Day 130 of 365

Judg 14:1–15:20

14:1 Samson went down to Timnah, and saw a woman in Timnah of the daughters of the Philistines.

14:2 He came up, and told his father and his mother, and said, "I have seen a woman in Timnah of the daughters of the Philistines. Now therefore get her for me as wife."

14:3 Then his father and his mother said to him, "Is there not a woman among the daughters of your brothers, or among all my people, that you go to take a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines?" And Samson said to his father, "Get her for me, for she is the right one for me."

14:4 But his father and his mother did not know that it was of the Lord, for he sought for an opportunity against the Philistines. Now at that time the Philistines had rule over Israel.

14:5 Then Samson went down with his father and his mother to Timnah, and came to the vineyards of Timnah. And behold, a young lion roared against him.

14:6 And the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon him, and he tore him as he would have torn a young goat. And he had nothing in his hand, but he did not tell his father or his mother what he had done.

14:7 He went down and talked with the woman, and she pleased Samson.

14:8 After a while he returned to take her; and he turned aside to see the carcass of the lion, and behold, there was a swarm of bees in the body of the lion, and honey.

14:9 He took it into his hands, and went on, eating as he went. And he came to his father and mother, and gave to them, and they ate. But he did not tell them that he had taken the honey out of the body of the lion.

14:10 His father went down to the woman, and Samson made a feast there, since young men used to do so.

14:11 It happened, when they saw him, that they brought thirty companions to be with him.

14:12 Samson said to them, "Let me now put forth a riddle to you. If you can explain it to me within the seven days of the feast, and figure it out, then I will give you thirty linen garments and thirty changes of clothing.

14:13 But if you can't explain it to me, then you shall give me thirty linen garments and thirty changes of clothing." And they said to him, "Propose your riddle, we want to hear it."

14:14 He said to them, "Out of the eater came forth food. Out of the strong came forth sweetness." They couldn't in three days declare the riddle.

14:15 And it happened on the seventh day, that they said to Samson's wife, "Entice your husband, that he may tell us the riddle, lest we burn you and your father's house with fire. Have you called us to impoverish us? Is it not so?"

14:16 Samson's wife wept before him, and said, "You just hate me, and do not love me. You have put forth a riddle to the children of my people, and haven't told it me." And he said to her, "Behold, I haven't told it to my father or my mother, and shall I tell you?"

14:17 She wept before him the seven days, while their feast lasted: and it happened on the seventh day, that he told her, because she pressed him sore; and she told the riddle to the children of her people.

14:18 The men of the city said to him on the seventh day before the sun went down, "What is sweeter than honey? What is stronger than a lion?" He said to them, "If you hadn't plowed with my heifer, you wouldn't have found out my riddle."

14:19 The Spirit of the Lord rushed upon him, and he went down to Ashkelon, and struck thirty men of them, and took their belongings, and gave their garments to those who explained the riddle. His anger was kindled, and he went up to his father's house.

14:20 But Samson's wife was given to his companion, who had been his friend.

15:1 But after a while, in the time of wheat harvest, that Samson visited his wife with a young goat; and he said, "I will go in to my wife into the room." But her father wouldn't allow him to go in.

15:2 Her father said, "I most certainly thought that you had utterly hated her; therefore I gave her to your companion. Isn't her younger sister more beautiful than she is? Please take her, instead."

15:3 Samson said to them, "This time I will be blameless in regard of the Philistines, when I harm them."

15:4 Samson went and caught three hundred foxes, and took torches, and turned tail to tail, and put a torch in the midst between every two tails.

15:5 When he had set the brands on fire, he let them go into the standing grain of the Philistines, and burnt up both the shocks and the standing grain, and also the olive groves.

15:6 Then the Philistines said, "Who has done this?" They said, "Samson, the son-in-law of the Timnite, because he has taken his wife, and given her to his companion." The Philistines came up, and burnt her and her father with fire.

15:7 Samson said to them, "If you behave like this, surely I will be avenged of you, and after that I will cease."

15:8 He struck them hip and thigh with a great slaughter: and he went down and lived in the cleft of the rock of Etam.

15:9 Then the Philistines went up, and encamped in Judah, and spread themselves in Lehi.

15:10 The men of Judah said, "Why have you come up against us?" They said, "We have come up to bind Samson, to do to him as he has done to us."

15:11 Then three thousand men of Judah went down to the cleft of the rock of Etam, and said to Samson, "Do you not know that the Philistines are rulers over us? What then is this that you have done to us?" He said to them, "As they did to me, so have I done to them."

15:12 They said to him, "We have come down to bind you, that we may deliver you into the hand of the Philistines." Samson said to them, "Swear to me that you will not fall on me yourselves."

15:13 They spoke to him, saying, "No; but we will bind you fast, and deliver you into their hand; but surely we will not kill you." They bound him with two new ropes, and brought him up from the rock.

15:14 When he came to Lehi, the Philistines shouted as they met him: and the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon him, and the ropes that were on his arms became like flax that was burnt with fire, and his bands dropped from off his hands.

15:15 And he found a fresh jawbone of a donkey, and reached down and took it, and struck a thousand men with it.

15:16 Samson said, "With the jawbone of a donkey, heaps on heaps; with the jawbone of a donkey I have struck a thousand men."

15:17 It happened, when he had finished speaking, that he cast away the jawbone out of his hand; and that place was called Ramath Lehi.

15:18 He was very thirsty, and called on the Lord, and said, "You have given this great deliverance by the hand of your servant; and now shall I die for thirst, and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised?"

15:19 And God split the hollow place that is at Lehi, and water came out of it. When he had drunk, his spirit came again, and he revived: therefore its name was called En Hakore, which is in Lehi, to this day.

15:20 He judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years.

John 1:43–2:12

1:43 On the next day, he was determined to go out into Galilee, and he found Philip. Jesus said to him, "Follow me."

1:44 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, of the city of Andrew and Peter.

1:45 Philip found Nathanael, and said to him, "We have found him, of whom Moses in the Law, and the Prophets, wrote: Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph."

1:46 Nathanael said to him, "Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?" Philip said to him, "Come and see."

1:47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and said about him, "Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no deceit!"

1:48 Nathanael said to him, "How do you know me?" Jesus answered him, "Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you."

1:49 Nathanael answered him, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are King of Israel!"

1:50 Jesus answered him, "Because I told you, 'I saw you underneath the fig tree,' do you believe? You will see greater things than these!"

1:51 He said to him, "Truly, truly, I tell you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man."

2:1 The third day, there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee. Jesus' mother was there.

2:2 Jesus also was invited, with his disciples, to the marriage.

2:3 When the wine ran out, Jesus' mother said to him, "They have no wine."

2:4 Jesus said to her, "Woman, what does that have to do with you and me? My hour has not yet come."

2:5 His mother said to the servants, "Whatever he says to you, do it."

2:6 Now there were six water pots of stone set there after the Jewish manner of purifying, containing two or three metretes apiece.

2:7 Jesus said to them, "Fill the water pots with water." They filled them up to the brim.

2:8 He said to them, "Now draw some out, and take it to the ruler of the feast." So they took it.

2:9 When the ruler of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the ruler of the feast called the bridegroom,

2:10 and said to him, "Everyone serves the good wine first, and when the guests have drunk freely, then that which is worse. You have kept the good wine until now!"

2:11 This beginning of his signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.

2:12 After this, he went down to Capernaum, he, and his mother, his brothers, and his disciples; and they stayed there a few days.

Prov 29:16–27

16 When the wicked increase, sin increases; but the righteous will see their downfall.

17 Correct your son, and he will give you peace; yes, he will bring delight to your soul.

18 Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint; but one who keeps the Law is blessed.

19 A servant can't be corrected by words. Though he understands, yet he will not respond.

20 Do you see a man who is hasty in his words? There is more hope for a fool than for him.

21 He who pampers his servant from youth will have him become a son in the end.

22 An angry man stirs up strife, and a wrathful man abounds in sin.

23 A man's pride brings him low, but one of lowly spirit gains honor.

24 Whoever is an accomplice of a thief is an enemy of his own soul. He takes an oath, but dares not testify.

25 The fear of man proves to be a snare, but whoever puts his trust in the Lord is kept safe.

26 Many seek the ruler's favor, but a man's justice comes from the Lord.

27 A dishonest man detests the righteous, and the upright in their ways detest the wicked.