Month: May 2021

Micah’s Idols

17 Now a man named Micah^(A) from the hill country of Ephraim ² said to his mother, “The eleven hundred shekels^[a] of silver that were taken from you and about which I heard you utter a curse—I have that silver with me; I took it.”

Then his mother said, “The Lord bless you,^(B) my son!”

³ When he returned the eleven hundred shekels of silver to his mother, she said, “I solemnly consecrate my silver to the Lord for my son to make an image overlaid with silver.^(C) I will give it back to you.”

⁴ So after he returned the silver to his mother, she took two hundred shekels^[b] of silver and gave them to a silversmith, who used them to make the idol.^(D) And it was put in Micah’s house.

⁵ Now this man Micah had a shrine,^(E) and he made an ephod^(F) and some household gods^(G) and installed^(H) one of his sons as his priest.^{(I) 6} In those days Israel had no king;^(J) everyone did as they saw fit.^(K)

⁷ A young Levite^(L) from Bethlehem in Judah,^(M) who had been living within the clan of Judah, ⁸ left that town in search of some other place to stay. On his way^[c] he came to Micah’s house in the hill country of Ephraim.

⁹ Micah asked him, “Where are you from?”

“I’m a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah,^(N)” he said, “and I’m looking for a place to stay.”

¹⁰ Then Micah said to him, “Live with me and be my father^(O) and priest,^(P) and I’ll give you ten shekels^[d] of silver a year, your clothes and your food.” ¹¹ So the Levite agreed to live with him, and the young man became like one of his sons to him. ¹² Then Micah installed^(Q) the Levite, and the young man became his priest^(R) and lived in his house. ¹³ And Micah said, “Now I know that the Lord will be good to me, since this Levite has become my priest.”^(S)

The Danites Settle in Laish

18 In those days Israel had no king.^(T)

And in those days the tribe of the Danites was seeking a place of their own where they might settle, because they had not yet come into an inheritance among the tribes of Israel.^{(U) 2} So the Danites^(V) sent five of their leading men^(W) from Zorah and Eshtaol to spy out^(X) the land and explore it. These men represented all the Danites. They told them, “Go, explore the land.”^(Y)

So they entered the hill country of Ephraim and came to the house of Micah,^(Z) where they spent the night. ³ When they were near Micah’s house, they recognized the voice of the young Levite;^(AA) so they turned in there and asked him, “Who brought you here? What are you doing in this place? Why are you here?”

⁴ He told them what Micah had done for him, and said, “He has hired me and I am his priest.^(AB)”

⁵ Then they said to him, “Please inquire of God^(AC) to learn whether our journey will be successful.”

⁶ The priest answered them, “Go in peace^(AD). Your journey has the Lord’s approval.”

⁷ So the five men^(AE) left and came to Laish,^(AF) where they saw that the people were living in safety, like the Sidonians, at peace and secure.^(AG) And since their land lacked nothing, they were prosperous.^[e] Also, they lived a long way from the Sidonians^(AH) and had no relationship with anyone else.^[f]

⁸ When they returned to Zorah and Eshtaol, their fellow Danites asked them, “How did you find things?”

⁹ They answered, “Come on, let’s attack them! We have seen the land, and it is very good. Aren’t you going to do something? Don’t hesitate to go there and take it over.^{(AI) 10} When you get there, you will find an unsuspecting people and a spacious land that God has put into your hands, a land that lacks nothing^(AJ) whatever.^(AK)”

¹¹ Then six hundred men^(AL) of the Danites,^(AM) armed for battle, set out from Zorah and Eshtaol. ¹² On their way they set up camp near Kiriath Jearim^(AN) in Judah. This is why the place west of Kiriath Jearim is called Mahaneh Dan^[g](AO) to this day. ¹³ From there they went on to the hill country of Ephraim and came to Micah’s house.^(AP)

¹⁴ Then the five men who had spied out the land of Laish^(AQ) said to their fellow Danites, “Do you know that one of these houses has an ephod,^(AR) some household gods and an image overlaid with silver?^(AS) Now you know what to do.” ¹⁵ So they turned in there and went to the house of the young Levite at Micah’s place and greeted him. ¹⁶ The six hundred Danites,^(AT) armed for battle, stood at the entrance of the gate. ¹⁷ The five men who had spied out the land went inside and took the idol, the ephod and the household gods^(AU) while the priest and the six hundred armed men^(AV) stood at the entrance of the gate.

¹⁸ When the five men went into Micah’s house and took^(AW) the idol, the ephod and the household gods,^(AX) the priest said to them, “What are you doing?”

¹⁹ They answered him, “Be quiet!^(AY) Don’t say a word. Come with us, and be our father and priest.^(AZ) Isn’t it better that you serve a tribe and clan^(BA) in Israel as priest rather than just one man’s household?” ²⁰ The priest was very pleased. He took the ephod, the household gods and the idol and went along with the people. ²¹ Putting their little children, their livestock and their possessions in front of them, they turned away and left.

²² When they had gone some distance from Micah’s house, the men who lived near Micah were called together and overtook the Danites. ²³ As they shouted after them, the Danites turned and said to Micah, “What’s the matter with you that you called out your men to fight?”

²⁴ He replied, “You took^(BB) the gods I made, and my priest, and went away. What else do I have? How can you ask, ‘What’s the matter with you?’”

²⁵ The Danites answered, “Don’t argue with us, or some of the men may get angry and attack you, and you and your family will lose your lives.” ²⁶ So the Danites went their way, and Micah, seeing that they were too strong for him,^(BC) turned around and went back home.

²⁷ Then they took what Micah had made, and his priest, and went on to Laish, against a people at peace and secure.^(BD) They attacked them with the sword and burned^(BE) down their city.^{(BF) 28} There was no one to rescue them because they lived a long way from Sidon^(BG) and had no relationship with anyone else. The city was in a valley near Beth Rehob.^(BH)

The Danites rebuilt the city and settled there. ²⁹ They named it Dan^(BI) after their ancestor Dan, who was born to Israel—though the city used to be called Laish.^{(BJ) 30} There the Danites set up for themselves the idol, and Jonathan son of Gershom,^(BK) the son of Moses,^[h] and his sons were priests for the tribe of Dan until the time of the captivity of the land. ³¹ They continued to use the idol Micah had made,^(BL) all the time the house of God^(BM) was in Shiloh.^(BN)

Jesus Teaches Nicodemus

3 Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus^(A) who was a member of the Jewish ruling council.^{(B) 2} He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi,^(C) we know^(D) that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs^(E) you are doing if God were not with him.”^(F)

³ Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.^[a]”^(G)

⁴ “How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!”

⁵ Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit.^{(H) 6} Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit^[b] gives birth to spirit.^{(I) 7} You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You^[c] must be born again.’ ⁸ The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”^[d](J)

⁹ “How can this be?”^(K) Nicodemus asked.

¹⁰ “You are Israel’s teacher,”^(L) said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things? ¹¹ Very truly I tell you, we speak of what we know,^(M) and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony.^{(N) 12} I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? ¹³ No one has ever gone into heaven^(O) except the one who came from heaven^(P)—the Son of Man.^{[e](Q) 14} Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness,^(R) so the Son of Man must be lifted up,^{[f](S) 15} that everyone who believes^(T) may have eternal life in him.”^[g](U)

¹⁶ For God so loved^(V) the world that he gave^(W) his one and only Son,^(X) that whoever believes^(Y) in him shall not perish but have eternal life.^{(Z) 17} For God did not send his Son into the world^(AA) to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.^{(AB) 18} Whoever believes in him is not condemned,^(AC) but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.^{(AD) 19} This is the verdict: Light^(AE) has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.^{(AF) 20} Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed.^{(AG) 21} But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.

Psalm 104

Samson’s Vengeance on the Philistines

15 Later on, at the time of wheat harvest,^(A) Samson^(B) took a young goat^(C) and went to visit his wife. He said, “I’m going to my wife’s room.”^(D) But her father would not let him go in.

² “I was so sure you hated her,” he said, “that I gave her to your companion.^(E) Isn’t her younger sister more attractive? Take her instead.”

³ Samson said to them, “This time I have a right to get even with the Philistines; I will really harm them.” ⁴ So he went out and caught three hundred foxes^(F) and tied them tail to tail in pairs. He then fastened a torch^(G) to every pair of tails, ⁵ lit the torches^(H) and let the foxes loose in the standing grain of the Philistines. He burned up the shocks^(I) and standing grain, together with the vineyards and olive groves.

⁶ When the Philistines asked, “Who did this?” they were told, “Samson, the Timnite’s son-in-law, because his wife was given to his companion.^(J)”

So the Philistines went up and burned her^(K) and her father to death.^{(L) 7} Samson said to them, “Since you’ve acted like this, I swear that I won’t stop until I get my revenge on you.” ⁸ He attacked them viciously and slaughtered many of them. Then he went down and stayed in a cave in the rock^(M) of Etam.^(N)

⁹ The Philistines went up and camped in Judah, spreading out near Lehi.^{(O) 10} The people of Judah asked, “Why have you come to fight us?”

“We have come to take Samson prisoner,” they answered, “to do to him as he did to us.”

¹¹ Then three thousand men from Judah went down to the cave in the rock of Etam and said to Samson, “Don’t you realize that the Philistines are rulers over us?^(P) What have you done to us?”

He answered, “I merely did to them what they did to me.”

¹² They said to him, “We’ve come to tie you up and hand you over to the Philistines.”

Samson said, “Swear to me^(Q) that you won’t kill me yourselves.”

¹³ “Agreed,” they answered. “We will only tie you up and hand you over to them. We will not kill you.” So they bound him with two new ropes^(R) and led him up from the rock. ¹⁴ As he approached Lehi,^(S) the Philistines came toward him shouting. The Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon him.^(T) The ropes on his arms became like charred flax,^(U) and the bindings dropped from his hands. ¹⁵ Finding a fresh jawbone of a donkey, he grabbed it and struck down a thousand men.^(V)

¹⁶ Then Samson said,

¹⁷ When he finished speaking, he threw away the jawbone; and the place was called Ramath Lehi.^[b](X)

¹⁸ Because he was very thirsty, he cried out to the Lord,^(Y) “You have given your servant this great victory.^(Z) Must I now die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?” ¹⁹ Then God opened up the hollow place in Lehi, and water came out of it. When Samson drank, his strength returned and he revived.^(AA) So the spring^(AB) was called En Hakkore,^[c] and it is still there in Lehi.

²⁰ Samson led^[d] Israel for twenty years^(AC) in the days of the Philistines.

Samson and Delilah

16 One day Samson^(AD) went to Gaza,^(AE) where he saw a prostitute.^(AF) He went in to spend the night with her. ² The people of Gaza were told, “Samson is here!” So they surrounded the place and lay in wait for him all night at the city gate.^(AG) They made no move during the night, saying, “At dawn^(AH) we’ll kill him.”

³ But Samson lay there only until the middle of the night. Then he got up and took hold of the doors of the city gate, together with the two posts, and tore them loose, bar and all. He lifted them to his shoulders and carried them to the top of the hill that faces Hebron.^(AI)

⁴ Some time later, he fell in love^(AJ) with a woman in the Valley of Sorek whose name was Delilah.^{(AK) 5} The rulers of the Philistines^(AL) went to her and said, “See if you can lure^(AM) him into showing you the secret of his great strength^(AN) and how we can overpower him so we may tie him up and subdue him. Each one of us will give you eleven hundred shekels^[e] of silver.”^(AO)

⁶ So Delilah^(AP) said to Samson, “Tell me the secret of your great strength and how you can be tied up and subdued.”

⁷ Samson answered her, “If anyone ties me with seven fresh bowstrings that have not been dried, I’ll become as weak as any other man.”

⁸ Then the rulers of the Philistines brought her seven fresh bowstrings that had not been dried, and she tied him with them. ⁹ With men hidden in the room,^(AQ) she called to him, “Samson, the Philistines are upon you!”^(AR) But he snapped the bowstrings as easily as a piece of string snaps when it comes close to a flame. So the secret of his strength was not discovered.

¹⁰ Then Delilah said to Samson, “You have made a fool of me;^(AS) you lied to me. Come now, tell me how you can be tied.”

¹¹ He said, “If anyone ties me securely with new ropes^(AT) that have never been used, I’ll become as weak as any other man.”

¹² So Delilah took new ropes and tied him with them. Then, with men hidden in the room, she called to him, “Samson, the Philistines are upon you!”^(AU) But he snapped the ropes off his arms as if they were threads.

¹³ Delilah then said to Samson, “All this time you have been making a fool of me and lying to me. Tell me how you can be tied.”

He replied, “If you weave the seven braids of my head into the fabric on the loom and tighten it with the pin, I’ll become as weak as any other man.” So while he was sleeping, Delilah took the seven braids of his head, wove them into the fabric ¹⁴ and^[f] tightened it with the pin.

Again she called to him, “Samson, the Philistines are upon you!”^(AV) He awoke from his sleep and pulled up the pin and the loom, with the fabric.

¹⁵ Then she said to him, “How can you say, ‘I love you,’^(AW) when you won’t confide in me? This is the third time^(AX) you have made a fool of me and haven’t told me the secret of your great strength.^(AY)” ¹⁶ With such nagging she prodded him day after day until he was sick to death of it.

¹⁷ So he told her everything.^(AZ) “No razor has ever been used on my head,” he said, “because I have been a Nazirite^(BA) dedicated to God from my mother’s womb. If my head were shaved, my strength would leave me, and I would become as weak as any other man.”

¹⁸ When Delilah saw that he had told her everything, she sent word to the rulers of the Philistines^(BB), “Come back once more; he has told me everything.” So the rulers of the Philistines returned with the silver in their hands.^{(BC) 19} After putting him to sleep on her lap, she called for someone to shave off the seven braids of his hair, and so began to subdue him.^[g] And his strength left him.^(BD)

²⁰ Then she called, “Samson, the Philistines are upon you!”^(BE)

He awoke from his sleep and thought, “I’ll go out as before and shake myself free.” But he did not know that the Lord had left him.^(BF)

²¹ Then the Philistines^(BG) seized him, gouged out his eyes^(BH) and took him down to Gaza.^(BI) Binding him with bronze shackles, they set him to grinding grain^(BJ) in the prison. ²² But the hair on his head began to grow again after it had been shaved.

The Death of Samson

²³ Now the rulers of the Philistines assembled to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon^(BK) their god and to celebrate, saying, “Our god has delivered Samson, our enemy, into our hands.”

²⁴ When the people saw him, they praised their god,^(BL) saying,

²⁵ While they were in high spirits,^(BN) they shouted, “Bring out Samson to entertain us.” So they called Samson out of the prison, and he performed for them.

When they stood him among the pillars, ²⁶ Samson said to the servant who held his hand, “Put me where I can feel the pillars that support the temple, so that I may lean against them.” ²⁷ Now the temple was crowded with men and women; all the rulers of the Philistines were there, and on the roof^(BO) were about three thousand men and women watching Samson perform. ²⁸ Then Samson prayed to the Lord,^(BP) “Sovereign Lord, remember me. Please, God, strengthen me just once more, and let me with one blow get revenge^(BQ) on the Philistines for my two eyes.” ²⁹ Then Samson reached toward the two central pillars on which the temple stood. Bracing himself against them, his right hand on the one and his left hand on the other, ³⁰ Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines!” Then he pushed with all his might, and down came the temple on the rulers and all the people in it. Thus he killed many more when he died than while he lived.

³¹ Then his brothers and his father’s whole family went down to get him. They brought him back and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of Manoah^(BR) his father. He had led^[h](BS) Israel twenty years.^(BT)

Jesus Changes Water Into Wine

2 On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee.^(A) Jesus’ mother^(B) was there, ² and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. ³ When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.”

⁴ “Woman,^[a](C) why do you involve me?”^(D) Jesus replied. “My hour^(E) has not yet come.”

⁵ His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”^(F)

⁶ Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing,^(G) each holding from twenty to thirty gallons.^[b]

⁷ Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim.

⁸ Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.”

They did so, ⁹ and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine.^(H) He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside ¹⁰ and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.”

¹¹ What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs^(I) through which he revealed his glory;^(J) and his disciples believed in him.^(K)

¹² After this he went down to Capernaum^(L) with his mother^(M) and brothers^(N) and his disciples. There they stayed for a few days.

Jesus Clears the Temple Courts^(O)

¹³ When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover,^(P) Jesus went up to Jerusalem.^{(Q) 14} In the temple courts he found people selling cattle, sheep and doves,^(R) and others sitting at tables exchanging money.^{(S) 15} So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. ¹⁶ To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house^(T) into a market!” ¹⁷ His disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for your house will consume me.”^[c](U)

¹⁸ The Jews^(V) then responded to him, “What sign^(W) can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?”^(X)

¹⁹ Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.”^(Y)

²⁰ They replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?” ²¹ But the temple he had spoken of was his body.^{(Z) 22} After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said.^(AA) Then they believed the scripture^(AB) and the words that Jesus had spoken.

²³ Now while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Festival,^(AC) many people saw the signs^(AD) he was performing and believed^(AE) in his name.^{[d] 24} But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all people. ²⁵ He did not need any testimony about mankind,^(AF) for he knew what was in each person.^(AG)

Psalm 103

Of David.

The Birth of Samson

13 The Israelites sinned against the Lord again, and he let the Philistines rule them for forty years.

² At that time there was a man named Manoah from the town of Zorah. He was a member of the tribe of Dan. His wife had never been able to have children. ³ The Lord's angel appeared to her and said, “You have never been able to have children, but you will soon be pregnant and have a son. ⁴ Be sure not to drink any wine or beer, or eat any forbidden food; ^5 (A)and after your son is born, you must never cut his hair, because from the day of his birth he will be dedicated to God as a nazirite.^[a] He will begin the work of rescuing Israel from the Philistines.”

⁶ Then the woman went and told her husband, “A man of God has come to me, and he looked as frightening as the angel^[b] of God. I didn't ask him where he came from, and he didn't tell me his name. ⁷ But he did tell me that I would become pregnant and have a son. He told me not to drink any wine or beer, or eat any forbidden food, because the boy is to be dedicated to God as a nazirite as long as he lives.”

⁸ Then Manoah prayed to the Lord, “Please, Lord, let the man of God that you sent come back to us and tell us what we must do with the boy when he is born.”

⁹ God did what Manoah asked, and his angel came back to the woman while she was sitting in the field. Her husband Manoah was not with her, ¹⁰ so she ran at once and told him, “Look! The man who came to me the other day has appeared to me again.”

¹¹ Manoah got up and followed his wife. He went to the man and asked, “Are you the man who talked to my wife?”

“Yes,” he answered.

¹² Then Manoah said, “Now then, when your words come true, what must the boy do? What kind of a life must he lead?”

¹³ The Lord's angel answered, “Your wife must be sure to do everything that I have told her. ¹⁴ She must not eat anything that comes from the grapevine; she must not drink any wine or beer, or eat any forbidden food. She must do everything that I have told her.”

^15-16 Not knowing that it was the Lord's angel, Manoah said to him, “Please do not go yet. Let us cook a young goat for you.”

But the angel said, “If I do stay, I will not eat your food. But if you want to prepare it, burn it as an offering to the Lord.”

¹⁷ Manoah replied, “Tell us your name, so that we can honor you when your words come true.”

¹⁸ The angel asked, “Why do you want to know my name? It is a name of wonder.”^[c]

¹⁹ So Manoah took a young goat and some grain, and offered them on the rock altar to the Lord who works wonders.^{[d] 20-21} While the flames were going up from the altar, Manoah and his wife saw the Lord's angel go up toward heaven in the flames. Manoah realized then that the man had been the Lord's angel, and he and his wife threw themselves face downward on the ground. They never saw the angel again.

²² Manoah said to his wife, “We are sure to die, because we have seen God!”

²³ But his wife answered, “If the Lord had wanted to kill us, he would not have accepted our offerings; he would not have shown us all this or told us such things at this time.”

²⁴ The woman gave birth to a son and named him Samson. The child grew and the Lord blessed him. ²⁵ And the Lord's power began to strengthen him while he was between Zorah and Eshtaol in the Camp of Dan.

Samson and the Woman from Timnah

14 One day Samson went down to Timnah, where he noticed a certain young Philistine woman. ² He went back home and told his father and mother, “There is a Philistine woman down at Timnah who caught my attention. Get her for me; I want to marry her.”

³ But his father and mother asked him, “Why do you have to go to those heathen Philistines to get a wife? Can't you find someone in our own clan, among all our people?”

But Samson told his father, “She is the one I want you to get for me. I like her.”

⁴ His parents did not know that it was the Lord who was leading Samson to do this, for the Lord was looking for a chance to fight the Philistines. At this time the Philistines were ruling Israel.

⁵ So Samson went down to Timnah with his father and mother. As they were going through the vineyards there, he heard a young lion roaring. ⁶ Suddenly the power of the Lord made Samson strong, and he tore the lion apart with his bare hands, as if it were a young goat. But he did not tell his parents what he had done.

⁷ Then he went and talked to the young woman, and he liked her. ⁸ A few days later Samson went back to marry her. On the way he left the road to look at the lion he had killed, and he was surprised to find a swarm of bees and some honey inside the dead body. ⁹ He scraped the honey out into his hands and ate it as he walked along. Then he went to his father and mother and gave them some. They ate it, but Samson did not tell them that he had taken the honey from the dead body of a lion.

¹⁰ His father went to the woman's house, and Samson gave a banquet there. This was a custom among the young men. ¹¹ When the Philistines saw him, they sent thirty young men to stay with him. ^12-13 Samson said to them, “Let me tell you a riddle. I'll bet each one of you a piece of fine linen and a change of fine clothes that you can't tell me its meaning before the seven days of the wedding feast are over.”

“Tell us your riddle,” they said. “Let's hear it.”

¹⁴ He said,

Three days later they had still not figured out what the riddle meant.

¹⁵ On the fourth^[e] day they said to Samson's wife, “Trick your husband into telling us what the riddle means. If you don't, we'll set fire to your father's house and burn you with it.^[f] You two invited us so that you could rob us, didn't you?”

¹⁶ So Samson's wife went to him in tears and said, “You don't love me! You just hate me! You told my friends a riddle and didn't tell me what it means!”

He said, “Look, I haven't even told my father and mother. Why should I tell you?” ¹⁷ She cried about it for the whole seven days of the feast. But on the seventh day he told her what the riddle meant, for she nagged him so about it. Then she told the Philistines. ¹⁸ So on the seventh day, before Samson went into the bedroom,^[g] the men of the city said to him,

¹⁹ Suddenly the power of the Lord made him strong, and he went down to Ashkelon, where he killed thirty men, stripped them, and gave their fine clothes to the men who had solved the riddle. After that, he went back home, furious about what had happened, ²⁰ and his wife was given to the man that had been his best man at the wedding.

The Lamb of God

²⁹ The next day John saw Jesus coming to him, and said, “There is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! ³⁰ This is the one I was talking about when I said, ‘A man is coming after me, but he is greater than I am, because he existed before I was born.’ ³¹ I did not know who he would be, but I came baptizing with water in order to make him known to the people of Israel.”

³² And John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down like a dove from heaven and stay on him. ³³ I still did not know that he was the one, but God, who sent me to baptize with water, had said to me, ‘You will see the Spirit come down and stay on a man; he is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ ³⁴ I have seen it,” said John, “and I tell you that he is the Son of God.”

The First Disciples of Jesus

³⁵ The next day John was standing there again with two of his disciples, ³⁶ when he saw Jesus walking by. “There is the Lamb of God!” he said.

³⁷ The two disciples heard him say this and went with Jesus. ³⁸ Jesus turned, saw them following him, and asked, “What are you looking for?”

They answered, “Where do you live, Rabbi?” (This word means “Teacher.”)

³⁹ “Come and see,” he answered. (It was then about four o'clock in the afternoon.) So they went with him and saw where he lived, and spent the rest of that day with him.

⁴⁰ One of them was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. ⁴¹ At once he found his brother Simon and told him, “We have found the Messiah.” (This word means “Christ.”) ⁴² Then he took Simon to Jesus.

Jesus looked at him and said, “Your name is Simon son of John, but you will be called Cephas.” (This is the same as Peter and means “a rock.”)

Jesus Calls Philip and Nathanael

⁴³ The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Come with me!” (⁴⁴ Philip was from Bethsaida, the town where Andrew and Peter lived.) ⁴⁵ Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one whom Moses wrote about in the book of the Law and whom the prophets also wrote about. He is Jesus son of Joseph, from Nazareth.”

⁴⁶ “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” Nathanael asked.

“Come and see,” answered Philip.

⁴⁷ When Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, he said about him, “Here is a real Israelite; there is nothing false in him!”

⁴⁸ Nathanael asked him, “How do you know me?”

Jesus answered, “I saw you when you were under the fig tree before Philip called you.”

⁴⁹ “Teacher,” answered Nathanael, “you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!”

⁵⁰ Jesus said, “Do you believe just because I told you I saw you when you were under the fig tree? You will see much greater things than this!” ^51 (A)And he said to them, “I am telling you the truth: you will see heaven open and God's angels going up and coming down on the Son of Man.”

The Prayer of a Troubled Youth^[a]

¹⁵ A fool will believe anything; smart people watch their step.

¹⁶ Sensible people are careful to stay out of trouble, but stupid people are careless and act too quickly.