Judges 15 (Listen)

Samson Defeats the Philistines

1 After some days, at the time of wheat harvest, Samson went to visit his wife with a young goat. And he said, “I will go in to my wife in the chamber.” But her father would not allow him to go in. 2 And her father said, “I really thought that you utterly hated her, so I gave her to your companion. Is not her younger sister more beautiful than she? Please take her instead.” 3 And Samson said to them, “This time I shall be innocent in regard to the Philistines, when I do them harm.” 4 So Samson went and caught 300 foxes and took torches. And he turned them tail to tail and put a torch between each pair of tails. 5 And when he had set fire to the torches, he let the foxes go into the standing grain of the Philistines and set fire to the stacked grain and the standing grain, as well as the olive orchards. 6 Then the Philistines said, “Who has done this?” And they said, “Samson, the son-in-law of the Timnite, because he has taken his wife and given her to his companion.” And the Philistines came up and burned her and her father with fire. 7 And Samson said to them, “If this is what you do, I swear I will be avenged on you, and after that I will quit.” 8 And he struck them hip and thigh with a great blow, and he went down and stayed in the cleft of the rock of Etam.

9 Then the Philistines came up and encamped in Judah and made a raid on Lehi. 10 And 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 did to us.” 11 Then 3,000 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?” And he said to them, “As they did to me, so have I done to them.” 12 And they said to him, “We have come down to bind you, that we may give you into the hands of the Philistines.” And Samson said to them, “Swear to me that you will not attack me yourselves.” 13 They said to him, “No; we will only bind you and give you into their hands. We will surely not kill you.” So they bound him with two new ropes and brought him up from the rock.

14 When he came to Lehi, the Philistines came shouting to meet him. Then the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon him, and the ropes that were on his arms became as flax that has caught fire, and his bonds melted off his hands. 15 And he found a fresh jawbone of a donkey, and put out his hand and took it, and with it he struck 1,000 men. 16 And Samson said,

  “With the jawbone of a donkey,
    heaps upon heaps,
  with the jawbone of a donkey
    have I struck down a thousand men.”

17 As soon as he had finished speaking, he threw away the jawbone out of his hand. And that place was called Ramath-lehi.

18 And he was very thirsty, and he called upon the LORD and said, “You have granted this great salvation by the hand of your servant, and shall I now die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?” 19 And God split open the hollow place that is at Lehi, and water came out from it. And when he drank, his spirit returned, and he revived. Therefore the name of it was called En-hakkore; it is at Lehi to this day. 20 And he judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years.

(ESV)

Proverbs 16 (Listen)

1   The plans of the heart belong to man,
    but the answer of the tongue is from the LORD.
2   All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes,
    but the LORD weighs the spirit.
3   Commit your work to the LORD,
    and your plans will be established.
4   The LORD has made everything for its purpose,
    even the wicked for the day of trouble.
5   Everyone who is arrogant in heart is an abomination to the LORD;
    be assured, he will not go unpunished.
6   By steadfast love and faithfulness iniquity is atoned for,
    and by the fear of the LORD one turns away from evil.
7   When a man’s ways please the LORD,
    he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.
8   Better is a little with righteousness
    than great revenues with injustice.
9   The heart of man plans his way,
    but the LORD establishes his steps.
10   An oracle is on the lips of a king;
    his mouth does not sin in judgment.
11   A just balance and scales are the LORD’s;
    all the weights in the bag are his work.
12   It is an abomination to kings to do evil,
    for the throne is established by righteousness.
13   Righteous lips are the delight of a king,
    and he loves him who speaks what is right.
14   A king’s wrath is a messenger of death,
    and a wise man will appease it.
15   In the light of a king’s face there is life,
    and his favor is like the clouds that bring the spring rain.
16   How much better to get wisdom than gold!
    To get understanding is to be chosen rather than silver.
17   The highway of the upright turns aside from evil;
    whoever guards his way preserves his life.
18   Pride goes before destruction,
    and a haughty spirit before a fall.
19   It is better to be of a lowly spirit with the poor
    than to divide the spoil with the proud.
20   Whoever gives thought to the word will discover good,
    and blessed is he who trusts in the LORD.
21   The wise of heart is called discerning,
    and sweetness of speech increases persuasiveness.
22   Good sense is a fountain of life to him who has it,
    but the instruction of fools is folly.
23   The heart of the wise makes his speech judicious
    and adds persuasiveness to his lips.
24   Gracious words are like a honeycomb,
    sweetness to the soul and health to the body.
25   There is a way that seems right to a man,
    but its end is the way to death.
26   A worker’s appetite works for him;
    his mouth urges him on.
27   A worthless man plots evil,
    and his speech is like a scorching fire.
28   A dishonest man spreads strife,
    and a whisperer separates close friends.
29   A man of violence entices his neighbor
    and leads him in a way that is not good.
30   Whoever winks his eyes plans dishonest things;
    he who purses his lips brings evil to pass.
31   Gray hair is a crown of glory;
    it is gained in a righteous life.
32   Whoever is slow to anger is better than the mighty,
    and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city.
33   The lot is cast into the lap,
    but its every decision is from the LORD.

(ESV)

Psalm 137 (Listen)

How Shall We Sing the Lord’s Song?

1   By the waters of Babylon,
    there we sat down and wept,
    when we remembered Zion.
2   On the willows there
    we hung up our lyres.
3   For there our captors
    required of us songs,
  and our tormentors, mirth, saying,
    “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”
4   How shall we sing the LORD’s song
    in a foreign land?
5   If I forget you, O Jerusalem,
    let my right hand forget its skill!
6   Let my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth,
    if I do not remember you,
  if I do not set Jerusalem
    above my highest joy!
7   Remember, O LORD, against the Edomites
    the day of Jerusalem,
  how they said, “Lay it bare, lay it bare,
    down to its foundations!”
8   O daughter of Babylon, doomed to be destroyed,
    blessed shall he be who repays you
    with what you have done to us!
9   Blessed shall he be who takes your little ones
    and dashes them against the rock!

(ESV)