The Wedding at Cana

The Novelty Detox for Lent: Letting Go of Novelty and Being Present in the Everyday

Words We'll Sing Forever: A 4-Day Devotional

Born for Such a Time as This!

Pour Out Your Heart Through Prayer

What Do Christians Believe?

More Than Just a Story - the Book of John

Everyday Evangelism: Practical Ways to Share Jesus

I Received Jesus! Now What?

Competing Kingdoms: Lessons From Joanna

The Listener’s Bible®: NIV Edition

New International Version™  (Anglicised), Audio Edition

Holy Bible, New International Version™ (Anglicised), South Asian Audio Edition

<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkLUK">
 <div class="chapter ch3" data-usfm="LUK.3">
 <div class="label">3</div><div class="s1">John the Baptist Prepares the Way</div><div class="p"> 1In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar&#8212;when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and Traconitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene&#8212; 2during the high-priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. 3He went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 4As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet:</div><div class="q1">&#8220;A voice of one calling in the wilderness,</div><div class="q1">&#8216;Prepare the way for the Lord,</div><div class="q2">make straight paths for him.</div><div class="q1"> 5Every valley shall be filled in,</div><div class="q2">every mountain and hill made low.</div><div class="q1">The crooked roads shall become straight,</div><div class="q2">the rough ways smooth.</div><div class="q1"> 6And all people will see God&#8217;s salvation.&#8217;&#8198;&#8221;#3:6 Isaiah 40:3-5</div><div class="p"> 7John said to the crowds coming out to be baptized by him, &#8220;You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, &#8216;We have Abraham as our father.&#8217; For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. 9The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 10&#8220;What should we do then?&#8221; the crowd asked.</div><div class="p"> 11John answered, &#8220;Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 12Even tax collectors came to be baptized. &#8220;Teacher,&#8221; they asked, &#8220;what should we do?&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 13&#8220;Don&#8217;t collect any more than you are required to,&#8221; he told them.</div><div class="p"> 14Then some soldiers asked him, &#8220;And what should we do?&#8221;</div><div class="p">He replied, &#8220;Don&#8217;t extort money and don&#8217;t accuse people falsely&#8212;be content with your pay.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 15The people were waiting expectantly and were all wondering in their hearts if John might possibly be the Messiah. 16John answered them all, &#8220;I baptize you with#3:16 Or in water. But one who is more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with#3:16 Or in the Holy Spirit and fire. 17His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.&#8221; 18And with many other words John exhorted the people and proclaimed the good news to them.</div><div class="p"> 19But when John rebuked Herod the tetrarch because of his marriage to Herodias, his brother&#8217;s wife, and all the other evil things he had done, 20Herod added this to them all: He locked John up in prison.</div><div class="s1">The Baptism and Genealogy of Jesus</div><div class="p"> 21When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened 22and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: &#8220;You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 23Now Jesus himself was about thirty years old when he began his ministry. He was the son, so it was thought, of Joseph,</div><div class="b"></div><div class="li1">the son of Heli, 24the son of Matthat,</div><div class="li1">the son of Levi, the son of Melki,</div><div class="li1">the son of Jannai, the son of Joseph,</div><div class="li1"> 25the son of Mattathias, the son of Amos,</div><div class="li1">the son of Nahum, the son of Esli,</div><div class="li1">the son of Naggai, 26the son of Maath,</div><div class="li1">the son of Mattathias, the son of Semein,</div><div class="li1">the son of Josek, the son of Joda,</div><div class="li1"> 27the son of Joanan, the son of Rhesa,</div><div class="li1">the son of Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel,</div><div class="li1">the son of Neri, 28the son of Melki,</div><div class="li1">the son of Addi, the son of Cosam,</div><div class="li1">the son of Elmadam, the son of Er,</div><div class="li1"> 29the son of Joshua, the son of Eliezer,</div><div class="li1">the son of Jorim, the son of Matthat,</div><div class="li1">the son of Levi, 30the son of Simeon,</div><div class="li1">the son of Judah, the son of Joseph,</div><div class="li1">the son of Jonam, the son of Eliakim,</div><div class="li1"> 31the son of Melea, the son of Menna,</div><div class="li1">the son of Mattatha, the son of Nathan,</div><div class="li1">the son of David, 32the son of Jesse,</div><div class="li1">the son of Obed, the son of Boaz,</div><div class="li1">the son of Salmon,#3:32 Some early manuscripts Sala the son of Nahshon,</div><div class="li1"> 33the son of Amminadab, the son of Ram,#3:33 Some manuscripts Amminadab, the son of Admin, the son of Arni; other manuscripts vary widely.</div><div class="li1">the son of Hezron, the son of Perez,</div><div class="li1">the son of Judah, 34the son of Jacob,</div><div class="li1">the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham,</div><div class="li1">the son of Terah, the son of Nahor,</div><div class="li1"> 35the son of Serug, the son of Reu,</div><div class="li1">the son of Peleg, the son of Eber,</div><div class="li1">the son of Shelah, 36the son of Cainan,</div><div class="li1">the son of Arphaxad, the son of Shem,</div><div class="li1">the son of Noah, the son of Lamech,</div><div class="li1"> 37the son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch,</div><div class="li1">the son of Jared, the son of Mahalalel,</div><div class="li1">the son of Kenan, 38the son of Enosh,</div><div class="li1">the son of Seth, the son of Adam,</div><div class="li1">the son of God.</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkJDG">
 <div class="chapter ch10" data-usfm="JDG.10">
 <div class="label">10</div><div class="s1">Tola</div><div class="p"> 1After the time of Abimelek, a man of Issachar named Tola son of Puah, the son of Dodo, rose to save Israel. He lived in Shamir, in the hill country of Ephraim. 2He led#10:2 Traditionally judged; also in verse 3 Israel twenty-three years; then he died, and was buried in Shamir.</div><div class="s1">Jair</div><div class="p"> 3He was followed by Jair of Gilead, who led Israel twenty-two years. 4He had thirty sons, who rode thirty donkeys. They controlled thirty towns in Gilead, which to this day are called Havvoth Jair.#10:4 Or called the settlements of Jair 5When Jair died, he was buried in Kamon.</div><div class="s1">Jephthah</div><div class="p"> 6Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord. They served the Baals and the Ashtoreths, and the gods of Aram, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the Ammonites and the gods of the Philistines. And because the Israelites forsook the Lord and no longer served him, 7he became angry with them. He sold them into the hands of the Philistines and the Ammonites, 8who that year shattered and crushed them. For eighteen years they oppressed all the Israelites on the east side of the Jordan in Gilead, the land of the Amorites. 9The Ammonites also crossed the Jordan to fight against Judah, Benjamin and Ephraim; Israel was in great distress. 10Then the Israelites cried out to the Lord, &#8220;We have sinned against you, forsaking our God and serving the Baals.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 11The Lord replied, &#8220;When the Egyptians, the Amorites, the Ammonites, the Philistines, 12the Sidonians, the Amalekites and the Maonites#10:12 Hebrew; some Septuagint manuscripts Midianites oppressed you and you cried to me for help, did I not save you from their hands? 13But you have forsaken me and served other gods, so I will no longer save you. 14Go and cry out to the gods you have chosen. Let them save you when you are in trouble!&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 15But the Israelites said to the Lord, &#8220;We have sinned. Do with us whatever you think best, but please rescue us now.&#8221; 16Then they got rid of the foreign gods among them and served the Lord. And he could bear Israel&#8217;s misery no longer.</div><div class="p"> 17When the Ammonites were called to arms and camped in Gilead, the Israelites assembled and camped at Mizpah. 18The leaders of the people of Gilead said to each other, &#8220;Whoever will take the lead in attacking the Ammonites will be head over all who live in Gilead.&#8221;</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkJDG">
 <div class="chapter ch11" data-usfm="JDG.11">
 <div class="label">11</div><div class="p"> 1Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty warrior. His father was Gilead; his mother was a prostitute. 2Gilead&#8217;s wife also bore him sons, and when they were grown up, they drove Jephthah away. &#8220;You are not going to get any inheritance in our family,&#8221; they said, &#8220;because you are the son of another woman.&#8221; 3So Jephthah fled from his brothers and settled in the land of Tob, where a gang of scoundrels gathered around him and followed him.</div><div class="p"> 4Some time later, when the Ammonites were fighting against Israel, 5the elders of Gilead went to get Jephthah from the land of Tob. 6&#8220;Come,&#8221; they said, &#8220;be our commander, so we can fight the Ammonites.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 7Jephthah said to them, &#8220;Didn&#8217;t you hate me and drive me from my father&#8217;s house? Why do you come to me now, when you&#8217;re in trouble?&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 8The elders of Gilead said to him, &#8220;Nevertheless, we are turning to you now; come with us to fight the Ammonites, and you will be head over all of us who live in Gilead.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 9Jephthah answered, &#8220;Suppose you take me back to fight the Ammonites and the Lord gives them to me&#8212;will I really be your head?&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 10The elders of Gilead replied, &#8220;The Lord is our witness; we will certainly do as you say.&#8221; 11So Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and commander over them. And he repeated all his words before the Lord in Mizpah.</div><div class="p"> 12Then Jephthah sent messengers to the Ammonite king with the question: &#8220;What do you have against me that you have attacked my country?&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 13The king of the Ammonites answered Jephthah&#8217;s messengers, &#8220;When Israel came up out of Egypt, they took away my land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, all the way to the Jordan. Now give it back peaceably.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 14Jephthah sent back messengers to the Ammonite king, 15saying:</div><div class="pmo">&#8220;This is what Jephthah says: Israel did not take the land of Moab or the land of the Ammonites. 16But when they came up out of Egypt, Israel went through the wilderness to the Red Sea#11:16 Or the Sea of Reeds and on to Kadesh. 17Then Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, &#8216;Give us permission to go through your country,&#8217; but the king of Edom would not listen. They sent also to the king of Moab, and he refused. So Israel stayed at Kadesh.</div><div class="pm"> 18&#8220;Next they traveled through the wilderness, skirted the lands of Edom and Moab, passed along the eastern side of the country of Moab, and camped on the other side of the Arnon. They did not enter the territory of Moab, for the Arnon was its border.</div><div class="pm"> 19&#8220;Then Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, who ruled in Heshbon, and said to him, &#8216;Let us pass through your country to our own place.&#8217; 20Sihon, however, did not trust Israel#11:20 Or however, would not make an agreement for Israel to pass through his territory. He mustered all his troops and encamped at Jahaz and fought with Israel.</div><div class="pm"> 21&#8220;Then the Lord, the God of Israel, gave Sihon and his whole army into Israel&#8217;s hands, and they defeated them. Israel took over all the land of the Amorites who lived in that country, 22capturing all of it from the Arnon to the Jabbok and from the desert to the Jordan.</div><div class="pm"> 23&#8220;Now since the Lord, the God of Israel, has driven the Amorites out before his people Israel, what right have you to take it over? 24Will you not take what your god Chemosh gives you? Likewise, whatever the Lord our God has given us, we will possess. 25Are you any better than Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever quarrel with Israel or fight with them? 26For three hundred years Israel occupied Heshbon, Aroer, the surrounding settlements and all the towns along the Arnon. Why didn&#8217;t you retake them during that time? 27I have not wronged you, but you are doing me wrong by waging war against me. Let the Lord, the Judge, decide the dispute this day between the Israelites and the Ammonites.&#8221;</div><div class="m"> 28The king of Ammon, however, paid no attention to the message Jephthah sent him.</div><div class="p"> 29Then the Spirit of the Lord came on Jephthah. He crossed Gilead and Manasseh, passed through Mizpah of Gilead, and from there he advanced against the Ammonites. 30And Jephthah made a vow to the Lord: &#8220;If you give the Ammonites into my hands, 31whatever comes out of the door of my house to meet me when I return in triumph from the Ammonites will be the Lord&#8217;s, and I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 32Then Jephthah went over to fight the Ammonites, and the Lord gave them into his hands. 33He devastated twenty towns from Aroer to the vicinity of Minnith, as far as Abel Keramim. Thus Israel subdued Ammon.</div><div class="p"> 34When Jephthah returned to his home in Mizpah, who should come out to meet him but his daughter, dancing to the sound of timbrels! She was an only child. Except for her he had neither son nor daughter. 35When he saw her, he tore his clothes and cried, &#8220;Oh no, my daughter! You have brought me down and I am devastated. I have made a vow to the Lord that I cannot break.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 36&#8220;My father,&#8221; she replied, &#8220;you have given your word to the Lord. Do to me just as you promised, now that the Lord has avenged you of your enemies, the Ammonites. 37But grant me this one request,&#8221; she said. &#8220;Give me two months to roam the hills and weep with my friends, because I will never marry.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 38&#8220;You may go,&#8221; he said. And he let her go for two months. She and her friends went into the hills and wept because she would never marry. 39After the two months, she returned to her father, and he did to her as he had vowed. And she was a virgin.</div><div class="p">From this comes the Israelite tradition 40that each year the young women of Israel go out for four days to commemorate the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite.</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkJDG">
 <div class="chapter ch12" data-usfm="JDG.12">
 <div class="label">12</div><div class="s1">Jephthah and Ephraim</div><div class="p"> 1The Ephraimite forces were called out, and they crossed over to Zaphon. They said to Jephthah, &#8220;Why did you go to fight the Ammonites without calling us to go with you? We&#8217;re going to burn down your house over your head.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 2Jephthah answered, &#8220;I and my people were engaged in a great struggle with the Ammonites, and although I called, you didn&#8217;t save me out of their hands. 3When I saw that you wouldn&#8217;t help, I took my life in my hands and crossed over to fight the Ammonites, and the Lord gave me the victory over them. Now why have you come up today to fight me?&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 4Jephthah then called together the men of Gilead and fought against Ephraim. The Gileadites struck them down because the Ephraimites had said, &#8220;You Gileadites are renegades from Ephraim and Manasseh.&#8221; 5The Gileadites captured the fords of the Jordan leading to Ephraim, and whenever a survivor of Ephraim said, &#8220;Let me cross over,&#8221; the men of Gilead asked him, &#8220;Are you an Ephraimite?&#8221; If he replied, &#8220;No,&#8221; 6they said, &#8220;All right, say &#8216;Shibboleth.&#8217;&#8198;&#8221; If he said, &#8220;Sibboleth,&#8221; because he could not pronounce the word correctly, they seized him and killed him at the fords of the Jordan. Forty-two thousand Ephraimites were killed at that time.</div><div class="p"> 7Jephthah led#12:7 Traditionally judged; also in verses 8-14 Israel six years. Then Jephthah the Gileadite died and was buried in a town in Gilead.</div><div class="s1">Ibzan, Elon and Abdon</div><div class="p"> 8After him, Ibzan of Bethlehem led Israel. 9He had thirty sons and thirty daughters. He gave his daughters away in marriage to those outside his clan, and for his sons he brought in thirty young women as wives from outside his clan. Ibzan led Israel seven years. 10Then Ibzan died and was buried in Bethlehem.</div><div class="p"> 11After him, Elon the Zebulunite led Israel ten years. 12Then Elon died and was buried in Aijalon in the land of Zebulun.</div><div class="p"> 13After him, Abdon son of Hillel, from Pirathon, led Israel. 14He had forty sons and thirty grandsons, who rode on seventy donkeys. He led Israel eight years. 15Then Abdon son of Hillel died and was buried at Pirathon in Ephraim, in the hill country of the Amalekites.</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkJDG">
 <div class="chapter ch13" data-usfm="JDG.13">
 <div class="label">13</div><div class="s1">The Birth of Samson</div><div class="p"> 1Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord, so the Lord delivered them into the hands of the Philistines for forty years.</div><div class="p"> 2A certain man of Zorah, named Manoah, from the clan of the Danites, had a wife who was childless, unable to give birth. 3The angel of the Lord appeared to her and said, &#8220;You are barren and childless, but you are going to become pregnant and give birth to a son. 4Now see to it that you drink no wine or other fermented drink and that you do not eat anything unclean. 5You will become pregnant and have a son whose head is never to be touched by a razor because the boy is to be a Nazirite, dedicated to God from the womb. He will take the lead in delivering Israel from the hands of the Philistines.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 6Then the woman went to her husband and told him, &#8220;A man of God came to me. He looked like an angel of God, very awesome. I didn&#8217;t ask him where he came from, and he didn&#8217;t tell me his name. 7But he said to me, &#8216;You will become pregnant and have a son. Now then, drink no wine or other fermented drink and do not eat anything unclean, because the boy will be a Nazirite of God from the womb until the day of his death.&#8217;&#8198;&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 8Then Manoah prayed to the Lord: &#8220;Pardon your servant, Lord. I beg you to let the man of God you sent to us come again to teach us how to bring up the boy who is to be born.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 9God heard Manoah, and the angel of God came again to the woman while she was out in the field; but her husband Manoah was not with her. 10The woman hurried to tell her husband, &#8220;He&#8217;s here! The man who appeared to me the other day!&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 11Manoah got up and followed his wife. When he came to the man, he said, &#8220;Are you the man who talked to my wife?&#8221;</div><div class="p">&#8220;I am,&#8221; he said.</div><div class="p"> 12So Manoah asked him, &#8220;When your words are fulfilled, what is to be the rule that governs the boy&#8217;s life and work?&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 13The angel of the Lord answered, &#8220;Your wife must do all that I have told her. 14She must not eat anything that comes from the grapevine, nor drink any wine or other fermented drink nor eat anything unclean. She must do everything I have commanded her.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 15Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, &#8220;We would like you to stay until we prepare a young goat for you.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 16The angel of the Lord replied, &#8220;Even though you detain me, I will not eat any of your food. But if you prepare a burnt offering, offer it to the Lord.&#8221; (Manoah did not realize that it was the angel of the Lord.)</div><div class="p"> 17Then Manoah inquired of the angel of the Lord, &#8220;What is your name, so that we may honor you when your word comes true?&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 18He replied, &#8220;Why do you ask my name? It is beyond understanding.#13:18 Or is wonderful&#8221; 19Then Manoah took a young goat, together with the grain offering, and sacrificed it on a rock to the Lord. And the Lord did an amazing thing while Manoah and his wife watched: 20As the flame blazed up from the altar toward heaven, the angel of the Lord ascended in the flame. Seeing this, Manoah and his wife fell with their faces to the ground. 21When the angel of the Lord did not show himself again to Manoah and his wife, Manoah realized that it was the angel of the Lord.</div><div class="p"> 22&#8220;We are doomed to die!&#8221; he said to his wife. &#8220;We have seen God!&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 23But his wife answered, &#8220;If the Lord had meant to kill us, he would not have accepted a burnt offering and grain offering from our hands, nor shown us all these things or now told us this.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 24The woman gave birth to a boy and named him Samson. He grew and the Lord blessed him, 25and the Spirit of the Lord began to stir him while he was in Mahaneh Dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkJDG">
 <div class="chapter ch14" data-usfm="JDG.14">
 <div class="label">14</div><div class="s1">Samson&#8217;s Marriage</div><div class="p"> 1Samson went down to Timnah and saw there a young Philistine woman. 2When he returned, he said to his father and mother, &#8220;I have seen a Philistine woman in Timnah; now get her for me as my wife.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 3His father and mother replied, &#8220;Isn&#8217;t there an acceptable woman among your relatives or among all our people? Must you go to the uncircumcised Philistines to get a wife?&#8221;</div><div class="p">But Samson said to his father, &#8220;Get her for me. She&#8217;s the right one for me.&#8221; 4(His parents did not know that this was from the Lord, who was seeking an occasion to confront the Philistines; for at that time they were ruling over Israel.)</div><div class="p"> 5Samson went down to Timnah together with his father and mother. As they approached the vineyards of Timnah, suddenly a young lion came roaring toward him. 6The Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon him so that he tore the lion apart with his bare hands as he might have torn a young goat. But he told neither his father nor his mother what he had done. 7Then he went down and talked with the woman, and he liked her.</div><div class="p"> 8Some time later, when he went back to marry her, he turned aside to look at the lion&#8217;s carcass, and in it he saw a swarm of bees and some honey. 9He scooped out the honey with his hands and ate as he went along. When he rejoined his parents, he gave them some, and they too ate it. But he did not tell them that he had taken the honey from the lion&#8217;s carcass.</div><div class="p"> 10Now his father went down to see the woman. And there Samson held a feast, as was customary for young men. 11When the people saw him, they chose thirty men to be his companions.</div><div class="p"> 12&#8220;Let me tell you a riddle,&#8221; Samson said to them. &#8220;If you can give me the answer within the seven days of the feast, I will give you thirty linen garments and thirty sets of clothes. 13If you can&#8217;t tell me the answer, you must give me thirty linen garments and thirty sets of clothes.&#8221;</div><div class="p">&#8220;Tell us your riddle,&#8221; they said. &#8220;Let&#8217;s hear it.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 14He replied,</div><div class="q1">&#8220;Out of the eater, something to eat;</div><div class="q2">out of the strong, something sweet.&#8221;</div><div class="m">For three days they could not give the answer.</div><div class="p"> 15On the fourth#14:15 Some Septuagint manuscripts and Syriac; Hebrew seventh day, they said to Samson&#8217;s wife, &#8220;Coax your husband into explaining the riddle for us, or we will burn you and your father&#8217;s household to death. Did you invite us here to steal our property?&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 16Then Samson&#8217;s wife threw herself on him, sobbing, &#8220;You hate me! You don&#8217;t really love me. You&#8217;ve given my people a riddle, but you haven&#8217;t told me the answer.&#8221;</div><div class="p">&#8220;I haven&#8217;t even explained it to my father or mother,&#8221; he replied, &#8220;so why should I explain it to you?&#8221; 17She cried the whole seven days of the feast. So on the seventh day he finally told her, because she continued to press him. She in turn explained the riddle to her people.</div><div class="p"> 18Before sunset on the seventh day the men of the town said to him,</div><div class="q1">&#8220;What is sweeter than honey?</div><div class="q2">What is stronger than a lion?&#8221;</div><div class="p">Samson said to them,</div><div class="q1">&#8220;If you had not plowed with my heifer,</div><div class="q2">you would not have solved my riddle.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 19Then the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon him. He went down to Ashkelon, struck down thirty of their men, stripped them of everything and gave their clothes to those who had explained the riddle. Burning with anger, he returned to his father&#8217;s home. 20And Samson&#8217;s wife was given to one of his companions who had attended him at the feast.</div>
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