Saturday, 20 July

1.   Then the men of Ephraim gathered together, crossed over toward Zaphon, and said to Jephthah, "Why did you cross over to fight against the people of Ammon, and did not call us to go with you? We will burn your house down on you with fire!" 2.   And Jephthah said to them, "My people and I were in a great struggle with the people of Ammon; and when I called you, you did not deliver me out of their hands. 3.   "So when I saw that you would not deliver me , I took my life in my hands and crossed over against the people of Ammon; and the LORD delivered them into my hand. Why then have you come up to me this day to fight against me?" 4.   Now Jephthah gathered together all the men of Gilead and fought against Ephraim. And the men of Gilead defeated Ephraim, because they said, "You Gileadites are fugitives of Ephraim among the Ephraimites and among the Manassites." 5.   The Gileadites seized the fords of the Jordan before the Ephraimites arrived . And when any Ephraimite who escaped said, "Let me cross over," the men of Gilead would say to him, " Are you an Ephraimite?" If he said, "No," 6.   then they would say to him, "Then say, ‘Shibboleth’!" And he would say, "Sibboleth," for he could not pronounce it right. Then they would take him and kill him at the fords of the Jordan. There fell at that time forty–two thousand Ephraimites. 7.   And Jephthah judged Israel six years. Then Jephthah the Gileadite died and was buried in among the cities of Gilead. 8.   After him, Ibzan of Bethlehem judged Israel. 9.   He had thirty sons. And he gave away thirty daughters in marriage, and brought in thirty daughters from elsewhere for his sons. He judged Israel seven years. 10.   Then Ibzan died and was buried at Bethlehem. 11.   After him, Elon the Zebulunite judged Israel. He judged Israel ten years. 12.   And Elon the Zebulunite died and was buried at Aijalon in the country of Zebulun. 13.   After him, Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite judged Israel. 14.   He had forty sons and thirty grandsons, who rode on seventy young donkeys. He judged Israel eight years. 15.   Then Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite died and was buried in Pirathon in the land of Ephraim, in the mountains of the Amalekites.

1.   Again the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and the LORD delivered them into the hand of the Philistines for forty years. 2.   Now there was a certain man from Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren and had no children. 3.   And the Angel of the LORD appeared to the woman and said to her, "Indeed now, you are barren and have borne no children, but you shall conceive and bear a son. 4.   "Now therefore, please be careful not to drink wine or similar drink, and not to eat anything unclean. 5.   "For behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. And no razor shall come upon his head, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb; and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines." 6.   So the woman came and told her husband, saying, "A Man of God came to me, and His countenance was like the countenance of the Angel of God, very awesome; but I did not ask Him where He was from, and He did not tell me His name. 7.   "And He said to me, ‘Behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. Now drink no wine or similar drink, nor eat anything unclean, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb to the day of his death.’" 8.   Then Manoah prayed to the LORD, and said, "O my Lord, please let the Man of God whom You sent come to us again and teach us what we shall do for the child who will be born." 9.   And God listened to the voice of Manoah, and the Angel of God came to the woman again as she was sitting in the field; but Manoah her husband was not with her. 10.   Then the woman ran in haste and told her husband, and said to him, "Look, the Man who came to me the other day has just now appeared to me!" 11.   So Manoah arose and followed his wife. When he came to the Man, he said to Him, "Are You the Man who spoke to this woman?" And He said, "I am ." 12.   Manoah said, "Now let Your words come to pass ! What will be the boy’s rule of life, and his work?" 13.   So the Angel of the LORD said to Manoah, "Of all that I said to the woman let her be careful. 14.   "She may not eat anything that comes from the vine, nor may she drink wine or similar drink, nor eat anything unclean. All that I commanded her let her observe." 15.   Then Manoah said to the Angel of the LORD, "Please let us detain You, and we will prepare a young goat for You." 16.   And the Angel of the LORD said to Manoah, "Though you detain Me, I will not eat your food. But if you offer a burnt offering, you must offer it to the LORD." (For Manoah did not know He was the Angel of the LORD.) 17.   Then Manoah said to the Angel of the LORD, "What is Your name, that when Your words come to pass we may honor You?" 18.   And the Angel of the LORD said to him, "Why do you ask My name, seeing it is wonderful?" 19.   So Manoah took the young goat with the grain offering, and offered it upon the rock to the LORD. And He did a wondrous thing while Manoah and his wife looked on–– 20.   it happened as the flame went up toward heaven from the altar––the Angel of the LORD ascended in the flame of the altar! When Manoah and his wife saw this , they fell on their faces to the ground. 21.   When the Angel of the LORD appeared no more to Manoah and his wife, then Manoah knew that He was the Angel of the LORD. 22.   And Manoah said to his wife, "We shall surely die, because we have seen God!" 23.   But his wife said to him, "If the LORD had desired to kill us, He would not have accepted a burnt offering and a grain offering from our hands, nor would He have shown us all these things , nor would He have told us such things as these at this time." 24.   So the woman 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 move upon him at Mahaneh Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol.

1.   "Sing, O barren, You who have not borne! Break forth into singing, and cry aloud, You who have not labored with child! For more are the children of the desolate Than the children of the married woman," says the LORD. 2.   "Enlarge the place of your tent, And let them stretch out the curtains of your dwellings; Do not spare; Lengthen your cords, And strengthen your stakes. 3.   For you shall expand to the right and to the left, And your descendants will inherit the nations, And make the desolate cities inhabited. 4.   "Do not fear, for you will not be ashamed; Neither be disgraced, for you will not be put to shame; For you will forget the shame of your youth, And will not remember the reproach of your widowhood anymore. 5.   For your Maker is your husband, The LORD of hosts is His name; And your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel; He is called the God of the whole earth. 6.   For the LORD has called you Like a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, Like a youthful wife when you were refused," Says your God. 7.   "For a mere moment I have forsaken you, But with great mercies I will gather you. 8.   With a little wrath I hid My face from you for a moment; But with everlasting kindness I will have mercy on you," Says the LORD, your Redeemer. 9.   "For this is like the waters of Noah to Me; For as I have sworn That the waters of Noah would no longer cover the earth, So have I sworn That I would not be angry with you, nor rebuke you. 10.   For the mountains shall depart And the hills be removed, But My kindness shall not depart from you, Nor shall My covenant of peace be removed," Says the LORD, who has mercy on you. 11.   "O you afflicted one, Tossed with tempest, and not comforted, Behold, I will lay your stones with colorful gems, And lay your foundations with sapphires. 12.   I will make your pinnacles of rubies, Your gates of crystal, And all your walls of precious stones. 13.   All your children shall be taught by the LORD, And great shall be the peace of your children. 14.   In righteousness you shall be established; You shall be far from oppression, for you shall not fear; And from terror, for it shall not come near you. 15.   Indeed they shall surely assemble, but not because of Me. Whoever assembles against you shall fall for your sake. 16.   "Behold, I have created the blacksmith Who blows the coals in the fire, Who brings forth an instrument for his work; And I have created the spoiler to destroy. 17.   No weapon formed against you shall prosper, And every tongue which rises against you in judgment You shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, And their righteousness is from Me," Says the LORD.

1.   For you yourselves know, brethren, that our coming to you was not in vain. 2.   But even after we had suffered before and were spitefully treated at Philippi, as you know, we were bold in our God to speak to you the gospel of God in much conflict. 3.   For our exhortation did not come from error or uncleanness, nor was it in deceit. 4.   But as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, even so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God who tests our hearts. 5.   For neither at any time did we use flattering words, as you know, nor a cloak for covetousness––God is witness. 6.   Nor did we seek glory from men, either from you or from others, when we might have made demands as apostles of Christ. 7.   But we were gentle among you, just as a nursing mother cherishes her own children. 8.   So, affectionately longing for you, we were well pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God, but also our own lives, because you had become dear to us. 9.   For you remember, brethren, our labor and toil; for laboring night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, we preached to you the gospel of God. 10.   You are witnesses, and God also , how devoutly and justly and blamelessly we behaved ourselves among you who believe; 11.   as you know how we exhorted, and comforted, and charged every one of you, as a father does his own children, 12.   that you would walk worthy of God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory. 13.   For this reason we also thank God without ceasing, because when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which also effectively works in you who believe. 14.   For you, brethren, became imitators of the churches of God which are in Judea in Christ Jesus. For you also suffered the same things from your own countrymen, just as they did from the Judeans, 15.   who killed both the Lord Jesus and their own prophets, and have persecuted us; and they do not please God and are contrary to all men, 16.   forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they may be saved, so as always to fill up the measure of their sins; but wrath has come upon them to the uttermost. 17.   But we, brethren, having been taken away from you for a short time in presence, not in heart, endeavored more eagerly to see your face with great desire. 18.   Therefore we wanted to come to you––even I, Paul, time and again––but Satan hindered us. 19.   For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Is it not even you in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at His coming? 20.   For you are our glory and joy.