Old/New Testament

13 And again the sons of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and he betook them in[to] the hands of [the] Philistines (for) forty years.

² Forsooth a man was of Zorah, of the kindred of Dan (And there was a man of Zorah, of the tribe of Dan), Manoah by name, and he had a barren wife.

³ To which wife an angel of the Lord appeared, and said to her, Thou art barren, and without free children; but thou shalt conceive, and bear a son.

⁴ Therefore be thou ware, lest thou drink wine, and cider (or cider), neither eat thou any unclean thing;

⁵ for thou shalt conceive, and bear a son, whose head a razor shall not touch; for he shall be a Nazarite, that is, holy of God, from his young age, and from the mother’s womb (for he shall be a Nazarite, that is, holy to God, from his mother’s womb); and he shall begin to deliver Israel from the hand of [the] Philistines.

⁶ And when she had come to her husband, she said to him, A man of God came to me, and he had an angel’s cheer, and he was full fearedful (and he had the face of an angel, and he was most frightening); and when I had asked him, who he was, and from whence he came, and by what name he was called, he would not say to me;

⁷ but he answered thus, Lo! thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; (but) be thou ware, that thou drink no wine nor cider, neither eat any unclean thing; for the child shall be a Nazarite, that is, holy of the Lord, from his young age, and from the mother’s womb, till to the day of his death (for the child shall be a Nazarite, that is, holy to the Lord, from his mother’s womb, until the day of his death).

⁸ Therefore Manoah prayed the Lord, and said, Lord, I beseech, that the man of God, whom thou sentest, come again, and teach us, what we ought to do of the child, that shall be born (what we ought to do with the child, who shall be born to us).

⁹ And the Lord heard Manoah praying; and the angel of the Lord appeared again to his wife sitting in the field; forsooth Manoah, her husband, was not with her.

¹⁰ And when she had seen the angel, she hasted, and ran to her husband, and told to him, and said, Lo! the man whom I saw before, (hath) appeared to me (again).

¹¹ Which rose (And he arose), and followed his wife; and he came to the man, and said to him, Art thou he, that hast spoken to the woman? And he answered, I am.

¹² To whom Manoah said, When thy word shall be fulfilled, what wilt thou, that the child do, either from what thing shall he keep himself? (and from what things should he keep himself?)

¹³ And the angel of the Lord said to Manoah, Abstain he himself from all things which I spake to thy wife. (And the angel of the Lord said to Manoah, Thy wife should abstain from all the things which I spoke to her about.)

¹⁴ And eat he not whatever thing cometh forth of the vine, drink he not wine, and cider, eat he not any unclean thing, and fulfill he; and keep that, that I commanded to him. (She should not eat anything that cometh forth from the vine, nor should she drink wine, or cider, or eat any unclean thing; she must fulfill, and obey what I have commanded to her.)

¹⁵ Therefore Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, I beseech, that thou assent to my prayers, and we array to thee, that is, make ready to meat, a kid of the goats. (And then Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, I beseech thee, that thou assent to my prayers, and let us prepare a meal for thee, yea, a goat kid.)

¹⁶ To whom the angel of the Lord answered, Though thou (shalt) constrain me, I shall not eat thy bread; but if thou wilt make (a) burnt sacrifice, offer thou it to the Lord. And Manoah knew not, that it was an angel of the Lord (For Manoah did not know that he was an angel of the Lord).

¹⁷ And Manoah said to him, What name is to thee, that if thy word be fulfilled, we (can) honour thee?

¹⁸ To whom he answered, Why askest thou my name, which is hid, either unknown?

¹⁹ Therefore Manoah took a goat kid, and flowing sacrifices (and the proper grain offering), and he put (them) upon a stone, and he offered them to the Lord that doeth wonderful things. And he and his wife beheld.

²⁰ And when the flame of the altar ascended into heaven, the angel of the Lord ascended together in the flame (the angel of the Lord went up in the flame). And when Manoah and his wife had seen this, they felled low to the earth.

²¹ And the angel of the Lord appeared no more to them. And at once Manoah understood, that he was the angel of the Lord.

²² And he said to his wife, We shall die by death, for we have seen the Lord.

²³ To whom the woman answered, If the Lord would slay us, he would not have taken of our hands burnt sacrifices, and moist sacrifices, but neither he would have showed all these things to us, neither have said to us (of) those things, that be to coming. (To whom the woman answered, If the Lord intended to kill us, he would not have received out of our hands the burnt sacrifice, and the grain offering, nor would he have shown all these things to us, nor would he have told us of the things to come.)

²⁴ And so she childed a son, and called his name Samson; and the child increased (in age), and the Lord blessed him.

²⁵ And the spirit of the Lord began to be with him in the tents of Dan, betwixt Zorah and Eshtaol.

14 Therefore (And so in time, when he was a grown man,) Samson went down into Timnath, and he saw there a woman of the daughters of (the) Philistines;

² and he went up, and he told this to his father and mother, and said, I saw a woman in Timnath of the daughters of Philistines, and I beseech, that ye take her (to be) a wife to me (and I beseech thee, that ye get her for a wife for me).

³ To whom his father and mother said, Whether there is no woman among the daughters of thy brethren, and in all my people, for thou wilt take a wife of the Philistines, that be uncircumcised? And Samson said to his father, Take thou this (for a) wife to me, for she hath pleased mine eyes. (To whom his father and mother said, Is there no woman among the daughters of thy kinsmen, or among all our people, that thou must take a wife of the Philistines, yea, of those who be uncircumcised? And Samson said to his father, Get thou her for a wife for me, for she hath pleased my eyes.)

⁴ But his father and mother knew not, that this thing was done of the Lord (that this thing was done by the Lord); and that he sought occasions against [the] Philistines; for in that time (the) Philistines were lords of Israel.

⁵ Therefore Samson went down with his father and mother into Timnath; and when they had come to the vineries of the city, a fierce and roaring whelp of a lion appeared, and ran to Samson (and ran at Samson).

⁶ And the spirit of the Lord felled into Samson, and he rent the lion into gobbets, as if he had rent a kid, and utterly he had nothing in his hand; and he would not show this to his father and mother. (And the spirit of the Lord fell upon Samson, and he tore the lion into pieces, like tearing up a goat kid, and he had utterly nothing in his hands; but he did not tell what he had done to either his father or his mother.)

⁷ And (so) he went down, and spake to the woman, that pleased his eyes.

⁸ And after some days he turned [again] to take her; and he went aside to see the lion’s carrion (and he went aside to see the lion’s carcass); and lo! a swarm of bees was in the lion’s mouth, and (also) an honeycomb.

⁹ And when Samson had taken the comb in his hands, he ate it in the way; and he came to his father and mother, and gave them part thereof, and they ate; nevertheless he would not show to them, that he had taken that honey of the lion’s mouth. (And when Samson had taken the comb in his hands, he ate some honey on the way; and he came to his father and mother, and gave them part of it, and they ate it; but he did not tell them, that he had taken the honey out of the lion’s mouth.)

¹⁰ And so his father went down to the woman, and made a feast to his son Samson; for so young men were wont to do. (And so his father went down to see the woman, and Samson gave a feast there, as young men were wont to do.)

¹¹ Therefore when the citizens of that place had seen him, they gave to him thirty fellows, which should be with him.

¹² To which Samson spake, I shall put forth to you a problem, that is, a doubtful word and privy, and if ye solve it to me within (the) seven days of the feast, I shall give to you thirty linen clothes, and coats of the same number; (To whom Samson said, I shall put forth a problem, or a riddle, to you, and if ye solve it for me within the seven days of the feast, I shall give you thirty linen clothes, and the same number of coats;)

¹³ soothly if ye may not solve (it), ye shall give to me thirty linen clothes, and coats of the same number (and the same number of coats). Which answered to him, Set forth the problem, (so) that we hear it.

¹⁴ And he said to them, Meat went out of the eater, and sweetness went out of the strong. And by three days they might not solve the proposition, that is, the reason(ing) set forth (And for three days, they could not solve the riddle).

¹⁵ And when the seventh day came, they said to the wife of Samson, Gloss thine husband, and counsel him, that he show to thee what the problem signifieth. That if thou wilt not do it, we shall burn thee and the house of thy father. Whether therefore ye called us to [the] weddings, that ye should rob us? (And when the fourth day came, they said to Samson’s wife, Flatter thy husband, and counsel him, so that he show thee what the answer is. And if thou wilt not do this, we shall burn down thee and thy father’s house as well. Or have ye only called us to the wedding, so that ye could rob us?)

¹⁶ And she shedded tears at Samson, and complained, and said, Thou hatest me, and lovest me not, therefore thou wilt not expound to me the problem, which thou hast put forth to the sons of my people. And he answered, I would not say this thing to my father and mother, and shall I be able to show it to thee? (And so she shed tears before Samson, and complained, and said, Thou hatest me, and lovest me not, and so thou wilt not expound the riddle to me, which thou hast put forth to the sons of my people. And he answered, If I would not even tell it to my father or my mother, then why would I tell it to thee?)

¹⁷ Therefore by seven days of the feast she wept upon him; and at the last in the seventh day, he told it to her clearly, when she was dis-easeful to him. And anon she told it to her citizens. (And so for the remainder of the seven days of the feast, she wept before him; and at last on the seventh day, he told her the answer, after that she had made his life miserable. And at once she told it to her fellow citizens.)

¹⁸ And they said to him in the seventh day before the going down of the sun, What is sweeter than honey, and what is stronger than a lion? And he said to them, If ye had not eared, or busied you, in my cow calf, that is, my wife, ye had not found (out) my proposition. (And so on the seventh day, before the going down of the sun, they said to him, What is sweeter than honey, and stronger than a lion? And he said to them, If ye had not busied yourselves with my cow calf, that is, with my wife, ye would not have solved my riddle.)

¹⁹ Therefore the spirit of the Lord felled into him; and he went down to Ashkelon, and killed there thirty men, whose clothes he took away, and he gave to them that solved the problem; and he was full wroth, and went up into his father’s house. (And then the spirit of the Lord fell upon him; and he went down to Ashkelon, and killed thirty men there, whose clothes he took away, and he gave them to those who had solved his riddle; and he was very angry, and went back to his father’s house.)

²⁰ Forsooth his wife took (as) an husband, one of the friends and privy keepers of her. [Forsooth the wife of him took an husband, one of his friends and wooers.]

15 But a little time after, when the days of wheat harvest nighed, Samson came, and would visit his wife, and he brought to her a goat kid; and when he would enter into her bed by custom, her father forbade him,

² and said, I guessed that thou haddest hated her, and therefore I gave her to thy friend; but she hath a sister, which is younger and fairer than she, be she [a] wife to thee for her (let her be your wife instead!).

³ To whom Samson answered, From this day forth no blame shall be in me against [the] Philistines, for I shall do evils to you. (To whom Samson answered, From this day forth, none of the Philistines can blame me, though I shall do much evil to you.)

⁴ And he went, and took three hundred foxes, and he joined together their tails to tails, (one to one,) and he bound fire brands in (the) middle of the tails (and he tied torches in the middle of their tails),

⁵ which he kindled with fire, and (then) let them (go), that they should run about hither and thither (so that they would run about here and there); which went at once into the corns of [the] Philistines, by which kindled, both the corns borne now together, and (those) yet standing in the stubble, were (all) burnt, in so much that the flame (also) wasted (the) vineries, and (the) places of (the) olive trees.

⁶ And the Philistines said, Who did this thing? To whom it was said, Samson, the husband of (the) Timnite’s daughter, for he took away Samson’s wife, and gave her to another man. And (so) the Philistines went up, and burnt (up) both the woman and her father.

⁷ To the which Philistines Samson said, Though ye have done this thing, nevertheless yet I shall ask and take vengeance of you, and then I shall rest. (To which Philistines Samson said, Because ye have done this thing, now I shall take vengeance on all of you, and then I shall rest.)

⁸ And he smote them with great wound, so that they wondered, and (they fled so fast, that they) putted the hinder part of the hip on the thigh; and he went down, and dwelled in the den of the stone of Etam. (And he struck them down, hip and thigh, with a great slaughter; and then he went, and lived in the cave in the Rock of Etam.)

⁹ Then the Philistines went up into the land of Judah, and they setted tents in the place, that was called afterward Lehi, that is, a cheek[bone], where their host was spread abroad. (Then the Philistines went up into the land of Judah, and they pitched their tents at the place, that later was called Lehi, that is, Jawbone, where their army was spread out over all the land.)

¹⁰ And men of the lineage of Judah said to them, Why have ye gone up against us? The which answered, We come that we bind Samson (And they answered, We have come so that we can bind up Samson), and yield to him (for) those things the which he [hath] wrought against us.

¹¹ Therefore three thousand of men of Judah went down to the den of the flint of Etam; and they said to Samson, Knowest thou not, that [the] Philistines command to us, that is, they have lordship on us? (And so three thousand men of Judah went down to the cave in the Rock of Etam; and they said to Samson, Knowest thou not, that the Philistines command, or rule, over us?) Why wouldest thou do this thing to them? To whom he said, As they did to me, so I did to them.

¹² They said, We come to bind thee, and to betake thee into the hands of Philistines. To whom Samson answered, Swear ye, and promise ye to me, that ye slay not me. (And they said to him, We have come to bind thee up, and to deliver thee into the hands of the Philistines. To whom Samson answered, Swear ye, and promise ye to me, that ye shall not kill me.)

¹³ And they said, We shall not slay thee, but we shall betake thee bound to them. And (so) they bound him with two new cords, and took him from the stone of Etam.

¹⁴ And when they had come to the place that is called Cheek[bone], and the Philistines crying high had run (out) to him, the spirit of the Lord felled into him, and as sticks be wont to be wasted at the hot tasting of fire, so and the bonds, with which he was bound, were scattered and loosed. (And when they had come to the place that now is called Lehi, or Jawbone, and the Philistines came running toward him, and shouting, the spirit of the Lord fell upon him, and as sticks be wont to be wasted with the hot tasting of the fire, so the bonds, with which he was bound, were scattered and loosed from off his hands.)

¹⁵ And when he had found a cheek[bone], that is, the nether cheekbone, of an ass, that there lay, he took it, and killed therewith a thousand men; (And when he had found a jawbone, that is, the lower jawbone, of a donkey, that lay there, he took it, and killed a thousand men with it;)

¹⁶ and he said, With the cheek[bone] of an ass, that is, with the nether cheek[bone] of a colt of she-asses, I have done away Philistines, and I have killed therewith a thousand men. (and he said, With the jawbone of a donkey, that is, with the lower jawbone of the colt of a female donkey, I have done away the Philistines, and I have killed a thousand men with it.)

¹⁷ And when he had high cried these words, and had fully ended them, he threw away from his hand the nether cheekbone; and he called the name of that place Ramathlehi, that is to say, the Raising (up) of a cheekbone. (And after that he had sung these words, and had finished them, he threw away the lower jawbone from his hand; and he named that place Ramathlehi, that is to say, the Raising up of a jawbone.)

¹⁸ And (then) he thirsted greatly, and cried to the Lord, and said, Thou, Lord, hast given into the hand of thy servant this greatest health and victory (Thou, Lord, hast given thy servant this great victory); and lo! I die for thirst, and I shall fall into the hands of uncircumcised men.

¹⁹ Therefore the Lord opened a wang tooth in the cheekbone of the ass, and waters went out thereof, and when he had drunken he refreshed his spirit, and received strengths; therefore the name of that place was called the Well of the inwardly caller of the cheekbone, unto this present day. (And so the Lord opened a molar tooth in the jawbone of the donkey, and water went out of it, and when he had drunk, it refreshed his spirit, and he received strength; and so the name of the spring there in Lehi is called Enhakkore, or the Spring of the Caller, unto this present day).

²⁰ And Samson deemed Israel in the days of [the] Philistines (for) twenty years.

²⁷ But I say to you that hear, love ye your enemies, do ye well to them that hated you [do ye well to them that hate you];

²⁸ bless ye men that curse you, pray ye for men that defame you [pray ye for men that falsely challenge you].

²⁹ And to him that smiteth thee on the one cheek, show also the other [give also the other]; and from him that taketh away from thee a cloak [thy cloth], do not thou forbid the coat.

³⁰ And give to each that asketh thee, and if a man taketh away those things that be thine [and he that taketh away those things that be thine], ask thou not again.

³¹ And as ye will that men do to you, do ye also to them in like manner.

³² And if ye love them that love you, what thank is to you [what grace, or thank, is to you]? for sinful men love men that love them.

³³ And if ye do well to them that do well to you, what grace is to you^[a]? for sinful men do this thing.

³⁴ And if ye lend to them of which ye hope to take again, what thank is to you [And if ye give borrowing, or lend, to them, of whom ye hope for to take again, what grace, or thank, is to you]? for sinful men lend to sinful men, to take again as much.

³⁵ Nevertheless love ye your enemies, and do ye well, and lend ye, hoping nothing thereof, and your meed shall be much, and ye shall be the sons of the Highest, for he is benign on [upon] unkind men and evil men.

³⁶ Therefore be ye merciful, as [and] your Father is merciful.

³⁷ Do not ye deem, and ye shall not be deemed. Do not ye condemn, and ye shall not be condemned; forgive ye, and it shall be forgiven to you.

³⁸ Give ye, and it shall be given to you. They shall give into your bosom a good measure, and well-filled, and shaken together, and overflowing; for by the same measure, by which ye mete, it shall be meted again to you.

³⁹ And he said to them a likeness, Whether the blind may lead the blind? nor fall they not both into the ditch [whether they fall not both into the ditch]?

⁴⁰ A disciple is not above his master; but each shall be perfect, if he [shall] be as his master.

⁴¹ And what seest thou in thy brother's eye a mote, but thou beholdest not a beam, that is in thine own eye?

⁴² Or how mayest thou say to thy brother, Brother, suffer, I shall cast out the mote of thine eye, and thou beholdest not a beam that is in thine own eye? Hypocrite, first take out the beam of thine eye [first cast out the beam of thine eye], and then thou shalt see to take out the mote of thy brother's eye.

⁴³ It is not a good tree [Forsooth it is not a good tree], that maketh evil fruits, neither an evil tree, that maketh good fruits;

⁴⁴ for every tree is known of his fruit. And men gather not figs of thorns, neither men gather a grape of a bush of briers.

⁴⁵ A good man of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth good things, and an evil man of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things [A good man of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth good thing, and an evil man of evil treasure bringeth forth evil thing]; for of the plenty of the heart the mouth speaketh.

⁴⁶ And what call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not those things that I say.

⁴⁷ Each that cometh to me, and heareth my words, and doeth them, I shall show to you, to whom he is like.

⁴⁸ He is like to a man that buildeth an house, that digged deep, and set the foundament on a stone. And when a great flood was made, the flood was hurled to that house, and it might not move it, for it was founded on a firm stone.^[b]

⁴⁹ But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like to a man building his house on earth [upon the earth] without foundament; into which the flood was hurled, and at once it fell down [into which the flood was hurtled, and anon it felled down]; and the falling down of that house was made great.