1 And again, the sons of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord. And he delivered them into the hands of the Philistines for forty years.
2 Now there was a certain man from Zorah, and of the stock of Dan, whose name was Manoah, having a barren wife.
3 And an Angel of the Lord appeared to her, and he said: “You are barren and without children. But you shall conceive and bear a son.
4 Therefore, take care that you do not drink wine or strong drink. Neither shall you eat anything unclean.
5 For you shall conceive and bear a son, whose head no razor shall touch. For he shall be a Nazirite of God, from his infancy and from his mother’s womb. And he shall begin to free Israel from the hand of the Philistines.”
6 And when she had gone to her husband, she said to him: “A man of God came to me, having the countenance of an Angel, exceedingly terrible. And when I had inquired of him, who he was, and where he was from, and what name he was called, he was not willing to tell me.
7 But he responded: ‘Behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. Take care that you do not drink wine or strong drink. And you shall not consume anything unclean. For the boy shall be a Nazirite of God from his infancy, from his mother’s womb, even until the day of his death.’ “
8 And so Manoah prayed to the Lord, and he said, “I beg you Lord, that the man of God, whom you sent, may come again, and may teach us what we ought to do about the boy who is to be born.”
9 And the Lord heeded the prayer of Manoah, and the Angel of the Lord appeared again to his wife, sitting in a field. But her husband Manoah was not with her. And when she had seen the Angel,
10 she hurried and ran to her husband. And she reported to him, saying, “Behold, the man appeared to me, whom I had seen before.”
11 And he rose up and followed his wife. And going to the man, he said to him, “Are you the one who spoke to my wife?” And he responded, “I am.”
12 And Manoah said to him: “When will your word be fulfilled. What do you want the boy to do? Or from what should he keep himself?”
13 And the Angel of the Lord said to Manoah: “Concerning all the things about which I have spoken to your wife, she herself should abstain.
14 And let her eat nothing from the vine. She may not drink wine or strong drink. She may consume nothing unclean. And let her observe and keep what I have instructed to her.”
15 And Manoah said to the Angel of the Lord, “I beg you to agree to my petition, and to let us prepare a kid from the goats.”
16 And the Angel answered him: “Even if you compel me, I will not eat from your bread. But if you are willing to offer a holocaust, offer it to the Lord.” And Manoah did not know that he was an Angel of the Lord.
17 And he said to him, “What is your name, so that, if your word is fulfilled, we may honor you?”
18 And he answered him, “Why do you ask my name, which is a wonder?”
19 And so, Manoah took a kid from the goats, and libations, and he placed them upon a rock, as an offering to the Lord, who accomplishes wonders. Then he and his wife watched.
20 And when the flame of the altar ascended to heaven, the Angel of the Lord ascended in the flame. And when Manoah and his wife had seen this, they fell prone on the ground.
21 And the Angel of the Lord no longer appeared to them. And immediately, Manoah understood him to be an Angel of the Lord.
22 And he said to his wife, “We shall certainly die, since we have seen God.”
23 And his wife answered him, “If the Lord wished to kill us, he would not have accepted the holocaust and the libations from our hands. He would not have revealed all these things to us, nor would he have told us the things that are in the future.”
24 And so she bore a son, and she called his name Samson. And the boy grew up, and the Lord blessed him.
25 And the Spirit of the Lord began to be with him in the camp of Dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.
1 Then Samson descended to Timnah. And seeing there a woman from the daughters of the Philistines,
2 he went up, and he told his father and his mother, saying: “I saw a woman in Timnah from the daughters of the Philistines. I ask that you take her to me as wife.”
3 And his father and mother said to him, “Is there not a woman among the daughters of your brothers, or among all my people, so that you would be willing to take a wife from the Philistines, who are uncircumcised?” And Samson said to his father: “Take this woman to me. For she has pleased my eyes.”
4 Now his parents did not know that the matter was done by the Lord, and that he sought an occasion against the Philistines. For at that time, the Philistines had dominion over Israel.
5 And so, Samson descended with his father and mother to Timnah. And when they had arrived at the vineyards of the town, he saw a young lion, savage and roaring, and it met him.
6 Then the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon Samson, and he tore apart the lion, like a young goat being torn into pieces, having nothing at all in his hand. And he was not willing to reveal this to his father and mother.
7 And he went down and spoke to the woman who had pleased his eyes.
8 And after some days, returning to marry her, he turned aside so that he might see the carcass of the lion. And behold, there was a swarm of bees in the mouth of the lion, with a honeycomb.
9 And when he had taken it in his hands, he ate it along the way. And arriving to his father and mother, he gave them a portion, and they also ate it. Yet he was not willing to reveal to them that he had taken the honey from the body of the lion.
10 And so his father went down to the woman, and he made a feast for his son Samson. For so the young men were accustomed to do.
11 And when the citizens of that place had seen him, they presented to him thirty companions to be with him.
12 And Samson said to them: “I will propose to you a problem, which, if you can solve it for me within the seven days of the feast, I will give you thirty shirts and the same number of tunics.
13 But if you are not able to solve it, you shall give me thirty shirts and the same number of tunics.” And they answered him, “Propose the problem, so that we may hear it.”
14 And he said to them, “Food went forth from that which eats, and sweetness went forth from that which is strong.” And they were unable to solve the proposition for three days.
15 And when the seventh day had arrived, they said to the wife of Samson: “Coax your husband, and persuade him to reveal to you what the proposition means. But if you are not willing to do so, we will burn you and your father’s house. Or have you called us to the wedding in order to despoil us?”
16 And she shed tears before Samson, and she complained, saying: “You hate me, and you do not love me. That is why you do not want to explain to me the problem, which you have proposed to the sons of my people.” But he responded: “I was not willing to reveal it to my father and mother. And so, how can I reveal it to you?”
17 Therefore, she wept before him during the seven days of the feast. And at length, on the seventh day, since she had been troubling him, he explained it. And immediately she revealed it to her countrymen.
18 And they, on the seventh day, before the sun declined, said to him: “What is sweeter than honey? And what is stronger than a lion?” And he said to them, “If you had not plowed with my heifer, you would not have uncovered my proposition.”
19 And so the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon him, and he descended to Ashkelon, and in that place he struck down thirty men. And taking away their garments, he gave them to those who had solved the problem. And being exceedingly angry, he went up to his father’s house.
20 Then his wife took as a husband one of his friends and wedding companions.
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1 ‘And now, O Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, the soul in anguish and the troubled spirit cry out to you.
2 Listen, O Lord, and be merciful, for you are a merciful God, and so be merciful to us, for we have sinned before you.
3 For you are enthroned in eternity, but we will pass away in time.
4 O Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, listen now to the prayer of the dead of Israel and of their sons, who have sinned before you and have not listened to the voice of the Lord their God, and have joined themselves to evil.
5 Remember not the iniquities of our fathers, but remember your hand and your name at this time.
6 For you are the Lord our God, and we will praise you, O Lord.
7 And for this reason, you have imparted your fear into our hearts, and also, so that we may call upon your name and may praise you in our captivity, for we are converted from the iniquity of our fathers, who sinned before you.
8 And, behold, we are still in our captivity on this day, where you have scattered us into disgrace, and into slander, and into sin, according to all the iniquities of our fathers, who withdrew from you, O Lord our God.
9 Listen, O Israel, to the commandments of life! Pay attention, so that you may learn prudence!
10 How is it, O Israel, that you are in the land of your enemies,
11 that you have grown old in a foreign land, that you are defiled with the dead, that you are regarded as among those who are descending into hell?
12 You have forsaken the fountain of wisdom.
13 For if you had walked in the way of God, you would certainly have lived in everlasting peace.
14 Learn where prudence is, where virtue is, where understanding is, so that you may know at the same time where long life and prosperity are, where the light of the eyes and peace are.
15 Who has discovered its place? And who has entered its treasure chamber?
16 Where are the leaders of the peoples, and those who rule over the beasts that are upon the earth,
9 Who hath set my soul to live: and hath not suffered my feet to be moved:
10 For thou, O God, hast proved us: thou hast tried us by fire, as silver is tried.
11 Thou hast brought us into a net, thou hast laid afflictions on our back:
12 Thou hast set men over our heads. We have passed through fire and water, and thou hast brought us out into a refreshment.
13 I will go into thy house with burnt offerings: I will pay thee my vows,
14 Which my lips have uttered, And my mouth hath spoken, when I was in trouble.
15 I will offer up to thee holocausts full of marrow, with burnt offerings of rams: I will offer to thee bullocks with goats.
31 If I offer testimony about myself, my testimony is not true.
32 There is another who offers testimony about me, and I know that the testimony which he offers about me is true.
33 You sent to John, and he offered testimony to the truth.
34 But I do not accept testimony from man. Instead, I say these things, so that you may be saved.
35 He was a burning and shining light. So you were willing, at the time, to exult in his light.
36 But I hold a greater testimony than that of John. For the works which the Father has given to me, so that I may complete them, these works themselves that I do, offer testimony about me: that the Father has sent me.
37 And the Father who has sent me has himself offered testimony about me. And you have never heard his voice, nor have you beheld his appearance.
38 And you do not have his word abiding in you. For the one whom he sent, the same you would not believe.
39 Study the Scriptures. For you think that in them you have eternal life. And yet they also offer testimony about me.
40 And you are not willing to come to me, so that you may have life.
41 I do not accept glory from men.
42 But I know you, that you do not have the love of God within you.
43 I have come in the name of my Father, and you do not accept me. If another will arrive in his own name, him you will accept.
44 How are you able to believe, you who accept glory from one another and yet do not seek the glory that is from God alone?
45 Do not consider that I might accuse you with the Father. There is one who accuses you, Moses, in whom you hope.
46 For if you were believing in Moses, perhaps you would believe in me also. For he wrote about me.
47 But if you do not believe by his writings, how will you believe by my words?”