did not know that it was of יהוה, that He was seeking an occasion to move against the Philistines. For at that time the Philistines were ruling over Yisra’ĕl.

5Then Shimshon went down to Timnah with his father and mother, and came to the vineyards of Timnah, and saw a young lion came roaring at him.

6And the Spirit of יהוה came mightily upon him, and he tore it apart as the tearing apart of a young goat, with naught in his hand. But he did not make known to his father or his mother what he had done.

7And he went down and spoke to the woman, and she pleased Shimshon well.

8And when he returned later to take her, he turned aside to look at the carcass of the lion, and saw a swarm of bees and honey in the carcass of the lion.

9And he took some of it in his hands and went along, eating. And he came to his father and mother, and gave them, and they ate. But he did not make known to them that he took the honey out of the carcass of the lion.

10So his father went down to the woman. And Shimshon gave a feast there, for young men used to do so.

11And it came to be, when they saw him, that they brought thirty companions to be with him.

12And Shimshon said to them, “Please let me put forth a riddle to you. If you clearly solve and explain it to me within the seven days of the feast, then I shall give you thirty linen garments and thirty changes of garments.

13“But if you are unable to explain it to me, then you shall give me thirty linen shirts and thirty changes of garments.” And they said to him, “Put forth your riddle and let us hear it.”

14And he said to them, “Out of the eater came forth food, and out of the strong came forth sweetness.” And for three days they were unable to explain the riddle.

15And it came to be on the seventh day that they said to Shimshon’s wife, “Entice your husband to explain the riddle to us, or else we burn you and your father’s house with fire. Have you invited us in order to take what is ours? Is it not?”

16And Shimshon’s wife wept before him, and said, “You only hate me, and do not love me! You have put forth 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, and should I explain it to you?”

17And she had wept before him the seven days while their feast lasted. And it came to be on the seventh day that he informed her, because she pressed him so much. She then explained the riddle to the sons of her people.

18And 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 ploughed with my heifer, you would not have solved my riddle!”

19Then the Spirit of יהוה came upon him mightily, and he went down to Ashqelon and smote thirty of their men, stripped them, and gave the changes of garments to those who had explained the riddle. And his displeasure burned, and he went back up to his father’s house.

20And Shimshon’s wife was given to his companion, who had been his friend.

JUDGES 15

1And it came to be, after some time, in the days of wheat harvest, that Shimshon visited his wife with a young goat. And he said, “Let me go in to my wife, into her room.” But her father would not permit him to go in.

2And her father said, “Indeed, I thought that you hated her intensely; so I gave her to your companion. Is not her younger sister better than she? Please, take her instead.”

3And Shimshon said to them, “This time I am blameless regarding the Philistines if I do evil to them!”

4And Shimshon went and caught three hundred foxes, and took torches, and turned them tail to tail, and put a torch between each pair of tails,

5and set the torches on fire, and sent them out into the standing grain of the Philistines, and burned up both the shocks and the standing grain, even the vineyards and olive-trees.

6And the Philistines said, “Who did this?” And they answered, “Shimshon, the son-in-law of the Timnite, because he took away his wife and gave her to his companion.” Then the Philistines went up and burned her and her father with fire.

7And Shimshon said to them, “Though you do this, yet I shall take revenge on you, and after that I cease.”

8And he smote them hip and thigh, a great slaughter, and went down and dwelt in the cleft of the rock of Ěytam.

9The Philistines then went up and encamped in Yehuḏah, and spread out against Leḥi.

10And the men of Yehuḏah said, “Why have you come up against us?” And they answered, “We have come up to bind Shimshon, to do to him as he has did to us.”

11Then three thousand men of Yehuḏah went down to the cleft of the rock of Ěytam and said to Shimshon, “Do you not know that the Philistines are rulers over us? Why have you have done this to us?” And he said to them, “As they did to me, so I did to them.”

12And they said to him, “We have come down to bind you, to give you into the hand of the Philistines.” And Shimshon said to them, “Swear to me not to fall on me yourselves.”

13And they spoke to him, saying, “No, but we are certainly going to bind you, and shall give you into their hand but certainly not kill you.” So they bound him with two new ropes and brought him up from the rock.

14When he came to Leḥi, the Philistines came shouting to meet him. And the Spirit of יהוה 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.

15And he found a fresh jawbone of a donkey, and put out his hand and took it, and smote a thousand men with it.

16And Shimshon said, “With the jawbone of a donkey, one heap, two heaps, with the jawbone of a donkey I have smitten a thousand men!”

17And it came to be, when he had ended speaking, that he threw the jawbone from his hand, and called that place Ramath Leḥi.

18And he became very thirsty, and cried out to יהוה and said, “You have given this great deliverance by the hand of Your servant. And now, am I to die of thirst and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised?”

19And Elohim split the hollow place that is in Leḥi, and water came out, and he drank. And his spirit came back, and he revived. So he called its name Ěn Haqqore, which is in Leḥi to this day.

20And he ruled Yisra’ĕl twenty years in the days of the Philistines.