Old/New Testament
13 1 Israel for their wickedness is oppressed of the Philistines. 3 The Angel appeareth to Manoah’s wife, 16 The Angel commandeth him to sacrifice unto the Lord. 24 The birth of Samson.
1 But the children of Israel continued to commit (A)wickedness in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord delivered them into the hands of the Philistines forty years.
2 ¶ Then there was a man in Zorah of the family of the Danites named Manoah, whose wife was [a]barren, and bare not.
3 And the Angel of the Lord appeared unto the woman, and said unto her, Behold now, thou art barren, and bearest not: but thou shalt conceive, and bear a son.
4 And now therefore beware (B)that thou drink no wine, nor strong drink, neither eat any unclean thing.
5 For lo, thou shalt conceive and bear a son, and no razor shall (C)come on his head: for the child shall be a [b]Nazirite unto God from his birth: and he shall begin to save Israel out of the hands of the Philistines.
6 ¶ Then the wife came and told her husband, saying, A man of God came unto me, and the fashion of him was like the fashion of the Angel of God exceedingly [c]fearful, but I asked him not whence he was, neither told he me his name,
7 But he said unto me, Behold, thou shalt conceive and bear a son, and now thou shalt drink no wine nor strong drink, neither eat any unclean thing, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from his birth to the day of his death.
8 Then Manoah [d]prayed to the Lord, and said, I pray thee, my Lord, let the man of God, whom thou sentest, come again now unto us, and teach us what we shall do unto the child when he is born.
9 And God heard the voice of Manoah, and the Angel of God came again unto the wife, as she sat in the field, but Manoah her husband was not with her.
10 ¶ And the wife made haste and ran, and showed her husband, and said unto him, Behold, the man hath appeared unto me, that came unto me [e]today.
11 And Manoah arose and went after his wife, and came to the [f]man, and said unto him, Art thou the man that spakest unto the woman? and he said, Yea.
12 Then Manoah said, Now let thy saying come to pass: but how shall we order the child and do unto him?
13 And the Angel of the Lord said unto Manoah, The woman must beware of all that I said unto her.
14 She may eat of nothing that cometh of the vine tree: she shall not drink wine nor strong drink, nor eat any [g]unclean thing: let her observe all that I have commanded her.
15 Manoah then said unto the Angel of the Lord, I pray thee, let us retain thee, until we have made ready a kid for thee.
16 And the Angel of the Lord said unto Manoah, Though thou make me abide, I will not eat of thy bread, and if thou wilt make a burnt offering, offer it unto the [h]Lord: for Manoah knew not that it was an Angel of the Lord.
17 Again Manoah said unto the Angel of the Lord, What is thy name, that when thy saying is come to pass, we may honor thee?
18 And the Angel of the Lord said unto him, Why askest thou thus after my name, which is [i]secret?
19 Then Manoah took a kid with a meat offering, and offered it upon a stone unto the Lord: and the Angel did [j]wondrously, while Manoah and his wife looked on.
20 For when the flame came up toward heaven from the altar, the Angel of the Lord ascended up in the flame of the altar, and Manoah and his wife beheld it, and fell on their faces unto the ground.
21 (So the Angel of the Lord did no more appear unto Manoah and his wife.) Then Manoah knew that it was an Angel of the Lord.
22 And Manoah said unto his wife, (D)We shall surely die, because we have seen God.
23 But his wife said unto him, If the Lord would kill us, he would not have received a [k]burnt offering, and a meat offering of our hands, neither would he have showed us all these things, nor would now have told us any such.
24 ¶ And the wife bore a son, and called his name Samson: and the child grew, and the Lord blessed him.
25 And the Spirit of the Lord began to [l]strengthen him in the host of Dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.
14 2 Samson desireth to have a wife of the Philistines. 6 He killeth a lion. 12 He propoundeth a riddle. 19 He killeth thirty. 20 His wife forsaketh him, and taketh another.
1 Now Samson went down to Timnah, and saw a woman in Timnah of the daughters of the Philistines,
2 And 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 [m]give me her to wife.
3 Then his father and his mother said unto him, Is there [n]never a wife among the daughters of thy brethren, and among all my people, that thou must go to take a wife of the uncircumcised Philistines? And Samson said unto his father, Give me her, for she pleaseth me well.
4 But his father and his mother knew not that it came of the Lord, that he should seek an occasion against the [o]Philistines: for at that time the Philistines reigned over Israel.
5 ¶ Then went Samson, and his father and his mother down to Timnah, and came to the vineyards of Timnah: and behold, a young lion roared upon him.
6 And the Spirit of the Lord [p]came upon him, and he tare him, as one should have rent a kid, and had nothing in his hand, neither told he his father nor his mother what he had done.
7 And he went down, and talked with the woman which was beautiful in the eyes of Samson.
8 ¶ And within a few days, when he returned [q]to receive her, he went aside to see the carcass of the lion: and behold, there was a swarm of bees, and honey in the body of the lion.
9 And he took thereof in his hands, and went eating, and came to his father and to his mother, and gave unto them, and they did eat: but he told not them, that he had taken the honey out of the body of the lion.
10 So his father went down unto the woman, and Samson made there a [r]feast: for so used the young men to do.
11 And when [s]they saw him, they brought thirty companions to be with him.
12 Then Samson said unto them, I will now put forth a riddle unto you: and if you can declare it me within seven days of the feast, and find it out, I will give you thirty sheets, and thirty [t]change of garments.
13 But if you cannot declare it me, then shall ye give me thirty sheets and thirty change of garments. And they answered him, Put forth thy riddle, that we may hear it.
14 And he said unto them, Out of the eater came meat, and out of the strong came sweetness: and they could not in three days expound the riddle.
15 And when the seventh day was [u]come, they said unto Samson’s wife, Entice thine husband that he may declare us the riddle, lest we burn thee and thy father’s house with fire. Have ye called us [v]to possess us? is it not so?
16 And Samson’s wife wept before him, and said, Surely thou hatest me, and lovest me not: for thou hast put forth a riddle unto the [w]children of my people, and hast not told it me. And he said unto her, Behold, I have not told it my father nor my mother, and shall I tell it thee?
17 Then Samson’s wife wept before him [x]seven days, while their feast lasted, and when the seventh day came, he told her, because she was importunate upon him: so she told the riddle to the children of her people.
18 And the men of the city said unto him the seventh day before the sun went down, What is sweeter than honey? and what is stronger than a Lion? Then said he unto them, [y]If ye had not plowed with my heifer, ye had not found out my riddle.
19 And the Spirit of the Lord came upon him, and he went down [z]to Ashkelon, and slew thirty men of them and spoiled them, and gave change of garments unto them, which expounded the riddle: and his wrath was kindled, and he went up to his father’s house.
20 Then Samson’s wife was given to his companion, whom he had used as his friend.
15 4 Samson tieth firebrands to the foxes’ tails. 6 The Philistines burnt his father-in-law and his wife. 15 With the jawbone of an ass he killeth a thousand men. 19 Out of a great tooth in the jaw God gave him water.
1 But within a while after, in the time of wheat harvest, Samson visited his wife with a kid, saying, I will [aa]go in to my wife into the chamber: but her father would not suffer him to go in.
2 And her father said, I thought that thou hadst hated her: therefore gave I her to thy companion. Is not her younger sister fairer than she? take her, I pray thee, instead of the other.
3 Then Samson said unto them, Now am I more [ab]blameless than the Philistines: therefore will I do them displeasure.
4 ¶ And Samson went out, and took three hundred foxes, and took firebrands, and turned them tail to tail, and put a firebrand in the midst between two tails.
5 And when he had set the brands on fire, he sent them out into the standing corn of the Philistines, and burnt up both the [ac]ricks and the standing corn, with the vineyards and olives.
6 Then the Philistines said, Who hath done this? And they answered, Samson the son-in-law of the [ad]Timnite, because he had taken his wife, and given her to his companion. Then the Philistines came up and [ae]burnt her and her father with fire.
7 And Samson said unto them, Though ye have done this, yet will I be avenged of you, and then I will cease.
8 So he smote them [af]hip and thigh with a mighty plague: then he went and dwelt in the top of the rock Etam.
9 ¶ Then the Philistines came up, and pitched in Judah, and [ag]were spread abroad in Lehi.
10 And the men of Judah said, Why are ye come up unto us? And they answered, To [ah]bind Samson are we come up, and to do to him as he hath done to us.
11 Then three thousand men of Judah went to the top of the rock Etam, and said to Samson, Knowest thou not that the Philistines are rulers over us? [ai]Wherefore then hast thou done thus unto us? And he answered them, As they did unto me, so have I done unto them.
12 Again they said unto him, We are come to bind thee, and to deliver thee into the hand of the Philistines. And Samson said unto them, Swear unto me, that ye will not fall upon me yourselves.
13 And they answered him, saying, No, but we will bind thee and [aj]deliver thee unto their hand, but we will not kill thee. And they bound him with two new cords, and brought him from the rock.
14 When he came to Lehi, the Philistines shouted against him, and the Spirit of the Lord came upon him, and the cords that were upon his arms, became as flax that was burnt with fire: for the bands loosed from his hands.
15 And he found a [ak]new jawbone of an ass, and put forth his hands, and caught it, and slew a thousand men therewith.
16 Then Samson said, With the jaw of an ass are heaps upon heaps: with the jaw of an ass have I slain a thousand men.
17 And when he had left speaking, he cast away the jawbone out of his hand, and called that place, [al]Ramath Lehi.
18 And he was sore athirst, and [am]called on the Lord, and said, Thou hast given this great deliverance into the hand of thy servant: and now shall I die for thirst, and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised?
19 Then God brake the cheek tooth, that was in the jaw, and water came there out: and when he had drunk, his spirit came again, and he was revived: wherefore the name thereof is called, [an]En Hakkore, which is in Lehi unto this day.
20 And he judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years.
27 ¶ (A)[a]But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies: do well to them which hate you.
28 Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which hurt you.
29 (B)And unto him that smiteth thee on the one cheek, offer also the other, (C)and him that taketh away thy cloak, forbid not to take thy coat also.
30 Give to every man that asketh of thee: and of him that taketh away the things that be thine, ask them not again.
31 (D)And as ye would that men should do to you, so do ye to them likewise.
32 (E)For if ye love them which love you, [b]what thank shall ye have? for even the sinners love those that love them.
33 And if ye do good for them which do good for you, what thank shall ye have? for even the sinners do the same.
34 (F)And if ye lend to them of whom ye hope to receive, what thank shall ye have? for even the sinners lend to sinners, to receive the like.
35 Wherefore love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, [c]looking for nothing again, and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of (G)the most High: for he is kind unto the unkind, and to the evil.
36 Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.
37 ¶ (H)[d]Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: [e]forgive, and ye shall be forgiven.
38 Give, and it shall be given unto you: (I)a good measure, [f]pressed down, shaken together and running over shall men give into your bosom: for with what measure ye mete, with the same shall men mete to you again.
39 [g]And he spake a parable unto them, (J)Can the blind lead the blind? shall they not both fall into the ditch?
40 (K)The disciple is not above the master: but whosoever will be a perfect disciple, shall be as his master.
41 ¶ (L)[h]And why seest thou a mote in thy brother’s eye, and considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?
42 Either how canst thou say to thy brother, Brother, let me pull out the mote that is in thine eye, when thou seest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Hypocrite, cast out the beam out of thine own eye first, and then shalt thou see perfectly to pull out the mote that is in thy brother’s eye.
43 ¶ (M)[i]For it is not a good tree that bringeth forth evil fruit: neither an evil tree, that bringeth forth good fruit.
44 (N)For every tree is known by his own fruit: (O)for neither of thorns gather men figs, nor of bushes gather they grapes.
45 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.
46 ¶ (P)But why call ye me Lord, Lord, and do not the things that I speak?
47 [j]Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my words, and doeth the same, I will show you to whom he is like:
48 He is like a man which built an house, and dug deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the waters arose, the flood beat upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was grounded upon a rock.
49 But he that heareth and doeth not, is like a man that built an house upon the earth without foundation, against which the flood did beat, and it fell by and by: and the fall of that house was great.
Geneva Bible, 1599 Edition. Published by Tolle Lege Press. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations in articles, reviews, and broadcasts.