Samson's Marriage

¹rSamson went down to sTimnah, and at Timnah he saw one of the daughters of the Philistines. ²Then he came up and told his father and mother, “I saw one of the daughters of the Philistines at Timnah. tNow get her for me as my wife.” ³But his father and mother said to him, “Is there not a woman among the daughters uof your relatives, or among all our people, that you must go to take a wife from the vuncircumcised Philistines?” But Samson said to his father, “Get her for me, for she is right in my eyes.”

⁴His father and mother did not know that it was wfrom the Lord, for he was seeking an opportunity against the Philistines. xAt that time the Philistines ruled over Israel.

⁵Then Samson went down with his father and mother to Timnah, and they came to the vineyards of Timnah. And behold, a young lion came toward him roaring. ⁶yThen the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon him, and although he had nothing in his hand, he tore the lion in pieces as one tears a young goat. But he did not tell his father or his mother what he had done. ⁷Then he went down and talked with the woman, and she was right in Samson's eyes.

⁸After some days 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. ⁹He scraped it out into his hands and went on, eating as he went. And he came to his father and mother and gave some to them, and they ate. But he did not tell them that he had scraped the honey from the carcass of the lion.

¹⁰His father went down to the woman, and Samson prepared a feast there, for so the young men used to do. ¹¹As soon as the people saw him, they brought thirty companions to be with him. ¹²And Samson said to them, z“Let me now put a riddle to you. If you can tell me what it is, within athe seven days of the feast, and find it out, then I will give you thirty linen garments and thirty bchanges of clothes, ¹³but if you cannot tell me what it is, then you shall give me thirty linen garments and thirty changes of clothes.” And they said to him, “Put your riddle, that we may hear it.” ¹⁴And he said to them,

“Out of the eater came something to eat.

Out of the strong came something sweet.”

And in three days they could not solve the riddle.

¹⁵On the fourth1 day they said to Samson's wife, c“Entice your husband to tell us what the riddle is, dlest we burn you and your father's house with fire. Have you invited us here to impoverish us?” ¹⁶And Samson's wife wept over him and said, e“You only hate me; you do not love me. You have put a riddle to my people, and you have not told me what it is.” And he said to her, “Behold, I have not told my father nor my mother, and shall I tell you?” ¹⁷She wept before him the seven days that their feast lasted, and on the seventh day he told her, because fshe pressed him hard. Then she told the riddle to her people. ¹⁸And 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?”

And he said to them,

“If you had not plowed with my heifer,

you would not have found out my riddle.”

¹⁹gAnd the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon him, and he went down to hAshkelon and struck down thirty men of the town and took their spoil and gave the garments to those who had told the riddle. In hot anger he went back to his father's house. ²⁰And Samson's wife was given to ihis companion, jwho had been his best man.

Paul in Corinth

¹After this Paul1 left Athens and went to Corinth. ²And he found a Jew named vAquila, a native of Pontus, recently come from Italy with his wife vPriscilla, because wClaudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome. And he went to see them, ³and xbecause he was of the same trade he stayed with them and worked, for they were tentmakers by trade. ⁴And yhe reasoned in the synagogue yevery Sabbath, and tried to persuade Jews and Greeks.

⁵zWhen Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul awas occupied with the word, btestifying to the Jews that the Christ was cJesus. ⁶And when they opposed and reviled him, dhe shook out his garments and said to them, e“Your blood be on your own heads! fI am innocent. gFrom now on I will go to the Gentiles.” ⁷And he left there and went to the house of a man named Titius hJustus, ia worshiper of God. His house was next door to the synagogue. ⁸jCrispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord, together kwith his entire household. And many of the Corinthians hearing Paul believed and were baptized. ⁹And the Lord said to Paul lone night in ma vision, n“Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent, ¹⁰nfor I am with you, and ono one will attack you to harm you, for pI have many in this city who are my people.” ¹¹And he stayed a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.

¹²But when Gallio was qproconsul of Achaia, rthe Jews2 made a united attack on Paul and sbrought him before the tribunal, ¹³saying, “This man is persuading people to worship God contrary to tthe law.” ¹⁴But when Paul was about to open his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, “If it were a matter of wrongdoing or vicious ucrime, O Jews, I would have reason to accept your complaint. ¹⁵But vsince it is a matter of questions about words and names and wyour own law, see to it yourselves. I refuse to be a judge of these things.” ¹⁶And he drove them from the tribunal. ¹⁷And they all seized Sosthenes, the ruler of the synagogue, and beat him in front of the tribunal. But Gallio paid no attention to any of this.

Paul Returns to Antioch

¹⁸After this, Paul stayed many days longer and then took leave of xthe brothers3 and set sail for Syria, and with him yPriscilla and Aquila. At zCenchreae ahe had cut his hair, for he was under a vow. ¹⁹And they came to bEphesus, and he left them there, but che himself went into the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews. ²⁰When they asked him to stay for a longer period, he declined. ²¹But on taking leave of them he said, “I will return to you dif God wills,” and he set sail from Ephesus.

²²When he had landed at Caesarea, he ewent up and greeted the church, and then went down to Antioch. ²³After spending some time there, he departed and fwent from one place to the next through the region of Galatia and Phrygia, gstrengthening all the disciples.

Apollos Speaks Boldly in Ephesus

²⁴Now a Jew named hApollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was an eloquent man, icompetent in the Scriptures. ²⁵He had been instructed in jthe way of the Lord. And kbeing fervent in spirit,4 he spoke and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, though he knew only lthe baptism of John. ²⁶He began to speak boldly in the synagogue, but when mPriscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him nthe way of God more accurately. ²⁷And when he wished to cross to oAchaia, pthe brothers encouraged him and qwrote to the disciples to welcome him. When he arrived, rhe greatly helped those who through grace had believed, ²⁸for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, showing by the Scriptures sthat the Christ was Jesus.

The Yoke of Nebuchadnezzar

¹In the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah1 the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord. ²Thus the Lord said to me: c“Make yourself straps and dyoke-bars, and put them on your neck. ³Send word2 to the king of eEdom, the king of eMoab, the king of the sons of eAmmon, the king of eTyre, and the king of Sidon by the hand of the envoys who have come to Jerusalem to Zedekiah king of Judah. ⁴Give them this charge for their masters: ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: This is what you shall say to your masters: ⁵“It is I who fby my great power and my outstretched arm ghave made the earth, with the men and animals that are on the earth, hand I give it to whomever it seems right to me. ⁶iNow I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, jmy servant, kand I have given him also the beasts of the field to serve him. ⁷lAll the nations shall serve him and mhis son and nhis grandson, ountil the time of his own land comes. pThen many nations and great kings shall make him their slave.

⁸“‘“But if any nation or kingdom will not serve this Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, qand put its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, I will punish that nation rwith the sword, with famine, and with pestilence, declares the Lord, until I have consumed it by his hand. ⁹So sdo not listen to your tprophets, your diviners, your dreamers, your ufortune-tellers, or your sorcerers, who are saying to you, ‘You shall not serve the king of Babylon.’ ¹⁰vFor it is a lie that they are prophesying to you, with the result that you will be removed far from your land, and I will drive you out, and you will perish. ¹¹wBut any nation that will bring its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him, I will leave on its own land, to work it and dwell there, declares the Lord.”’”

¹²To xZedekiah king of Judah I spoke in like manner: w“Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and yserve him and his people and live. ¹³zWhy will you and your people die aby the sword, by famine, and by pestilence, bas the Lord has spoken concerning any nation that will not serve the king of Babylon? ¹⁴cDo not listen to the words of the prophets who are saying to you, ‘You shall not serve the king of Babylon,’ vfor it is a lie that they are prophesying to you. ¹⁵I have not sent them, declares the Lord, but vthey are prophesying falsely in my name, with the result that I will drive you out and you will perish, you and the prophets who are prophesying to you.”

¹⁶Then I spoke to the priests and to all this people, saying, “Thus says the Lord: cDo not listen to the words of your prophets who are prophesying to you, saying, d‘Behold, the vessels of the Lord's house will now shortly be brought back from Babylon,’ vfor it is a lie that they are prophesying to you. ¹⁷cDo not listen to them; wserve the king of Babylon and live. Why should this city ebecome a desolation? ¹⁸If they are prophets, and if the word of the Lord is with them, then flet them intercede with the Lord of hosts, gthat the vessels that are left in the house of the Lord, in the house of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem may not go to Babylon. ¹⁹hFor thus says the Lord of hosts concerning the pillars, the sea, the stands, and the rest of the vessels that are left in this city, ²⁰which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon did not take away, iwhen he took into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem— ²¹thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, hconcerning the vessels that are left in the house of the Lord, in the house of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem: ²²jThey shall be carried to Babylon kand remain there luntil the day when I visit them, declares the Lord. mThen I will bring them back jand restore them to this place.”

Jesus Foretells Destruction of the Temple

¹yAnd as he came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher, what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings!” ²And Jesus said to him, “Do you see these great buildings? zThere will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.”

Signs of the End of the Age

³And as he sat on athe Mount of Olives opposite the temple, bPeter and James and John and cAndrew asked him dprivately, ⁴“Tell us, ewhen will these things be, and what will be the sign when all these things are about to be accomplished?” ⁵And Jesus began to say to them, f“See that no one leads you astray. ⁶gMany will come in my name, saying, h‘I am he!’ and they will lead many astray. ⁷And when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, ido not be alarmed. This jmust take place, but the end is not yet. ⁸For knation will rise against nation, and lkingdom against kingdom. There will be mearthquakes in various places; there will be nfamines. These are but the beginning of the birth pains.

⁹o“But pbe on your guard. For they will deliver you over to councils, and you will be beaten qin synagogues, and you will stand before rgovernors and skings for my sake, tto bear witness before them. ¹⁰And the gospel must first be proclaimed uto all nations. ¹¹And when they bring you to trial and deliver you over, vdo not be anxious beforehand what you are to say, but say wwhatever is given you in that hour, xfor it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit. ¹²yAnd brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death. ¹³zAnd you will be hated by all for my name's sake. aBut the one who endures to the end will be saved.

The Abomination of Desolation

¹⁴“But when you see bthe abomination of desolation standing where he ought not to be (clet the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. ¹⁵dLet the one who is on ethe housetop not go down, nor enter his house, to take anything out, ¹⁶and let the one who is in the field not turn back to take his cloak. ¹⁷And falas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! ¹⁸Pray that it may not happen in winter. ¹⁹For in those days there will be gsuch htribulation as has not been ifrom the beginning of the creation that jGod created until now, and never will be. ²⁰And if the Lord had not cut short the days, no human being would be saved. But for kthe sake of the elect, whom lhe chose, he shortened the days. ²¹And mthen if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘Look, there he is!’ do not believe it. ²²nFor false christs and false prophets will arise and operform signs and wonders, pto lead astray, if possible, qthe elect. ²³But rbe on guard; sI have told you all things beforehand.

The Coming of the Son of Man

²⁴“But in those days, after tthat tribulation, uthe sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, ²⁵and vthe stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. ²⁶And then they will see wthe Son of Man coming in clouds xwith great power and glory. ²⁷And then yhe will send out the angels and zgather ahis elect from bthe four winds, from cthe ends of the earth dto the ends of heaven.

The Lesson of the Fig Tree

²⁸“From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. ²⁹So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that he is near, eat the very gates. ³⁰fTruly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. ³¹gHeaven and earth will pass away, but hmy words will not pass away.

No One Knows That Day or Hour

³²“But concerning that day or that hour, ino one knows, not even the angels in heaven, jnor the Son, kbut only the Father. ³³lBe on guard, mkeep awake.1 For you do not know when the time will come. ³⁴nIt is like a man ogoing on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his servants2 in charge, peach with his work, and commands qthe doorkeeper to stay awake. ³⁵rTherefore stay awake—for you do not know when the master of the house will come, sin the evening, or sat midnight, or twhen the rooster crows,3 or uin the morning— ³⁶lest vhe come suddenly and wfind you asleep. ³⁷And what I say to you I say to all: rStay awake.”