Month: May 2018

The Birth of Samuel

1 There was a certain man from Ramathaim,^(A) a Zuphite^[a](B) from the hill country^(C) of Ephraim,^(D) whose name was Elkanah^(E) son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite. ² He had two wives;^(F) one was called Hannah and the other Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah had none.

³ Year after year^(G) this man went up from his town to worship^(H) and sacrifice to the Lord Almighty at Shiloh,^(I) where Hophni and Phinehas, the two sons of Eli,^(J) were priests of the Lord. ⁴ Whenever the day came for Elkanah to sacrifice,^(K) he would give portions of the meat to his wife Peninnah and to all her sons and daughters.^{(L) 5} But to Hannah he gave a double portion^(M) because he loved her, and the Lord had closed her womb.^{(N) 6} Because the Lord had closed Hannah’s womb, her rival kept provoking her in order to irritate her.^{(O) 7} This went on year after year. Whenever Hannah went up to the house of the Lord, her rival provoked her till she wept and would not eat.^{(P) 8} Her husband Elkanah would say to her, “Hannah, why are you weeping? Why don’t you eat? Why are you downhearted? Don’t I mean more to you than ten sons?^(Q)”

⁹ Once when they had finished eating and drinking in Shiloh, Hannah stood up. Now Eli the priest was sitting on his chair by the doorpost of the Lord’s house.^{(R) 10} In her deep anguish^(S) Hannah prayed to the Lord, weeping bitterly. ¹¹ And she made a vow,^(T) saying, “Lord Almighty^(U), if you will only look on your servant’s misery and remember^(V) me, and not forget your servant but give her a son, then I will give him to the Lord for all the days of his life,^(W) and no razor^(X) will ever be used on his head.”

¹² As she kept on praying to the Lord, Eli observed her mouth. ¹³ Hannah was praying in her heart, and her lips were moving but her voice was not heard. Eli thought she was drunk ¹⁴ and said to her, “How long are you going to stay drunk? Put away your wine.”

¹⁵ “Not so, my lord,” Hannah replied, “I am a woman who is deeply troubled.^(Y) I have not been drinking wine or beer; I was pouring^(Z) out my soul to the Lord. ¹⁶ Do not take your servant for a wicked woman; I have been praying here out of my great anguish and grief.”^(AA)

¹⁷ Eli answered, “Go in peace,^(AB) and may the God of Israel grant you what you have asked of him.^(AC)”

¹⁸ She said, “May your servant find favor in your eyes.^(AD)” Then she went her way and ate something, and her face was no longer downcast.^(AE)

¹⁹ Early the next morning they arose and worshiped before the Lord and then went back to their home at Ramah.^(AF) Elkanah made love to his wife Hannah, and the Lord remembered^(AG) her. ²⁰ So in the course of time Hannah became pregnant and gave birth to a son.^(AH) She named^(AI) him Samuel,^[b](AJ) saying, “Because I asked the Lord for him.”

Hannah Dedicates Samuel

²¹ When her husband Elkanah went up with all his family to offer the annual^(AK) sacrifice to the Lord and to fulfill his vow,^{(AL) 22} Hannah did not go. She said to her husband, “After the boy is weaned, I will take him and present^(AM) him before the Lord, and he will live there always.”^[c]

²³ “Do what seems best to you,” her husband Elkanah told her. “Stay here until you have weaned him; only may the Lord make good^(AN) his^[d] word.” So the woman stayed at home and nursed her son until she had weaned^(AO) him.

²⁴ After he was weaned, she took the boy with her, young as he was, along with a three-year-old bull,^[e](AP) an ephah^[f] of flour and a skin of wine, and brought him to the house of the Lord at Shiloh. ²⁵ When the bull had been sacrificed, they brought the boy to Eli, ²⁶ and she said to him, “Pardon me, my lord. As surely as you live, I am the woman who stood here beside you praying to the Lord. ²⁷ I prayed^(AQ) for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of him. ²⁸ So now I give him to the Lord. For his whole life^(AR) he will be given over to the Lord.” And he worshiped the Lord there.

Hannah’s Prayer

2 Then Hannah prayed and said:^(AS)

¹¹ Then Elkanah went home to Ramah,^(CB) but the boy ministered^(CC) before the Lord under Eli the priest.

Eli’s Wicked Sons

¹² Eli’s sons were scoundrels; they had no regard^(CD) for the Lord. ¹³ Now it was the practice^(CE) of the priests that, whenever any of the people offered a sacrifice, the priest’s servant would come with a three-pronged fork in his hand while the meat^(CF) was being boiled ¹⁴ and would plunge the fork into the pan or kettle or caldron or pot. Whatever the fork brought up the priest would take for himself. This is how they treated all the Israelites who came to Shiloh. ¹⁵ But even before the fat was burned, the priest’s servant would come and say to the person who was sacrificing, “Give the priest some meat to roast; he won’t accept boiled meat from you, but only raw.”

¹⁶ If the person said to him, “Let the fat^(CG) be burned first, and then take whatever you want,” the servant would answer, “No, hand it over now; if you don’t, I’ll take it by force.”

¹⁷ This sin of the young men was very great in the Lord’s sight, for they^[h] were treating the Lord’s offering with contempt.^(CH)

¹⁸ But Samuel was ministering^(CI) before the Lord—a boy wearing a linen ephod.^{(CJ) 19} Each year his mother made him a little robe and took it to him when she went up with her husband to offer the annual^(CK) sacrifice. ²⁰ Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife, saying, “May the Lord give you children by this woman to take the place of the one she prayed^(CL) for and gave to^[i] the Lord.” Then they would go home. ²¹ And the Lord was gracious to Hannah;^(CM) she gave birth to three sons and two daughters. Meanwhile, the boy Samuel grew^(CN) up in the presence of the Lord.

The Healing at the Pool

5 Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals. ² Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate^(A) a pool, which in Aramaic^(B) is called Bethesda^[a] and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. ³ Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. ^{[4] [b] 5} One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. ⁶ When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?”

⁷ “Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.”

⁸ Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.”^{(C) 9} At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.

The day on which this took place was a Sabbath,^{(D) 10} and so the Jewish leaders^(E) said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat.”^(F)

¹¹ But he replied, “The man who made me well said to me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’ ”

¹² So they asked him, “Who is this fellow who told you to pick it up and walk?”

¹³ The man who was healed had no idea who it was, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there.

¹⁴ Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, “See, you are well again. Stop sinning^(G) or something worse may happen to you.” ¹⁵ The man went away and told the Jewish leaders^(H) that it was Jesus who had made him well.

The Authority of the Son

¹⁶ So, because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jewish leaders began to persecute him. ¹⁷ In his defense Jesus said to them, “My Father^(I) is always at his work^(J) to this very day, and I too am working.” ¹⁸ For this reason they tried all the more to kill him;^(K) not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.^(L)

¹⁹ Jesus gave them this answer: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself;^(M) he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. ²⁰ For the Father loves the Son^(N) and shows him all he does. Yes, and he will show him even greater works than these,^(O) so that you will be amazed. ²¹ For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life,^(P) even so the Son gives life^(Q) to whom he is pleased to give it. ²² Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son,^{(R) 23} that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him.^(S)

Ruth Meets Boaz in the Grain Field

2 Now Naomi had a relative^(A) on her husband’s side, a man of standing^(B) from the clan of Elimelek,^(C) whose name was Boaz.^(D)

² And Ruth the Moabite^(E) said to Naomi, “Let me go to the fields and pick up the leftover grain^(F) behind anyone in whose eyes I find favor.^(G)”

Naomi said to her, “Go ahead, my daughter.” ³ So she went out, entered a field and began to glean behind the harvesters.^(H) As it turned out, she was working in a field belonging to Boaz, who was from the clan of Elimelek.^(I)

⁴ Just then Boaz arrived from Bethlehem and greeted the harvesters, “The Lord be with you!^(J)”

“The Lord bless you!^(K)” they answered.

⁵ Boaz asked the overseer of his harvesters, “Who does that young woman belong to?”

⁶ The overseer replied, “She is the Moabite^(L) who came back from Moab with Naomi. ⁷ She said, ‘Please let me glean and gather among the sheaves^(M) behind the harvesters.’ She came into the field and has remained here from morning till now, except for a short rest^(N) in the shelter.”

⁸ So Boaz said to Ruth, “My daughter, listen to me. Don’t go and glean in another field and don’t go away from here. Stay here with the women who work for me. ⁹ Watch the field where the men are harvesting, and follow along after the women. I have told the men not to lay a hand on you. And whenever you are thirsty, go and get a drink from the water jars the men have filled.”

¹⁰ At this, she bowed down with her face to the ground.^(O) She asked him, “Why have I found such favor in your eyes that you notice me^(P)—a foreigner?^(Q)”

¹¹ Boaz replied, “I’ve been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law^(R) since the death of your husband^(S)—how you left your father and mother and your homeland and came to live with a people you did not know^(T) before.^{(U) 12} May the Lord repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the Lord,^(V) the God of Israel,^(W) under whose wings^(X) you have come to take refuge.^(Y)”

¹³ “May I continue to find favor in your eyes,^(Z) my lord,” she said. “You have put me at ease by speaking kindly to your servant—though I do not have the standing of one of your servants.”

¹⁴ At mealtime Boaz said to her, “Come over here. Have some bread^(AA) and dip it in the wine vinegar.”

When she sat down with the harvesters,^(AB) he offered her some roasted grain.^(AC) She ate all she wanted and had some left over.^{(AD) 15} As she got up to glean, Boaz gave orders to his men, “Let her gather among the sheaves^(AE) and don’t reprimand her. ¹⁶ Even pull out some stalks for her from the bundles and leave them for her to pick up, and don’t rebuke^(AF) her.”

¹⁷ So Ruth gleaned in the field until evening. Then she threshed^(AG) the barley she had gathered, and it amounted to about an ephah.^{[a](AH) 18} She carried it back to town, and her mother-in-law saw how much she had gathered. Ruth also brought out and gave her what she had left over^(AI) after she had eaten enough.

¹⁹ Her mother-in-law asked her, “Where did you glean today? Where did you work? Blessed be the man who took notice of you!^(AJ)”

Then Ruth told her mother-in-law about the one at whose place she had been working. “The name of the man I worked with today is Boaz,” she said.

²⁰ “The Lord bless him!^(AK)” Naomi said to her daughter-in-law.^(AL) “He has not stopped showing his kindness^(AM) to the living and the dead.” She added, “That man is our close relative;^(AN) he is one of our guardian-redeemers.^[b](AO)”

²¹ Then Ruth the Moabite^(AP) said, “He even said to me, ‘Stay with my workers until they finish harvesting all my grain.’”

²² Naomi said to Ruth her daughter-in-law, “It will be good for you, my daughter, to go with the women who work for him, because in someone else’s field you might be harmed.”

²³ So Ruth stayed close to the women of Boaz to glean until the barley^(AQ) and wheat harvests^(AR) were finished. And she lived with her mother-in-law.

Ruth and Boaz at the Threshing Floor

3 One day Ruth’s mother-in-law Naomi^(AS) said to her, “My daughter, I must find a home^[c](AT) for you, where you will be well provided for. ² Now Boaz, with whose women you have worked, is a relative^(AU) of ours. Tonight he will be winnowing barley on the threshing floor.^{(AV) 3} Wash,^(AW) put on perfume,^(AX) and get dressed in your best clothes.^(AY) Then go down to the threshing floor, but don’t let him know you are there until he has finished eating and drinking.^{(AZ) 4} When he lies down, note the place where he is lying. Then go and uncover his feet and lie down. He will tell you what to do.”

⁵ “I will do whatever you say,”^(BA) Ruth answered. ⁶ So she went down to the threshing floor^(BB) and did everything her mother-in-law told her to do.

⁷ When Boaz had finished eating and drinking and was in good spirits,^(BC) he went over to lie down at the far end of the grain pile.^(BD) Ruth approached quietly, uncovered his feet and lay down. ⁸ In the middle of the night something startled the man; he turned—and there was a woman lying at his feet!

⁹ “Who are you?” he asked.

“I am your servant Ruth,” she said. “Spread the corner of your garment^(BE) over me, since you are a guardian-redeemer^[d](BF) of our family.”

¹⁰ “The Lord bless you,^(BG) my daughter,” he replied. “This kindness is greater than that which you showed earlier:^(BH) You have not run after the younger men, whether rich or poor. ¹¹ And now, my daughter, don’t be afraid. I will do for you all you ask. All the people of my town know that you are a woman of noble character.^{(BI) 12} Although it is true that I am a guardian-redeemer of our family,^(BJ) there is another who is more closely related than^(BK) I. ¹³ Stay here for the night, and in the morning if he wants to do his duty as your guardian-redeemer,^(BL) good; let him redeem you. But if he is not willing, as surely as the Lord lives^(BM) I will do it.^(BN) Lie here until morning.”

¹⁴ So she lay at his feet until morning, but got up before anyone could be recognized; and he said, “No one must know that a woman came to the threshing floor.^(BO)”^(BP)

¹⁵ He also said, “Bring me the shawl^(BQ) you are wearing and hold it out.” When she did so, he poured into it six measures of barley and placed the bundle on her. Then he^[e] went back to town.

¹⁶ When Ruth came to her mother-in-law, Naomi asked, “How did it go, my daughter?”

Then she told her everything Boaz had done for her ¹⁷ and added, “He gave me these six measures of barley, saying, ‘Don’t go back to your mother-in-law empty-handed.’”

¹⁸ Then Naomi said, “Wait, my daughter, until you find out what happens. For the man will not rest until the matter is settled today.”^(BR)

Boaz Marries Ruth

4 Meanwhile Boaz went up to the town gate^(BS) and sat down there just as the guardian-redeemer^[f](BT) he had mentioned^(BU) came along. Boaz said, “Come over here, my friend, and sit down.” So he went over and sat down.

² Boaz took ten of the elders^(BV) of the town and said, “Sit here,” and they did so.^{(BW) 3} Then he said to the guardian-redeemer, “Naomi, who has come back from Moab, is selling the piece of land that belonged to our relative Elimelek.^{(BX) 4} I thought I should bring the matter to your attention and suggest that you buy it in the presence of these seated here and in the presence of the elders of my people. If you will redeem it, do so. But if you^[g] will not, tell me, so I will know. For no one has the right to do it except you,^(BY) and I am next in line.”

“I will redeem it,” he said.

⁵ Then Boaz said, “On the day you buy the land from Naomi, you also acquire Ruth the Moabite,^(BZ) the^[h] dead man’s widow, in order to maintain the name of the dead with his property.”^(CA)

⁶ At this, the guardian-redeemer said, “Then I cannot redeem^(CB) it because I might endanger my own estate. You redeem it yourself. I cannot do it.”^(CC)

⁷ (Now in earlier times in Israel, for the redemption^(CD) and transfer of property to become final, one party took off his sandal^(CE) and gave it to the other. This was the method of legalizing transactions^(CF) in Israel.)^(CG)

⁸ So the guardian-redeemer said to Boaz, “Buy it yourself.” And he removed his sandal.^(CH)

⁹ Then Boaz announced to the elders and all the people, “Today you are witnesses^(CI) that I have bought from Naomi all the property of Elimelek, Kilion and Mahlon. ¹⁰ I have also acquired Ruth the Moabite,^(CJ) Mahlon’s widow, as my wife,^(CK) in order to maintain the name of the dead with his property, so that his name will not disappear from among his family or from his hometown.^(CL) Today you are witnesses!^(CM)”

¹¹ Then the elders and all the people at the gate^(CN) said, “We are witnesses.^(CO) May the Lord make the woman who is coming into your home like Rachel and Leah,^(CP) who together built up the family of Israel. May you have standing in Ephrathah^(CQ) and be famous in Bethlehem.^{(CR) 12} Through the offspring the Lord gives you by this young woman, may your family be like that of Perez,^(CS) whom Tamar^(CT) bore to Judah.”

Naomi Gains a Son

¹³ So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. When he made love to her, the Lord enabled her to conceive,^(CU) and she gave birth to a son.^{(CV) 14} The women^(CW) said to Naomi: “Praise be to the Lord,^(CX) who this day has not left you without a guardian-redeemer.^(CY) May he become famous throughout Israel! ¹⁵ He will renew your life and sustain you in your old age. For your daughter-in-law,^(CZ) who loves you and who is better to you than seven sons,^(DA) has given him birth.”

¹⁶ Then Naomi took the child in her arms and cared for him. ¹⁷ The women living there said, “Naomi has a son!” And they named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse,^(DB) the father of David.^(DC)

The Genealogy of David^(DD)

¹⁸ This, then, is the family line of Perez^(DE):

Jesus Heals an Official’s Son

⁴³ After the two days^(A) he left for Galilee. ⁴⁴ (Now Jesus himself had pointed out that a prophet has no honor in his own country.)^{(B) 45} When he arrived in Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him. They had seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the Passover Festival,^(C) for they also had been there.

⁴⁶ Once more he visited Cana in Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine.^(D) And there was a certain royal official whose son lay sick at Capernaum. ⁴⁷ When this man heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea,^(E) he went to him and begged him to come and heal his son, who was close to death.

⁴⁸ “Unless you people see signs and wonders,”^(F) Jesus told him, “you will never believe.”

⁴⁹ The royal official said, “Sir, come down before my child dies.”

⁵⁰ “Go,” Jesus replied, “your son will live.”

The man took Jesus at his word and departed. ⁵¹ While he was still on the way, his servants met him with the news that his boy was living. ⁵² When he inquired as to the time when his son got better, they said to him, “Yesterday, at one in the afternoon, the fever left him.”

⁵³ Then the father realized that this was the exact time at which Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live.” So he and his whole household^(G) believed.

⁵⁴ This was the second sign^(H) Jesus performed after coming from Judea to Galilee.

Israel Provides Wives for the Surviving Men of Benjamin

21 The men of Israel had taken this oath in Mizpah: “None of us will ever let our daughters marry anyone from Benjamin.”

² The people went to Bethel and sat there in the presence of Elohim until evening. They cried very loudly, ³ “Yahweh Elohim of Israel, why has this happened among us? Why should one tribe be missing today in Israel?”

⁴ The next day the people got up early. They built an altar there and sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. ⁵ The people asked, “Is there any family from Israel that did not take part in the assembly in the presence of Yahweh?” They had taken a solemn oath that whoever had not come into the presence of Yahweh at Mizpah must be put to death.

⁶ The people of Israel felt sorry for their close relatives, the men of Benjamin. They said, “Today one tribe has been excluded from Israel. ⁷ What will we do to provide wives for the men who are left? We swore to Yahweh that we would not let any of our daughters marry them.” ⁸ Then they asked, “Is there any family from Israel that did not come into the presence of Yahweh at Mizpah?” No one from Jabesh Gilead had come to the assembly in the camp. ⁹ So they questioned the people, and there was no one there from Jabesh Gilead.

¹⁰ The congregation sent 12,000 soldiers. They ordered them, “Go and kill the people of Jabesh Gilead, including the women and children. ¹¹ These are your directions: Claim every female who has gone to bed with a man, and claim every male. Claim them for the Lord by destroying them.”

¹² Among the people of Jabesh Gilead they found 400 unmarried women who had never gone to bed with a man. They brought them to the camp at Shiloh in Canaan.

¹³ Then the whole congregation sent messengers to the men of Benjamin at Rimmon Rock and offered them peace. ¹⁴ So the men of Benjamin came back at that time. These men were given the women from Jabesh Gilead who had been kept alive. However, the congregation had not found enough women for all of them.

¹⁵ The congregation felt sorry for the people of Benjamin because Yahweh had broken the unity of the tribes of Israel. ¹⁶ The leaders of the congregation asked, “What should we do to provide wives for the men who are left, since the women in Benjamin have been killed?”

¹⁷ Some said, “Benjamin’s men who survived must be allowed to have families. No tribe of Israel should be wiped out. ¹⁸ However, we can’t give them any of our daughters as wives. The people of Israel have taken an oath that whoever gives wives to the men of Benjamin is under a curse.”

¹⁹ Others said, “Every year Yahweh’s festival is held at Shiloh. Shiloh is north of Bethel, east of the highway going from Bethel to Shechem, and south of Lebonah.” ²⁰ So they told the men of Benjamin, “Hide in the vineyards and ²¹ watch. When the young women of Shiloh come out to take part in the dances, come out of the vineyards. Each of you catch a woman from Shiloh to be your wife. Then go back to the territory of Benjamin. ²² When their fathers or brothers come to us to complain, we’ll tell them, ‘Have pity on them, since we didn’t provide a wife for each man in the battle. You won’t be guilty because you didn’t give them the wives yourselves.’”

²³ The men of Benjamin did just that. They captured the number of wives they needed from the women who were dancing and went home. So they rebuilt their cities and lived in them.

²⁴ At that time the people of Israel left. Each man went to his tribe and family. They all went home.

²⁵ In those days Israel didn’t have a king. Everyone did whatever he considered right.

The Move to Moab and Tragedy

1 In the days when the judges were ruling, there was a famine in the land. A man from Bethlehem in Judah went with his wife and two sons to live for a while in the country of Moab. ² The man’s name was Elimelech, his wife’s name was Naomi, and the names of their two sons were Mahlon and Chilion. They were descendants of Ephrathah from Bethlehem in the territory of Judah. They went to the country of Moab and lived there.

³ Now, Naomi’s husband Elimelech died, and she was left alone with her two sons. ⁴ Each son married a woman from Moab. One son married a woman named Orpah, and the other son married a woman named Ruth. They lived there for about ten years. ⁵ Then both Mahlon and Chilion died as well. So Naomi was left alone, without her two sons or her husband.

Departure from Moab

⁶ Naomi and her daughters-in-law started on the way back from the country of Moab. (While they were still in Moab she heard that Yahweh had come to help his people and give them food. ⁷ So she left the place where she had been living, and her two daughters-in-law went with her.) They began to walk back along the road to the territory of Judah.

Naomi’s Appeal to Her Daughters-in-law

⁸ Then Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go back! Each of you should go back to your mother’s home. May Yahweh be as kind to you as you were to me and to our loved ones who have died. ⁹ May Yahweh repay each of you so that you may find security in a home with a husband.”

When she kissed them goodbye, they began to cry loudly. ¹⁰ They said to her, “We are going back with you to your people.”

¹¹ But Naomi said, “Go back, my daughters. Why should you go with me? Do I have any more sons in my womb who could be your husbands? ¹² Go back, my daughters. Go, because I am too old to get married again. If I said that I still have hope. . . . And if I had a husband tonight. . . . And even if I gave birth to sons, ¹³ would you wait until they grew up and stay single just for them? No, my daughters. My bitterness is much worse than yours because Yahweh has sent me so much trouble.”

¹⁴ They began to cry loudly again. Then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law goodbye, but Ruth held on to her tightly. ¹⁵ Naomi said, “Look, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods. Go back with your sister-in-law.”

¹⁶ But Ruth answered, “Don’t force me to leave you. Don’t make me turn back from following you. Wherever you go, I will go, and wherever you stay, I will stay. Your people will be my people, and your Elohim will be my Elohim. ¹⁷ Wherever you die, I will die, and I will be buried there with you. May Yahweh strike me down if anything but death separates you and me!”

¹⁸ When Naomi saw that Ruth was determined to go with her, she ended the conversation.

Naomi Arrives in Bethlehem

¹⁹ So both of them went on until they came to Bethlehem. When they entered Bethlehem, the whole town was excited about them. “This can’t be Naomi, can it?” the women asked.

²⁰ She answered them, “Don’t call me Naomi [Sweet]. Call me Mara [Bitter] because Shadday has made my life very bitter. ²¹ I went away full, but Yahweh has brought me back empty. Why do you call me Naomi when Yahweh has tormented me and Shadday has done evil to me?”

²² When Naomi came back from the country of Moab, Ruth, her Moabite daughter-in-law, came along with her. They happened to enter Bethlehem just when the barley harvest began.

⁴ Yeshua had to go through Samaria. ⁵ He arrived at a city in Samaria called Sychar. Sychar was near the piece of land that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. ⁶ Jacob’s Well was there. Yeshua sat down by the well because he was tired from traveling. The time was about six o’clock in the evening.

⁷ A Samaritan woman went to get some water. Yeshua said to her, “Give me a drink of water.” ⁸ (His disciples had gone into the city to buy some food.)

⁹ The Samaritan woman asked him, “How can a Jewish man like you ask a Samaritan woman like me for a drink of water?” (Jews, of course, don’t associate with Samaritans.)

¹⁰ Yeshua replied to her, “If you only knew what God’s gift is and who is asking you for a drink, you would have asked him for a drink. He would have given you living water.”

¹¹ The woman said to him, “Sir, you don’t have anything to use to get water, and the well is deep. So where are you going to get this living water? ¹² You’re not more important than our ancestor Jacob, are you? He gave us this well. He and his sons and his animals drank water from it.”

¹³ Yeshua answered her, “Everyone who drinks this water will become thirsty again. ¹⁴ But those who drink the water that I will give them will never become thirsty again. In fact, the water I will give them will become in them a spring that gushes up to eternal life.”

¹⁵ The woman told Yeshua, “Sir, give me this water! Then I won’t get thirsty or have to come here to get water.”

¹⁶ Yeshua told her, “Go to your husband, and bring him here.”

¹⁷ The woman replied, “I don’t have a husband.”

Yeshua told her, “You’re right when you say that you don’t have a husband. ¹⁸ You’ve had five husbands, and the man you have now isn’t your husband. You’ve told the truth.”

¹⁹ The woman said to Yeshua, “I see that you’re a prophet! ²⁰ Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain. But you Jews say that people must worship in Jerusalem.”

²¹ Yeshua told her, “Believe me. A time is coming when you Samaritans won’t be worshiping the Father on this mountain or in Jerusalem. ²² You don’t know what you’re worshiping. We Jews know what we’re worshiping, because salvation comes from the Jews. ²³ Indeed, the time is coming, and it is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth. The Father is looking for people like that to worship him. ²⁴ God is a spirit. Those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”

²⁵ The woman said to him, “I know that the Messiah is coming. When he comes, he will tell us everything.” (Messiah is the one called Christ.)

²⁶ Yeshua told her, “I am he, and I am speaking to you now.”

²⁷ At that time his disciples returned. They were surprised that he was talking to a woman. But none of them asked him, “What do you want from her?” or “Why are you talking to her?”

²⁸ Then the woman left her water jar and went back into the city. She told the people, ²⁹ “Come with me, and meet a man who told me everything I’ve ever done. Could he be the Messiah?” ³⁰ The people left the city and went to meet Yeshua.

³¹ Meanwhile, the disciples were urging him, “Rabbi, have something to eat.”

³² Yeshua told them, “I have food to eat that you don’t know about.”

³³ The disciples asked each other, “Did someone bring him something to eat?”

³⁴ Yeshua told them, “My food is to do what the one who sent me wants me to do and to finish the work he has given me.

³⁵ “Don’t you say, ‘In four more months the harvest will be here’? I’m telling you to look and see that the fields are ready to be harvested. ³⁶ The person who harvests the crop is already getting paid. He is gathering grain for eternal life. So the person who plants the grain and the person who harvests it are happy together. ³⁷ In this respect the saying is true: ‘One person plants, and another person harvests.’ ³⁸ I have sent you to harvest a crop you have not worked for. Other people have done the hard work, and you have followed them in their work.”

³⁹ Many Samaritans in that city believed in Yeshua because of the woman who said, “He told me everything I’ve ever done.” ⁴⁰ So when the Samaritans went to Yeshua, they asked him to stay with them. He stayed in Samaria for two days. ⁴¹ Many more Samaritans believed because of what Yeshua said. ⁴² They told the woman, “Our faith is no longer based on what you’ve said. We have heard him ourselves, and we know that he really is the savior of the world.”

Psalm 105

Sexual Immorality

19 In those days when Israel didn’t have a king, there was a Levite who lived in a remote area in the mountains of Ephraim. He took a woman from Bethlehem in Judah to be his concubine.^{[a] 2} But she was unfaithful to him. She left him and went to her father’s home, to Bethlehem in Judah. When she had been there four months, ³ her husband went to persuade her to come back home. He took along his servant and two donkeys.

She took her husband into her father’s house. Her father was thrilled to see him. ⁴ He made the Levite stay there with him, celebrating for three days.

⁵ On the fourth day they got up early in the morning to leave, but the woman’s father told his son-in-law, “Eat something to keep up your strength and then you can go.” ⁶ So they both sat down and ate and drank together. The woman’s father said to his son-in-law, “Why don’t you spend the night and enjoy yourself?” ⁷ When the Levite started to leave, his father-in-law urged him to stay another night, so he did.

⁸ On the morning of the fifth day, the Levite got up early to leave. The woman’s father said, “Eat something to keep up your strength!” So they spent the time eating until late afternoon. ⁹ The Levite started to leave with his concubine and his servant. But his father-in-law said to him, “It’s already evening. Please stay another night. It’s too late to leave now. Stay here, and enjoy yourself. Tomorrow you can start out early to go home.” ¹⁰ But the Levite refused to spend another night.

He left and traveled as far as Jebus (now called Jerusalem). He had with him two saddled donkeys and his concubine. ¹¹ By the time they were near Jebus, it was very late in the day. The Levite’s servant said to him, “Let’s go spend the night in Jebus.”

¹² The Levite told him, “We’ll never go into a city of foreigners. They’re not Israelites. We’ll go on to Gibeah.” ¹³ He told his servant, “Let’s go someplace else. We’ll spend the night either at Gibeah or Ramah.”

¹⁴ So they went on. It was sunset by the time they arrived at Gibeah. (Gibeah belonged to the tribe of Benjamin.) ¹⁵ They went to spend the night there. The Levite entered Gibeah and sat down in the city square, because no one offered to take them home for the night.

¹⁶ That evening an old man came into the city from his work in the fields. He was from the mountain region of Ephraim but lived in Gibeah. The other people who lived there were from the tribe of Benjamin. ¹⁷ He saw the traveler in the city square. So the old man asked, “Where do you come from? And where are you going?”

¹⁸ The Levite replied, “We’re on our way from Bethlehem in Judah to a remote area in the mountains of Ephraim. That’s where I’m from. I had gone to Bethlehem in Judah. Now I’m going to Yahweh’s house, but no one has offered to take me into his home. ¹⁹ We have straw and fodder for our donkeys. I even have bread and wine for myself, the woman, and my servant. We have everything we need.”

²⁰ Then the old man said, “Welcome! Let me take care of your needs. Just don’t spend the night in the city square.” ²¹ So he took the Levite to his house and fed the donkeys. After they washed, they ate and drank.

²² While they were enjoying themselves, some worthless men from the city surrounded the house and pounded on the door. They told the old man, the owner of the house, “Bring out the man who came to your house so that we can have sex with him.”

²³ The owner went out to them. He told them, “No, my friends! Please don’t do anything so evil! This man is a guest in my home. Don’t do such a godless thing! ²⁴ Here, let me bring out my virgin daughter and this man’s concubine. Rape them, and do with them whatever you want. Just don’t do such a godless thing to this man.”

²⁵ But the men refused to listen to him. So the Levite grabbed his concubine and forced her outside. They had sex with her and abused her all night until morning. They let her go when the sun was coming up. ²⁶ At daybreak, the woman came to the door of the house where her husband was and collapsed. She was still there when it became light.

²⁷ Her husband got up in the morning, opened the doors of the house, and was about to leave. His wife (that is, his concubine) was lying at the door of the house with her hands on the doorstep. ²⁸ The Levite said to her, “Get up! Let’s go!” But she did not answer. So he put her on the donkey and left for home.

²⁹ When he arrived home, he got a knife. He took his concubine and cut her limb from limb into 12 pieces. Then he sent the pieces throughout the territories of Israel.

³⁰ Everyone who saw it said, “Never has such a thing happened or been seen from the time the people of Israel came out of Egypt until today. Think about it! Form a plan, and speak out!”

Israel Slaughters the Tribe of Benjamin

20 All the people of Israel from Dan to Beersheba and from Gilead came to Mizpah. The congregation stood united in the presence of Yahweh. ² The leaders of all Israel’s tribes took their places in the congregation of Elohim’s people. There were 400,000 foot soldiers with swords. ³ The people of Benjamin heard that Israel had come to Mizpah.

The people of Israel said, “Tell us how such an evil thing could happen.”

⁴ The Levite, the husband of the murdered woman, answered, “My concubine^[b] and I went to Gibeah in Benjamin to spend the night. ⁵ The citizens of Gibeah came to attack me. They surrounded the house where I was staying that night. They intended to kill me, but instead, they raped my concubine until she died. ⁶ So I took my concubine and cut her into pieces. Then I sent the pieces throughout the territory of Israel. I did this because the citizens of Gibeah did this perverted and godless thing in Israel. ⁷ All you people of Israel, tell me what you think. Give me your advice right now!”

⁸ All the people stood united, saying, “None of us will go to his tent or return to his house. ⁹ This is what we’ll do to Gibeah. We’ll decide by lot who should attack it.^{[c] 10} We’ll take one-tenth^[d] of all the men from the tribes of Israel to get supplies for the troops. When the troops go to Gibeah in the territory of Benjamin they can punish the citizens of Gibeah for the godless thing they did in Israel.” ¹¹ So all the men of Israel assembled. They stood united against the city.

¹² The tribes of Israel sent men throughout the tribe of Benjamin. They asked, “How could such an evil thing happen among you? ¹³ Now hand over those worthless men in Gibeah. We must put them to death to rid ourselves of this kind of evil in Israel.”

But the men of Benjamin refused to listen to the men of Israel. ¹⁴ So the men of Benjamin went from their towns and assembled at Gibeah to go to war with the men of Israel. ¹⁵ That day 26,000 men armed with swords came from Benjamin’s cities and organized for battle along with 700 of Gibeah’s best men. ¹⁶ Out of all these troops, the best 700 were left-handed. Each could sling a stone at a hair and not miss.

¹⁷ The men of Israel (Benjamin not included) totaled 400,000 soldiers armed with swords.

¹⁸ The men of Israel went to Bethel. They asked Elohim, “Who will go first to fight Benjamin?”

Yahweh answered, “Judah will go first.”

¹⁹ The Israelites got up early in the morning and camped at Gibeah. ²⁰ So the men of Israel went to war with the men of Benjamin. The Israelites formed their battle line facing Gibeah. ²¹ That day the men of Benjamin came out from Gibeah. They slaughtered 22,000 of Israel’s men.

²² But Israel’s troops got reinforcements. They formed their battle line where they had formed it on the first day. ²³ The Israelites went and cried in the presence of Yahweh until evening. They asked Yahweh, “Should we continue to wage war against our close relatives, the men of Benjamin?”

Yahweh answered, “Go fight them!”

²⁴ On the second day the Israelite troops advanced against Benjamin. ²⁵ Benjamin went out from Gibeah to meet them. This time they slaughtered 18,000 men from Israel who were armed with swords. ²⁶ Then all the men of Israel and all the troops went to Bethel. They sat there and cried in the presence of Yahweh and fasted that day until evening. Then they sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings to Yahweh.

²⁷ In those days the ark of Elohim’s promise was at Bethel. ²⁸ (Phinehas, son of Eleazar and grandson of Aaron, served in front of it.) So the people of Israel asked Yahweh, “Should we continue to wage war against our close relatives, the men of Benjamin? Or should we stop?”

Yahweh answered, “Go! Tomorrow I will hand them over to you.”

²⁹ Then Israel placed troops in ambush around Gibeah. ³⁰ On the third day the men of Israel went to fight the men of Benjamin. They formed their battle line facing Gibeah as they did before. ³¹ The men of Benjamin went out to attack Israel’s troops and were led away from the city. They started to inflict casualties as before. They killed about 30 men from Israel in the open country and on the roads to Bethel and Gibeah. ³² The men of Benjamin shouted, “They’re defeated as before!”

But the men of Israel had said, “Let’s flee in order to lead them from the city to the roads.” ³³ So the men of Israel left their positions. They formed their battle line at Baal Tamar. Meanwhile, those waiting in ambush rushed from their position to the west of Gibeah. ³⁴ Then 10,000 of Israel’s best men attacked Gibeah. The battle was fierce. But Benjamin’s men didn’t realize their own evil was about to overtake them. ³⁵ So Yahweh defeated them in front of Israel. On that day the Israelites slaughtered 25,100 men from Benjamin who were armed with swords. ³⁶ Then the men of Benjamin realized they were defeated.

The Israelites had allowed the men of Benjamin to take back some ground. The Israelites relied on those waiting in ambush near Gibeah. ³⁷ The men in ambush quickly charged toward Gibeah. They spread out in the city and killed everyone. ³⁸ The men of Israel had arranged with those waiting in ambush that they would make a big column of smoke rise from the city as a signal. ³⁹ Then the men of Israel would turn around in the battle.

The men of Benjamin had already killed about 30 men of Israel. They even said, “Israel is completely defeated, just like in the first battle.”

⁴⁰ But when the column of smoke started to rise from the city, the men of Benjamin turned around and saw the whole city going up in smoke. ⁴¹ Then the men of Israel turned around, and the men of Benjamin panicked. They realized that their evil had overtaken them. ⁴² They turned in front of Israel toward the road to the desert. But the battle caught up with the men of Benjamin. Israel slaughtered whoever came out of the cities on the road to the desert. ⁴³ They closed in on the men of Benjamin and pursued them without stopping. They overtook them east of Gibeah. ⁴⁴ There were 18,000 experienced men from Benjamin who died in battle. ⁴⁵ The others turned and fled into the desert to Rimmon Rock. But the men of Israel killed 5,000 more on the roads. They caught up with another 2,000 and killed them near Gidom. ⁴⁶ In all, 25,000 men from Benjamin who were armed with swords were killed that day. They were all experienced men.

⁴⁷ But 600 men turned and fled into the desert to Rimmon Rock. They stayed at Rimmon Rock for four months.

⁴⁸ Then the men of Israel went back to attack the rest of the territory of Benjamin. They killed all the people and cattle they found in every city. They also burned down every city they came to.

John the Baptizer Talks about Christ

²² Later, Yeshua and his disciples went to the Judean countryside, where he spent some time with them and baptized people. ²³ John was baptizing in Aenon, near Salim. Water was plentiful there. (People came to John to be baptized, ²⁴ since John had not yet been put in prison.)

²⁵ Some of John’s disciples had an argument with a Jew about purification ceremonies. ²⁶ So they went to John and asked him, “Rabbi, do you remember the man you spoke so favorably about when he was with you on the other side of the Jordan River? Well, he’s baptizing, and everyone is going to him!”

²⁷ John answered, “People can’t receive anything unless it has been given to them from heaven. ²⁸ You are witnesses that I said, ‘I’m not the Messiah, but I’ve been sent ahead of him.’

²⁹ “The groom is the person to whom the bride belongs. The best man, who stands and listens to him, is overjoyed when the groom speaks. This is the joy that I feel. ³⁰ He must increase in importance, while I must decrease in importance.

³¹ “The person who comes from above is superior to everyone. I, a person from the earth, know nothing but what is on earth, and that’s all I can talk about. The person who comes from heaven is superior to everyone ³² and tells what he has seen and heard. Yet, no one accepts what he says. ³³ I have accepted what that person said, and I have affirmed that God is truthful. ³⁴ The man whom God has sent speaks God’s message. After all, God gives him the Spirit without limit. ³⁵ The Father loves his Son and has put everything in his power. ³⁶ Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life. Instead, he will see God’s constant anger.”

A Samaritan Woman Meets Jesus at a Well

4 Yeshua knew that the Pharisees had heard that he was making and baptizing more disciples than John. ² (Actually, Yeshua was not baptizing people. His disciples were.) ³ So he left the Judean countryside and went back to Galilee.

Micah’s Idolatry

17 There was a man named Micah from the mountain region of Ephraim. ² He told his mother, “You were upset about the 1,100 pieces of silver that were taken from you. I even heard you put a curse on them. Here’s the silver. I took it!”

His mother said, “Yahweh bless you, my son!”

³ So Micah gave the 1,100 pieces of silver back to his mother. Then his mother said, “I dedicate this silver to Yahweh for my son’s benefit. I want to make a carved idol and a metal idol. So now I’m giving the silver back to you.”

⁴ When Micah returned the silver to his mother, she took 200 pieces of the silver and gave it to a silversmith. He made a carved idol and a metal idol. Both were placed in Micah’s home. ⁵ Micah owned a house of Elohim. He also made an ephod^[a] and household idols. He ordained one of his sons to be his priest. ⁶ In those days Israel didn’t have a king. Everyone did whatever he considered right.

⁷ There was a young man from Bethlehem in Judah. (Bethlehem belongs to the family of Judah.) He was a Levite but was living in Bethlehem. ⁸ This man left Bethlehem in Judah to live wherever he could find a place. He came to Micah’s house in the mountains of Ephraim to carry on his work.

⁹ Micah asked him, “Where do you come from?”

The man told him, “I’m a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah. I’m going to live wherever I can find a place.”

¹⁰ Micah told him, “Stay with me! Be a father and a priest to me. I’ll give you ten pieces of silver a year, a set of clothes, and your room and board.”

The Levite accepted the offer ¹¹ and agreed to live with Micah. The young man became like one of Micah’s sons. ¹² Micah ordained the Levite. So the young man became his priest and a part of his family.

¹³ Then Micah said, “Now I know that Yahweh will be good to me. I have a Levite for my priest.”

Micah Brings Idolatry to the Tribe of Dan

18 In those days Israel didn’t have a king. And in those days the tribe of Dan was looking for a place to live. Up to that time they had not received land as an inheritance among the tribes of Israel as they should have. ² So all the families of Dan sent out five qualified men from Zorah and Eshtaol. They were sent to spy throughout the land and explore it. They were told, “Go and explore the land!”

They came to Micah’s house in the mountains of Ephraim. They spent the night there. ³ While they were at Micah’s house, they recognized the young Levite’s voice. So they stopped to ask him, “Who brought you here? What are you doing here? Why are you here?”

⁴ The Levite told them what Micah had done for him and added, “Micah hired me, so I became his priest.”

⁵ They said to him, “Please find out from Elohim if our journey will be successful.”

⁶ The priest told them, “Go in peace. Yahweh approves of your journey.”

⁷ The five men left there and came to the city of Laish. They saw that the people there lived without a care. These people were like the people of Sidon. They were peaceful and secure. There was no one around who threatened to take away their property by force. They were far from the people of Sidon and totally independent.

⁸ The men went back to their relatives in Zorah and Eshtaol. Their relatives asked them, “What did you find?”

⁹ They replied, “Get up, let’s attack Laish. We saw the land. It’s very good!

“Don’t just sit there! Go at once and take the land. ¹⁰ When you get there, you will come to a secure people. The land is wide open to you. Elohim will hand it over to you. It’s a place where you will have everything you could want.”

¹¹ So 600 men from the tribe of Dan left Zorah and Eshtaol armed for war. ¹² They camped at Kiriath Jearim in Judah. This is why the place just west of Kiriath Jearim is still called Mahaneh Dan [The Camp of Dan] today. ¹³ From there they marched to the mountains of Ephraim as far as Micah’s house. ¹⁴ Then the five men who had gone to spy throughout the land around Laish spoke up. They said to the other men of Dan, “Do you know that there’s an ephod, a carved idol, a metal idol, and household idols in these houses? What do you think we should do?”

¹⁵ So they stopped and entered Micah’s house and greeted the young Levite. ¹⁶ The 600 armed men from Dan stood at the entrance to the city. ¹⁷ The five men who had gone to spy throughout the land went inside. They took the carved idol, the ephod, the household idols, and the metal idol. The priest stood at the entrance to the city with the 600 armed men. ¹⁸ When these men entered Micah’s house and took the carved idol, the ephod, the household idols, and the metal idol, the priest asked them, “What are you doing?”

¹⁹ They told him, “Keep quiet! Don’t say a word! Come with us and be our father and priest. Is it better for you to be a priest for one man’s house or for a tribe in Israel and its families?”

²⁰ The priest was content. He took the ephod, the household idols, and the carved idol and went with the people. ²¹ When they left, they put their children, livestock, and property in front of them.

²² When they had already gone some distance from Micah’s house, Micah’s neighbors were called together to help him catch up to the people of Dan. ²³ They shouted at them. But the people of Dan turned around and said to Micah, “What’s your problem? Why did you call your neighbors together to attack us?”

²⁴ Micah answered, “You’ve taken away the gods I made as well as my priest. What do I have left? How can you say to me, ‘What’s your problem?’”

²⁵ The people of Dan replied, “Don’t make another sound, or some violent men will attack you. Then you and your family will lose your lives.” ²⁶ The people of Dan went on their way. Micah saw they were stronger than he was, so he turned around and went home.

²⁷ The people of Dan took what Micah had made and the man who had become his priest and went to the city of Laish. They attacked a peaceful and secure people, killed them all with swords, and burned their city. ²⁸ There was no one to rescue them because their city was far from Sidon and totally independent. The city was in the valley that belonged to Beth Rehob. The people of Dan rebuilt the city and lived in it. ²⁹ They named the city Dan in honor of their ancestor Dan, Israel’s son. Originally, the city was called Laish.

³⁰ The people of Dan set up the carved idol for themselves. Jonathan (son of Gershom and grandson of Moses) and his descendants were priests for Dan’s tribe until the people living in that land were taken captive. ³¹ So they set up for themselves the carved idol Micah had made. It stayed there the whole time the house of Elohim was at Shiloh.

A Conversation with Nicodemus

3 Nicodemus was a Pharisee and a member of the Jewish council. ² He came to Yeshua one night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that God has sent you as a teacher. No one can perform the miracles you perform unless God is with him.”

³ Yeshua replied to Nicodemus, “I can guarantee this truth: No one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.”^[a]

⁴ Nicodemus asked him, “How can anyone be born when he’s an old man? He can’t go back inside his mother a second time to be born, can he?”

⁵ Yeshua answered Nicodemus, “I can guarantee this truth: No one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. ⁶ Flesh and blood give birth to flesh and blood, but the Spirit gives birth to things that are spiritual. ⁷ Don’t be surprised when I tell you that all of you must be born from above. ⁸ The wind^[b] blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you don’t know where the wind comes from or where it’s going. That’s the way it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”

⁹ Nicodemus replied, “How can that be?”

¹⁰ Yeshua told Nicodemus, “You’re a well-known teacher of Israel. Can’t you understand this? ¹¹ I can guarantee this truth: We know what we’re talking about, and we confirm what we’ve seen. Yet, you don’t accept our message. ¹² If you don’t believe me when I tell you about things on earth, how will you believe me when I tell you about things in heaven? ¹³ No one has gone to heaven except the Son of Man, who came from heaven.

¹⁴ “As Moses lifted up the snake on a pole in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up. ¹⁵ Then everyone who believes in him will have eternal life.”

¹⁶ God loved the world this way: He gave his only Son so that everyone who believes in him will not die but will have eternal life. ¹⁷ God sent his Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but to save the world. ¹⁸ Those who believe in him won’t be condemned. But those who don’t believe are already condemned because they don’t believe in God’s only Son.

¹⁹ This is why people are condemned: The light came into the world. Yet, people loved the dark rather than the light because their actions were evil. ²⁰ People who do what is wrong hate the light and don’t come to the light. They don’t want their actions to be exposed. ²¹ But people who do what is true come to the light so that the things they do for God may be clearly seen.

Psalm 104

Samson Serves as Judge

15 Later, during the wheat harvest, Samson went to visit his wife. He took a young goat along for her. He said, “I’m going to sleep with my wife in her bedroom.”

But her father would not let him go in. ² Her father said, “I thought you hated her. So I gave her to your best man. Isn’t her younger sister better looking? Marry her instead!”

³ Samson said to him, “This time I won’t be guilty when I get even with the Philistines, even though I’m going to do something terrible to them.” ⁴ So Samson caught 300 foxes. He tied them together in pairs by their tails. Then he fastened a torch between their tails. ⁵ He set the torches on fire and released the foxes in the Philistines’ grain fields. So he set fire to all their grain, whether it was stacked or in the fields. Their olive orchards also caught on fire.

⁶ Some Philistines asked, “Who did this?”

They were told, “Samson! He’s the son-in-law of the man at Timnah. Samson did it because the man at Timnah took Samson’s wife and gave her to his best man.” So the Philistines burned Samson’s wife and her father to death.

⁷ Samson said to them, “If that’s how you’re going to act, I’ll get even with you before I stop.” ⁸ So he attacked them violently and slaughtered them. Then he went to live in a cave in the cliff at Etam.

⁹ The Philistines came, camped in Judah, and overran Lehi. ¹⁰ The men of Judah asked, “Why did you come to fight us?”

The Philistines answered, “We’ve come to tie up Samson and do to him what he did to us.”

¹¹ So 3,000 men from Judah went to the cave in the cliff at Etam. They said to Samson, “Don’t you know that the Philistines rule us? Why have you done this to us?”

Samson replied, “I did to them what they did to me.”

¹² So the men from Judah told him, “We’ve come to tie you up and hand you over to the Philistines.”

Samson said to them, “Swear to me that you won’t harm me yourselves.”

¹³ They told him, “We promise we’ll only tie you up and hand you over to them. We certainly won’t kill you.” So they tied him up with two new ropes and brought him back from the cliff.

¹⁴ When he came to Lehi, the Philistines met him with shouts of triumph. But the Ruach Yahweh came over him. The ropes on his arms became like strings burned in a fire, and those on his hands snapped.

¹⁵ Samson found the jawbone from a donkey that had just died. He picked it up and killed 1,000 men with it. ¹⁶ Then Samson said,

¹⁷ When he finished saying this, he threw the jawbone away. He called that place Ramath Lehi [Jawbone Hill].

¹⁸ Samson was very thirsty. So he called out to Yahweh and said, “You have given me this great victory. But now I’ll die from thirst and fall into the power of godless men.”

¹⁹ So Elohim split open the hollow place at Lehi, and water gushed out. Samson drank some water. Then he was refreshed and revived. So he called the place En Hakkore [Spring of the One Who Calls Out]. It is still there at Lehi today.

²⁰ Samson judged Israel for 20 years during the time of the Philistines.

16 Samson went to Gaza. There he saw a prostitute and slept with her. ² The people of Gaza were told, “Samson’s here!” So they surrounded the place and waited all night at the city gate to ambush him. They were quiet all night. They thought, “We’ll kill him at dawn.”

³ But Samson was in bed with the prostitute only until midnight. Then he got up, took hold of the doors, door posts, and bar of the city gate and pulled them out. He carried them on his shoulders to the top of the hill facing Hebron.

Samson and Delilah

⁴ After leaving Gaza, he fell in love with a woman in the Sorek Valley. Her name was Delilah. ⁵ The Philistine rulers came to her and said, “Trick him, and find out what makes him so strong. Find out how we can overpower him. We want to tie him up in order to torture him. Each of us will give you 1,100 pieces of silver.”

⁶ So Delilah said to Samson, “Please tell me what makes you so strong. How can you be tied up so that someone could torture you?”

⁷ Samson told her, “If someone ties me up with seven new bowstrings that are not dried out, I will be like any other man.”

⁸ The Philistine rulers brought her seven new bowstrings that were not dried out. She tied Samson up with them. ⁹ Some men were hiding in the bedroom waiting for her to tie him up. Then she said to him, “Samson, the Philistines are attacking!” Samson snapped the bowstrings as a thread snaps when it touches fire. So no one found out why he was so strong.

¹⁰ Delilah told Samson, “Look, you’re making fun of me by telling me lies. Now, tell me how you can be tied up.”

¹¹ Samson told her, “If someone ties me up tightly with new ropes that have never been used, I will be like any other man.”

¹² So Delilah took some new ropes and tied him up with them. Then she said to him, “Samson, the Philistines are attacking!” Some men were in her bedroom waiting to ambush him. But Samson tore the ropes off his arms as though they were strings.

¹³ Delilah told Samson, “You’re still making fun of me by telling me lies. Tell me how you can be tied up.”

Samson replied, “Just weave the seven braids of my hair with the other threads in the loom.”

¹⁴ So Delilah tied his braids to the loom shuttle. Then she said to him, “Samson, the Philistines are attacking!” But Samson woke up and tore his braids and the threads out of the loom shuttle.

¹⁵ Delilah said to Samson, “How can you say that you love me when your heart isn’t mine? You’ve made fun of me three times now, but you still haven’t told me what makes you so strong.”

¹⁶ Every day she made his life miserable with her questions. She pestered him until he wished he were dead. ¹⁷ Finally, he told her the truth. He told her, “Because I’m a Nazirite, no one has ever cut the hair on my head. I was dedicated to Elohim before I was born. If my hair is ever shaved off, my strength will leave me. Then I’ll be like any other man.”

¹⁸ When Delilah realized that he had told her everything, she sent a message to the Philistine rulers, “Come here once more.” (She did this because Samson had told her everything.) So the Philistine rulers arrived with the money in their hands.

¹⁹ Delilah put Samson to sleep on her lap. She called for a man to shave off his seven braids. Then she began to torture him because his strength had left him. ²⁰ She said, “Samson, the Philistines are attacking!” Samson woke up. He thought, “I’ll get out of this as usual and shake myself free.” (He didn’t realize that Yahweh had left him.) ²¹ The Philistines grabbed him. They poked out his eyes and took him to the prison in Gaza. They tied him up with double chains and made him grind grain in the mill there.

²² But his hair started to grow back as soon as it was shaved off.

²³ Now, the Philistine rulers gathered together to offer a great sacrifice to their god Dagon and to celebrate. They said, “Our god handed Samson, our enemy, over to us.” ²⁴ When the people saw him, they praised their god. They said,

²⁵ When all the Philistines were enjoying themselves, they said, “Call Samson in to entertain us.”

Samson was called from the prison, and he made them laugh. They made him stand between two columns. ²⁶ Samson told the young man who was leading him by the hand, “Let me rest. Let me touch the columns on which the building stands so that I can lean against them.” ²⁷ The building was filled with people. All the Philistine rulers were there. On the roof there were about three thousand men and women who watched Samson entertain them.

²⁸ Then Samson called to Yahweh, “Adonay Yahweh, please remember me! Elohim, give me strength just one more time! Let me get even with the Philistines for at least one of my two eyes.” ²⁹ Samson felt the two middle columns on which the building stood. With his right hand on one column and his left on the other, he pushed hard against them. ³⁰ “Let me die with the Philistines,” he said. With that, he pushed with all his might, and the building fell on the rulers and everyone in it. So he killed more Philistines when he died than he had when he was alive.

³¹ Then his relatives and his father’s whole family went to Gaza. They took Samson and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of his father Manoah.

Samson had judged Israel for 20 years.

Jesus Changes Water into Wine

2 Three days later a wedding took place in the city of Cana in Galilee. Yeshua’s mother was there. ² Yeshua and his disciples had been invited too.

³ When the wine was gone, Yeshua’s mother said to him, “They’re out of wine.”

⁴ Yeshua said to her, “Why did you come to me? My time has not yet come.”

⁵ His mother told the servers, “Do whatever he tells you.”

⁶ Six stone water jars were there. They were used for Jewish purification rituals. Each jar held 18 to 27 gallons.

⁷ Yeshua told the servers, “Fill the jars with water.” The servers filled the jars to the brim. ⁸ Yeshua said to them, “Pour some, and take it to the person in charge.” The servers did as they were told.

⁹ The person in charge tasted the water that had become wine. He didn’t know where it had come from, although the servers who had poured the water knew. The person in charge called the groom ¹⁰ and said to him, “Everyone serves the best wine first. When people are drunk, the host serves cheap wine. But you have saved the best wine for now.”

¹¹ Cana in Galilee was the place where Yeshua began to perform miracles. He made his glory public there, and his disciples believed in him.

¹² After this, Yeshua, his mother, brothers, and disciples went to the city of Capernaum and stayed there for a few days.

Jesus Throws Merchants and Moneychangers out of the Temple Courtyard

¹³ The Jewish Passover was near, so Yeshua went to Jerusalem. ¹⁴ He found those who were selling cattle, sheep, and pigeons in the temple courtyard. He also found moneychangers sitting there. ¹⁵ He made a whip from small ropes and threw everyone with their sheep and cattle out of the temple courtyard. He dumped the moneychangers’ coins and knocked over their tables.

¹⁶ He told those who sold pigeons, “Pick up this stuff, and get it out of here! Stop making my Father’s house a marketplace!”

¹⁷ His disciples remembered that Scripture said, “Devotion for your house will consume me.”

¹⁸ The Jews reacted by asking Yeshua, “What miracle can you show us to justify what you’re doing?”

¹⁹ Yeshua replied, “Tear down this temple, and I’ll rebuild it in three days.”

²⁰ The Jews said, “It took forty-six years to build this temple. Do you really think you’re going to rebuild it in three days?”

²¹ But the temple Yeshua spoke about was his own body. ²² After he came back to life, his disciples remembered that he had said this. So they believed the Scripture and this statement that Yeshua had made.

²³ While Yeshua was in Jerusalem at the Passover festival, many people believed in him because they saw the miracles that he performed. ²⁴ Yeshua, however, was wary of these believers. He understood people ²⁵ and didn’t need anyone to tell him about human nature. He knew what people were really like.

Psalm 103

By David.