The Book Of Judges

 

 

The Argument

 

 

Albeit there is nothing that more provoketh God�s wrath, than man�s ingratitude, yet is there nothing so displeasant and heinous that can turn back God�s love from his Church. For now when the Israelites were entered into the land of Canaan, and saw the truth of God�s promise performed, instead of acknowledging his great benefits and giving thanks for the same, they fell to most horrible oblivion of God�s graces, contrary to their solemn promise made unto Joshua, and so provoked his vengeance (as much as in them stood) to their utter destruction. Whereof as they had most evident signs by the mutability of their state: (for he suffered them to be most cruelly vexed and tormented by tyrants: he pulled them from liberty, and cast them into slavery, to the intent they might feel their own miseries, and so call unto him, and be delivered.) So to show that his mercies endure forever, he raised up from time to time such as should deliver them, and assure them of his favor and grace, if they would turn to him by true repentance. And these deliverers the Scripture calleth Judges, because they were executers of God�s judgments, not chosen of the people nor by succession, but raised up as it seemed best to God, for the governance of his people. They were fourteen in number beside Joshua, and governed from Joshua unto Saul the first King of Israel. Joshua and these unto the time of Saul, ruled 377 years. In this book are many notable points declared, but woe especially: first, the battle that the Church of God hath for the maintenance of true Religion against idolatry and superstition: next, what great danger that commonwealth is in, when as God giveth not a Magistrate to retain his people in the pureness of Religion and his true service.

 

 

1 But the children of Israel continued to commit wickedness in the sight of the

Lord, and the Lord delivered them into the hands of the Philistines forty years.

 

2 Then there was a man in Zorah of the family of the Danites, named Manoah, whose wife was barren, and bare not.

 

3 And the Angel of the Lord appeared unto the woman, and said unto her,

Behold now, thou art barren, and bearest not: but thou shalt conceive, and bear a son.

 

4 And now therefore beware that thou drink no wine, nor strong drink, neither eat any unclean thing.

 

5 For lo, thou shalt conceive and bear a son, and no razor shall come on his head: for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from his birth: and he shall begin to save Israel out of the hands of the Philistines.

 

6 Then the wife came, and told her husband, saying, A man of God came unto me, and the fashion of him was like the fashion of the Angel of God exceeding fearful, but I asked him not whence he was, neither told he me his name,

 

7 But he said unto me, Behold, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son, and now thou shalt drink no wine, nor strong drink, neither eat any unclean thing: for the child shall be a Nazarite to God from his birth to the day of his death.

 

8 Then Manoah prayed to the Lord and said, I pray thee, my Lord, Let the man of

God, whom thou sentest, come again now unto us, and teach us what we shall do unto the child when he is born.

 

9 And God heard the voice of Manoah, and the Angel of God came again unto the wife, as she sat in the field, but Manoah her husband was not with her.

 

10 And the wife made haste and ran, and shewed her husband and said unto him, Behold, the man hath appeared unto me, that came unto me today.

 

11 And Manoah arose and went after his wife, and came to the man, and said unto him, Art thou the man that spakest unto the woman? And he said, Yea.

 

12 Then Manoah said, Now let thy saying come to pass: but how shall we order the child and do unto him?

 

13 And the Angel of the Lord said unto Manoah, The woman must beware of all that I said unto her.

 

14 She may eat of nothing that cometh of the vine tree: she shall not drink wine nor strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing: let her observe all that I have commanded her.

 

15 Manoah then said unto the Angel of the Lord, I pray thee, let us retain thee, until we have made ready a kid for thee.

 

16 And the Angel of the Lord said unto Manoah, Though thou make me abide, I will not eat of thy bread, and if thou wilt make a burnt offering, offer it unto the Lord: for Manoah knew not that it was an Angel of the Lord.

 

17 Again Manoah said unto the Angel of the Lord, What is thy name, that when thy saying is come to pass, we may honor thee?

 

18 And the Angel of the Lord said unto him, Why askest thou thus after my name, which is secret?

 

19 Then Manoah took a kid with a meat offering, and offered it upon a stone unto the Lord: and the Angel did wondrously, while Manoah and his wife looked on.

 

20 For when the flame came up toward heaven from the altar, the Angel of the Lord ascended up in the flame of the altar, and Manoah and his wife beheld it, and fell on their faces unto the ground.

 

21 (So the Angel of the Lord did no more appear unto Manoah and his wife.) Then Manoah knew that it was an Angel of the Lord.

 

22 And Manoah said unto his wife, We shall surely die, because we have seen

God.

 

23 But his wife said unto him, If the Lord would kill us, he would not have received a burnt offering, and a meat offering of our hands, neither would he have shewed us all these things, nor would now have told us any such.

 

24 And the wife bare 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 strengthen him in the host of Dan, between

Zorah, and Eshtaol.

 

1 Now Samson went down to Timnah, and saw a woman in Timnah of the daughters of the Philistines,

 

2 And he came up and told his father and his mother and said, I have seen a woman in Timnah of the daughters of the Philistines: now therefore give me her to wife.

 

3 Then his father and his mother said unto him, Is there never a wife among the daughters of thy brethren, and among all my people, that thou must go to take a wife of the uncircumcised Philistines? And Samson said unto his father, Give me her, for she pleaseth me well.

 

4 But his father and his mother knew not that it came of the Lord, that he should seek an occasion against the Philistines: for at that time the Philistines reigned over Israel.

 

5 Then went Samson and his father and his mother down to Timnah, and came to ye vineyards at Timnah: and behold, a young Lion roared upon him.

 

6 And the Spirit of the Lord came upon him, and he tore him, as one should have rent a kid, and had nothing in his hand, neither told he his father nor his mother what he had done.

 

7 And he went down, and talked with the woman which was beautiful in the eyes of Samson.

 

8 And within a few days, when he returned to receive her, he went aside to see the carcass of the Lion: and behold, there was a swarm of bees, and honey in the body of the Lion.

 

9 And he took thereof in his hands, and went eating, and came to his father and

to his mother, and gave unto them, and they did eat: but he told not them, that he had taken the honey out of the body of the lion.

 

10 So his father went down unto the woman, and Samson made there a feast: for so used the young men to do.

 

11 And when they saw him, they brought thirty companions to be with him.

 

12 Then Samson said unto them, I will now put forth a riddle unto you: and if you can declare it me within seven days of the feast, and find it out, I will give you thirty sheets, and thirty change of garments.

13 But if you cannot declare it me, then shall ye give me thirty sheets and thirty change of garments. And they answered him, Put forth thy riddle, that we may hear it.

 

14 And he said unto them, Out of the eater came meat, and out of the strong came sweetness: and they could not in three days expound the riddle.

 

15 And when the seventh day was come, they said unto Samson�s wife, Entice thine husband, that he may declare us the riddle, lest we burn thee and thy father�s house with fire. Have ye called us, to possess us? Is it not so?

 

16 And Samson�s wife wept before him, and said, Surely thou hatest me and lovest me not: for thou hast put forth a riddle unto the children of my people, and hast not told it me. And he said unto her, Behold, I have not told it my father, nor my mother, and shall I tell it thee?

 

17 Then Samson�s wife wept before him seven days, while their feast lasted: and when the seventh day came he told her, because she was importunate upon him: so she told the riddle to the children of her people.

 

18 And the men of ye city said unto him the seventh day before the Sun went down, What is sweeter than honey? And what is stronger than a lion? Then said he unto them, If ye had not plowed with my heifer, ye had not found out my riddle.

 

19 And the Spirit of the Lord came upon him, and he went down to Ashkelon, and slew thirty men of them and spoiled them, and gave change of garments unto them, which expounded the riddle: and his wrath was kindled, and he went up to his father�s house.

 

20 Then Samson�s wife was given to his companion, whom he had used as his friend.

 

1 But within a while after, in the time of wheat harvest, Samson visited his wife with a kid, saying, I will go in to my wife into the chamber: but her father would not suffer him to go in.

 

2 And her father said, I thought that thou hadst hated her: therefore gave I her to thy companion. Is not her younger sister fairer than she? Take her, I pray thee, instead of the other.

 

3 Then Samson said unto them, Now am I more blameless than the Philistines:

therefore will I do them displeasure.

 

4 And Samson went out, and took three hundred foxes, and took firebrands, and turned them tail to tail, and put a firebrand in ye midst between two tails.

 

5 And when he had set the brands on fire, he sent them out into the standing corn of the Philistines, and burnt up both the ricks and the standing corn with the vineyards and olives.

 

6 Then the Philistines said, Who hath done this? And they answered, Samson

the son in law of the Timnite, because he had taken his wife, and given her to his companion. Then the Philistines came up and burnt her and her father with fire.

 

7 And Samson said unto them, Though ye have done this, yet will I be avenged of you, and then I will cease.

 

8 So he smote them hip and thigh with a mighty plague: then he went and dwelt in the top of the rock Etam.

 

9 Then the Philistines came up, and pitched in Judah, and were spread abroad in

Lehi.

 

10 And the men of Judah said, Why are ye come up unto us? And they

answered, To bind Samson are we come up, and to do to him as he hath done to us.

 

11 Then three thousand men of Judah went to the top of the rock Etam, and said to Samson, Knowest thou not that the Philistines are rulers over us? Wherefore then hast thou done thus unto us? And he answered them, As they did unto me, so have I done unto them.

 

12 Again they said unto him, We are come to bind thee, and to deliver thee into the hand of the Philistines. And Samson said unto them, Swear unto me, that ye will not fall upon me yourselves.

 

13 And they answered him, saying, No, but we will bind thee and deliver thee unto their hand, but we will not kill thee. And they bound him with two new cords, and brought him from the rock.

 

14 When he came to Lehi, the Philistines shouted against him, and the Spirit of the Lord came upon him, and the cords that were upon his arms, became as flax that was burnt with fire: for the bands loosed from his hands.

 

15 And he found a new jawbone of an ass, and put forth his hand, and caught it, and slew a thousand men therewith.

 

16 Then Samson said, With the jaw of an ass are heaps upon heaps: with the jaw of an ass have I slain a thousand men.

 

17 And when he had left speaking, he cast away the jawbone out of his hand, and called that place, Ramath-Lehi.

 

18 And he was sore a thirst, and called on the Lord, and said, Thou hast given this great deliverance into the hand of thy servant: and now shall I die for thirst, and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?

 

19 Then God brake the cheek tooth, that was in the jaw, and water came there out: and when he had drunk, his Spirit came again, and he was revived: wherefore the name thereof is called, Enhakkore, which is in Lehi unto this day.

 

20 And he judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years.

 

1 Then went Samson to Azzah, and saw there an harlot, and went in unto her.

 

2 And it was told to the Azzahites, Samson is come hither. And they went about, and laid wait for him all night in the gate of the city, and were quiet all the night, saying, Abide till the morning early, and we shall kill him.

 

3 And Samson slept till midnight, and arose at midnight, and took the doors of the gates of the city, and the two posts and lifted them away with the bars, and put them upon his shoulders, and carried them up to the top of the mountain that is before Hebron.

 

4 And after this he loved a woman by the river of Sorek, whose name was

Delilah:

 

5 Unto whom came the princes of the Philistines, and said unto her, Entice him, and see wherein his great strength lieth, and by what means we may overcome him, that we may bind him, and punish him, and every one of us shall give thee eleven hundred shekels of silver.

 

6 And Delilah said to Samson, Tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength lieth, and wherewith thou mightest be bound, to do thee hurt.

 

7 Samson then answered unto her, If they bind me with seven green cords, that were never dried, then shall I be weak, and be as another man.

 

8 And the princes of the Philistines brought her seven green cords that were not dry, and she bound him therewith.

 

9 (And she had men lying in wait with her in the chamber) Then she said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he brake the cords, as a thread of tow is broken, when it feeleth fire: so his strength was not known.

 

10 After Delilah said unto Samson, See, thou hast mocked me and told me lies. I

pray thee now, tell me wherewith thou mightest be bound.

 

11 Then he answered her, If they bind me with new ropes that never were occupied, then shall I be weak, and be as another man.

 

12 Delilah therefore took new ropes, and bound him therewith, and said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson: (and men lay in wait in the chamber) and he brake them from his arms, as a thread.

13 Afterward Delilah said to Samson, Hitherto thou hast beguiled me, and told me lies: tell me how thou mightest be bound. And he said unto her, If thou plattedst seven locks of mine head with the threads of the wove.

 

14 And she fastened it with a pin, and said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep, and went away with the pin of the web and the wove.

 

15 Again she said unto him, How canst thou say, I love thee, when thine heart is not with me? Thou hast mocked me these three times, and hast not told me wherein thy great strength lieth.

 

16 And because she was importunate upon him with her words continually, and vexed him, his soul was pained unto the death.

 

17 Therefore he told her all his heart, and said unto her, There never came razor upon mine head: for I am a Nazarite unto God from my mother�s womb: therefore if I be shaven, my strength will go from me, and I shall be weak, and be like all other men.

 

18 And when Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent, and called

for the Princes of ye Philistines, saying, Come up once again: for he hath shewed me all his heart. Then the Princes of the Philistines came up unto her, and

brought the money in their hands.

 

19 And she made him sleep upon her knees, and she called a man, and made him to shave off the seven locks of his head, and she began to vex him, and his strength was gone from him.

 

20 Then she said, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep, and thought, I will go out now as at other times, and shake myself, but he knew not that the Lord was departed from him.

 

21 Therefore the Philistines took him, and put out his eyes, and brought him

down to Azzah, and bound him with fetters: and he did grind in the prison house.

 

22 And the hair of his head began to grow again after that it was shaven.

 

23 Then the Princes of the Philistines gathered them together for to offer a great sacrifice unto Dagon their god, and to rejoice: for they said, Our god hath delivered Samson our enemy into our hands.

 

24 Also when the people saw him, they praised their god: for they said, Our god hath delivered into our hands our enemy and destroyer of our country, which hath slain many of us.