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.

Judges 17

• 1. A man named Micah lived in the hill country of Ephraim.
• 2. One day he said to his mother, "I heard you curse the thief who stole eleven hundred pieces of silver from you. Well, here they are. I was the one who took them.The LORD bless you for admitting it," his mother replied.
• 3. He returned the money to her, and she said, "I now dedicate these silver coins to the LORD. In honor of my son, I will have an image carved and an idol cast."
• 4. So his mother took two hundred of the silver coins to a silversmith, who made them into an image and an idol. And these were placed in Micah's house.
• 5. Micah set up a shrine, and he made a sacred ephod and some household idols. Then he installed one of his sons as the priest.
• 6. In those days Israel had no king, so the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes.
• 7. One day a young Levite from Bethlehem in Judah
• 8. arrived in that area of Ephraim, looking for a good place to live. He happened to stop at Micah's house as he was traveling through.
• 9. "Where are you from?" Micah asked him. And he replied, "I am a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah, and I am looking for a place to live."
• 10. "Stay here with me," Micah said, "and you can be a father and priest to me. I will give you ten pieces of silver a year, plus a change of clothes and your food."
• 11. The Levite agreed to this and became like one of Micah's sons.
• 12. So Micah ordained the Levite as his personal priest, and he lived in Micah's house.
• 13. "I know the LORD will bless me now," Micah said, "because I have a Levite serving as my priest."

Judges 18

• 1. Now in those days Israel had no king. And the tribe of Dan was trying to find a place to settle, for they had not yet driven out the people who lived in the land assigned to them.
• 2. So the men of Dan chose five warriors from among their clans, who lived in the towns of Zorah and Eshtaol, to scout out a land for them to settle in. When these warriors arrived in the hill country of Ephraim, they came to Micah's home and spent the night there.
• 3. Noticing the young Levite's accent, they took him aside and asked him, "Who brought you here, and what are you doing? Why are you here?"
• 4. He told them about his agreement with Micah and that he was Micah's personal priest.
• 5. Then they said, "Ask God whether or not our journey will be successful."
• 6. "Go in peace," the priest replied. "For the LORD will go ahead of you on your journey."
• 7. So the five men went on to the town of Laish, where they noticed the people living carefree lives, like the Sidonians; they were peaceful and secure. The people were also wealthy because their land was very fertile. And they lived a great distance from Sidon and had no allies nearby.
• 8. When the men returned to Zorah and Eshtaol, their relatives asked them, "What did you find?"
• 9. The men replied, "Let's attack! We have seen the land, and it is very good. You should not hesitate to go and take possession of it.
• 10. When you get there, you will find the people living carefree lives. God has given us a spacious and fertile land, lacking in nothing!"
• 11. So six hundred warriors from the tribe of Dan set out from Zorah and Eshtaol.
• 12. They camped at a place west of Kiriath-jearim in Judah, which is called Mahaneh-dan to this day.
• 13. Then they went up into the hill country of Ephraim and came to the house of Micah.
• 14. The five men who had scouted out the land around Laish said to the others, "There is a shrine here with a sacred ephod, some household idols, a carved image, and a cast idol. It's obvious what we ought to do."
• 15. So the five men went over to Micah's house, where the young Levite lived, and greeted him kindly.
• 16. As the six hundred warriors from the tribe of Dan stood just outside the gate,
• 17. the five spies entered the shrine and took the carved image, the sacred ephod, the household idols, and the cast idol.
• 18. When the priest saw the men carrying all the sacred objects out of Micah's shrine, he said, "What are you doing?"
• 19. "Be quiet and come with us," they said. "Be a father and priest to all of us. Isn't it better to be a priest for an entire tribe of Israel than just for the household of one man?"
• 20. The young priest was quite happy to go with them, so he took along the sacred ephod, the household idols, and the carved image.
• 21. They started on their way again, placing their children, livestock, and possessions in front of them.
• 22. When the people from the tribe of Dan were quite a distance from Micah's home, Micah and some of his neighbors came chasing after them.
• 23. They were shouting as they caught up with them. The men of Dan turned around and said, "What do you want? Why have you called these men together and chased after us like this?"
• 24. "What do you mean, What do I want?" Micah replied. "You've taken away all my gods and my priest, and I have nothing left!"
• 25. The men of Dan said, "Watch what you say! Some of us are short-tempered, and they might get angry and kill you and your family."
• 26. So the men of Dan went on their way. When Micah saw that there were too many of them for him to attack, he turned around and went home.
• 27. Then, with Micah's idols and his priest, the men of Dan came to the town of Laish, whose people were peaceful and secure. They attacked and killed all the people and burned the town to the ground.
• 28. There was no one to rescue the residents of the town, for they lived a great distance from Sidon and had no allies nearby. This happened in the valley near Beth-rehob. Then the people of the tribe of Dan rebuilt the town and lived there.
• 29. They renamed the town Dan after their ancestor, Israel's son, but it had originally been called Laish.
• 30. Then they set up the carved image, and they appointed Jonathan son of Gershom, a descendant of Moses, as their priest. This family continued as priests for the tribe of Dan until the Exile.
• 31. So Micah's carved image was worshiped by the tribe of Dan as long as the Tabernacle of God remained at Shiloh.

New Living Translation: 78 of 324 days.