Judges 12-13New King James Version (NKJV)
Jephthah’s Conflict with Ephraim
12 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.
Ibzan, Elon, and Abdon
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.
The Birth of Samson
13 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[a] between Zorah and
Eshtaol.
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