Judges 16

• 1. One day Samson went to the Philistine city of Gaza and spent the night with a prostitute.
• 2. Word soon spread that Samson was there, so the men of Gaza gathered together and waited all night at the city gates. They kept quiet during the night, saying to themselves, "When the light of morning comes, we will kill him."
• 3. But Samson stayed in bed only until midnight. Then he got up, took hold of the city gates with its two posts, and lifted them, bar and all, right out of the ground. He put them on his shoulders and carried them all the way to the top of the hill across from Hebron.
• 4. Later Samson fell in love with a woman named Delilah, who lived in the valley of Sorek.
• 5. The leaders of the Philistines went to her and said, "Find out from Samson what makes him so strong and how he can be overpowered and tied up securely. Then each of us will give you eleven hundred pieces of silver."
• 6. So Delilah said to Samson, "Please tell me what makes you so strong and what it would take to tie you up securely."
• 7. Samson replied, "If I am tied up with seven new bowstrings that have not yet been dried, I will be as weak as anyone else."
• 8. So the Philistine leaders brought Delilah seven new bowstrings, and she tied Samson up with them.
• 9. She had hidden some men in one of the rooms of her house, and she cried out, "Samson! The Philistines have come to capture you!" But Samson snapped the bowstrings as if they were string that had been burned in a fire. So the secret of his strength was not discovered.
• 10. Afterward Delilah said to him, "You made fun of me and told me a lie! Now please tell me how you can be tied up securely."
• 11. Samson replied, "If I am tied up with brand-new ropes that have never been used, I will be as weak as anyone else."
• 12. So Delilah took new ropes and tied him up with them. The men were hiding in the room as before, and again Delilah cried out, "Samson! The Philistines have come to capture you!" But Samson snapped the ropes from his arms as if they were thread.
• 13. Then Delilah said, "You have been making fun of me and telling me lies! Won't you please tell me how you can be tied up securely?" Samson replied, "If you weave the seven braids of my hair into the fabric on your loom and tighten it with the loom shuttle, I will be as weak as anyone else." So while he slept, Delilah wove the seven braids of his hair into the fabric
• 14. and tightened it with the loom shuttle. Again she cried out, "Samson! The Philistines have come to capture you!" But Samson woke up, pulled back the loom shuttle, and yanked his hair away from the loom and the fabric.
• 15. Then Delilah pouted, "How can you say you love me when you don't confide in me? You've made fun of me three times now, and you still haven't told me what makes you so strong!"
• 16. So day after day she nagged him until he couldn't stand it any longer.
• 17. Finally, Samson told her his secret. "My hair has never been cut," he confessed, "for I was dedicated to God as a Nazirite from birth. If my head were shaved, my strength would leave me, and I would become as weak as anyone else."
• 18. Delilah realized he had finally told her the truth, so she sent for the Philistine leaders. "Come back one more time," she said, "for he has told me everything." So the Philistine leaders returned and brought the money with them.
• 19. Delilah lulled Samson to sleep with his head in her lap, and she called in a man to shave off his hair, making his capture certain. And his strength left him.
• 20. Then she cried out, "Samson! The Philistines have come to capture you!" When he woke up, he thought, "I will do as before and shake myself free." But he didn't realize the LORD had left him.
• 21. So the Philistines captured him and gouged out his eyes. They took him to Gaza, where he was bound with bronze chains and made to grind grain in the prison.
• 22. But before long his hair began to grow back.
• 23. The Philistine leaders held a great festival, offering sacrifices and praising their god, Dagon. They said, "Our god has given us victory over our enemy Samson!"
• 24. When the people saw him, they praised their god, saying, "Our god has delivered our enemy to us! The one who killed so many of us is now in our power!"
• 25. Half drunk by now, the people demanded, "Bring out Samson so he can perform for us!" So he was brought from the prison and made to stand at the center of the temple, between the two pillars supporting the roof.
• 26. Samson said to the servant who was leading him by the hand, "Place my hands against the two pillars. I want to rest against them."
• 27. The temple was completely filled with people. All the Philistine leaders were there, and there were about three thousand on the roof who were watching Samson and making fun of him.
• 28. Then Samson prayed to the LORD, "Sovereign LORD, remember me again. O God, please strengthen me one more time so that I may pay back the Philistines for the loss of my eyes."
• 29. Then Samson put his hands on the center pillars of the temple and pushed against them with all his might.
• 30. "Let me die with the Philistines," he prayed. And the temple crashed down on the Philistine leaders and all the people. So he killed more people when he died than he had during his entire lifetime.
• 31. Later his brothers and other relatives went down to get his body. They took him back home and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol, where his father, Manoah, was buried. Samson had been Israel's judge for twenty years.

Acts 20

• 1. When it was all over, Paul sent for the believers and encouraged them. Then he said good-bye and left for Macedonia.
• 2. Along the way, he encouraged the believers in all the towns he passed through. Then he traveled down to Greece,
• 3. where he stayed for three months. He was preparing to sail back to Syria when he discovered a plot by some Jews against his life, so he decided to return through Macedonia.
• 4. Several men were traveling with him. They were Sopater of Berea, the son of Pyrrhus; Aristarchus and Secundus, from Thessalonica; Gaius, from Derbe; Timothy; and Tychicus and Trophimus, who were from the province of Asia.
• 5. They went ahead and waited for us at Troas.
• 6. As soon as the Passover season ended, we boarded a ship at Philippi in Macedonia and five days later arrived in Troas, where we stayed a week.
• 7. On the first day of the week, we gathered to observe the Lord's Supper. Paul was preaching; and since he was leaving the next day, he talked until midnight.
• 8. The upstairs room where we met was lighted with many flickering lamps.
• 9. As Paul spoke on and on, a young man named Eutychus, sitting on the windowsill, became very drowsy. Finally, he sank into a deep sleep and fell three stories to his death below.
• 10. Paul went down, bent over him, and took him into his arms. "Don't worry," he said, "he's alive!"
• 11. Then they all went back upstairs and ate the Lord's Supper together. And Paul continued talking to them until dawn; then he left.
• 12. Meanwhile, the young man was taken home unhurt, and everyone was greatly relieved.
• 13. Paul went by land to Assos, where he had arranged for us to join him, and we went on ahead by ship.
• 14. He joined us there and we sailed together to Mitylene.
• 15. The next day we passed the island of Kios. The following day, we crossed to the island of Samos. And a day later we arrived at Miletus.
• 16. Paul had decided against stopping at Ephesus this time because he didn't want to spend further time in the province of Asia. He was hurrying to get to Jerusalem, if possible, for the Festival of Pentecost.
• 17. But when we landed at Miletus, he sent a message to the elders of the church at Ephesus, asking them to come down to meet him.
• 18. When they arrived he declared, "You know that from the day I set foot in the province of Asia until now
• 19. I have done the Lord's work humbly--yes, and with tears. I have endured the trials that came to me from the plots of the Jews.
• 20. Yet I never shrank from telling you the truth, either publicly or in your homes.
• 21. I have had one message for Jews and Gentiles alike--the necessity of turning from sin and turning to God, and of faith in our Lord Jesus.
• 22. "And now I am going to Jerusalem, drawn there irresistibly by the Holy Spirit, not knowing what awaits me,
• 23. except that the Holy Spirit has told me in city after city that jail and suffering lie ahead.
• 24. But my life is worth nothing unless I use it for doing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus--the work of telling others the Good News about God's wonderful kindness and love.
• 25. "And now I know that none of you to whom I have preached the Kingdom will ever see me again.
• 26. Let me say plainly that I have been faithful. No one's damnation can be blamed on me,
• 27. for I didn't shrink from declaring all that God wants for you.
• 28. "And now beware! Be sure that you feed and shepherd God's flock--his church, purchased with his blood--over whom the Holy Spirit has appointed you as elders.
• 29. I know full well that false teachers, like vicious wolves, will come in among you after I leave, not sparing the flock.
• 30. Even some of you will distort the truth in order to draw a following.
• 31. Watch out! Remember the three years I was with you--my constant watch and care over you night and day, and my many tears for you.
• 32. "And now I entrust you to God and the word of his grace--his message that is able to build you up and give you an inheritance with all those he has set apart for himself.
• 33. "I have never coveted anyone's money or fine clothing.
• 34. You know that these hands of mine have worked to pay my own way, and I have even supplied the needs of those who were with me.
• 35. And I have been a constant example of how you can help the poor by working hard. You should remember the words of the Lord Jesus: 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'"
• 36. When he had finished speaking, he knelt and prayed with them.
• 37. They wept aloud as they embraced him in farewell,
• 38. sad most of all because he had said that they would never see him again. Then they accompanied him down to the ship.

Jeremiah 29

• 1. Jeremiah wrote a letter from Jerusalem to the elders, priests, prophets, and all the people who had been exiled to Babylon by King Nebuchadnezzar.
• 2. This was after King Jehoiachin, the queen mother, the court officials, the leaders of Judah, and all the craftsmen had been deported from Jerusalem.
• 3. He sent the letter with Elasah son of Shaphan and Gemariah son of Hilkiah, when they went to Babylon as King Zedekiah's ambassadors to Nebuchadnezzar. This is what Jeremiah's letter said:
• 4. The LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, sends this message to all the captives he has exiled to Babylon from Jerusalem:
• 5. "Build homes, and plan to stay. Plant gardens, and eat the food you produce.
• 6. Marry, and have children. Then find spouses for them, and have many grandchildren. Multiply! Do not dwindle away!
• 7. And work for the peace and prosperity of Babylon. Pray to the LORD for that city where you are held captive, for if Babylon has peace, so will you."
• 8. The LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says, "Do not let the prophets and mediums who are there in Babylon trick you. Do not listen to their dreams
• 9. because they prophesy lies in my name. I have not sent them," says the LORD.
• 10. "The truth is that you will be in Babylon for seventy years. But then I will come and do for you all the good things I have promised, and I will bring you home again.
• 11. For I know the plans I have for you," says the LORD. "They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.
• 12. In those days when you pray, I will listen.
• 13. If you look for me in earnest, you will find me when you seek me.
• 14. I will be found by you," says the LORD. "I will end your captivity and restore your fortunes. I will gather you out of the nations where I sent you and bring you home again to your own land."
• 15. You may claim that the LORD has raised up prophets for you in Babylon.
• 16. But this is what the LORD says about the king who sits on David's throne and all those still living here in Jerusalem--your relatives who were not exiled to Babylon.
• 17. This is what the LORD Almighty says: "I will send war, famine, and disease upon them and make them like rotting figs--too bad to eat.
• 18. Yes, I will pursue them with war, famine, and disease, and I will scatter them around the world. In every nation where I send them, I will make them an object of damnation, horror, contempt, and mockery.
• 19. For they refuse to listen to me, though I have spoken to them repeatedly through my prophets. And you who are in exile have not listened either," says the LORD.
• 20. Therefore, listen to this message from the LORD, all you captives there in Babylon.
• 21. This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says about your prophets--Ahab son of Kolaiah and Zedekiah son of Maaseiah--who are telling you lies in my name: "I will turn them over to Nebuchadnezzar for a public execution.
• 22. Their terrible fate will become proverbial, so that whenever the Judean exiles want to curse someone they will say, `May the LORD make you like Zedekiah and Ahab, whom the king of Babylon burned alive!'
• 23. For these men have done terrible things among my people. They have committed adultery with their neighbors' wives and have lied in my name. I am a witness to this," says the LORD.
• 24. The LORD sent this message to Shemaiah the Nehelamite in Babylon:
• 25. "This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: You wrote a letter on your own authority to Zephaniah son of Maaseiah, the priest, and you sent copies to the other priests and people in Jerusalem. You said to Zephaniah,
• 26. `The LORD has appointed you to replace Jehoiada as the priest in charge of the house of the LORD. You are responsible to put anyone who claims to be a prophet in the stocks and neck irons.
• 27. So why have you done nothing to stop Jeremiah from Anathoth, who pretends to be a prophet among you?
• 28. Jeremiah sent a letter here to Babylon, predicting that our captivity will be a long one. He said we should build homes and plan to stay for many years. He said we should plant fruit trees, because we will be here to eat the fruit for many years to come.'"
• 29. But when Zephaniah the priest received Shemaiah's letter, he took it to Jeremiah and read it to him.
• 30. Then the LORD gave this message to Jeremiah:
• 31. "Send an open letter to all the exiles in Babylon. Tell them, `This is what the LORD says concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite: Since he has prophesied to you when I did not send him and has tricked you into believing his lies,
• 32. I will punish him and his family. None of his descendants will see the good things I will do for my people, for he has taught you to rebel against me. I, the LORD, have spoken!'"

New Living Translation: 214 of 365 days.