Philistines Oppress Again

1Now the sons of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord, so that the Lord gave them into the hands of the Philistines forty years.

2There was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren and had borne no children. 3Then the angel of the Lord appeared to the woman and said to her, “Behold now, you are barren and have borne no children, but you shall conceive and give birth to a son. 4Now therefore, be careful not to drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing. 5For behold, you shall conceive and give birth to a son, and no razor shall come upon his head, for the boy shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb; and he shall begin to deliver Israel from the hands of the Philistines.” 6Then the woman came and told her husband, saying, “A man of God came to me and his appearance was like the appearance of the angel of God, very awesome. And I did not ask him where he came from, nor did he tell me his name. 7But he said to me, ‘Behold, you shall conceive and give birth to a son, and now you shall not drink wine or strong drink nor eat any unclean thing, for the boy shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb to the day of his death.’ ”

8Then Manoah entreated the Lord and said, “O Lord, please let the man of God whom You have sent come to us again that he may teach us what to do for the boy who is to be born.” 9God listened to the voice of Manoah; and the angel of God came again to the woman as she was sitting in the field, but Manoah her husband was not with her. 10So the woman ran quickly and told her husband, “Behold, the man who came the other day has appeared to me.” 11Then Manoah arose and followed his wife, and when he came to the man he said to him, “Are you the man who spoke to the woman?” And he said, “I am.” 12Manoah said, “Now when your words come to pass, what shall be the boy’s mode of life and his vocation?” 13So the angel of the Lord said to Manoah, “Let the woman pay attention to all that I said. 14She should not eat anything that comes from the vine nor drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing; let her observe all that I commanded.”

15Then Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, “Please let us detain you so that we may prepare a young goat for you.” 16The angel of the Lord said to Manoah, “Though you detain me, I will not eat your food, but if you prepare a burnt offering, then offer it to the Lord.” For Manoah did not know that he was the angel of the Lord. 17Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, “What is your name, so that when your words come to pass, we may honor you?” 18But the angel of the Lord said to him, “Why do you ask my name, seeing it is wonderful?” 19So Manoah took the young goat with the grain offering and offered it on the rock to the Lord, and He performed wonders while Manoah and his wife looked on. 20For it came about when the flame went up from the altar toward heaven, that 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.

21Now the angel of the Lord did not appear to Manoah or his wife again. Then Manoah knew that he was the angel of the Lord. 22So Manoah said to his wife, “We will surely die, for we have seen God.” 23But 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 let us hear things like this at this time.”

24Then the woman gave birth to a son and named him Samson; and the child grew up and the Lord blessed him. 25And the Spirit of the Lord began to stir him in Mahaneh-dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.

Paul Seized in the Temple

27When the seven days were almost over, the Jews from Asia, upon seeing him in the temple, began to stir up all the crowd and laid hands on him, 28crying out, “Men of Israel, come to our aid! This is the man who preaches to all men everywhere against our people and the Law and this place; and besides he has even brought Greeks into the temple and has defiled this holy place.” 29For they had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian in the city with him, and they supposed that Paul had brought him into the temple. 30Then all the city was provoked, and the people rushed together, and taking hold of Paul they dragged him out of the temple, and immediately the doors were shut. 31While they were seeking to kill him, a report came up to the commander of the Roman cohort that all Jerusalem was in confusion. 32At once he took along some soldiers and centurions and ran down to them; and when they saw the commander and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul. 33Then the commander came up and took hold of him, and ordered him to be bound with two chains; and he began asking who he was and what he had done. 34But among the crowd some were shouting one thing and some another, and when he could not find out the facts because of the uproar, he ordered him to be brought into the barracks. 35When he got to the stairs, he was carried by the soldiers because of the violence of the mob; 36for the multitude of the people kept following them, shouting, “Away with him!”

37As Paul was about to be brought into the barracks, he said to the commander, “May I say something to you?” And he *said, “Do you know Greek? 38Then you are not the Egyptian who some time ago stirred up a revolt and led the four thousand men of the Assassins out into the wilderness?” 39But Paul said, “I am a Jew of Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no insignificant city; and I beg you, allow me to speak to the people.” 40When he had given him permission, Paul, standing on the stairs, motioned to the people with his hand; and when there was a great hush, he spoke to them in the Hebrew dialect, saying,

1) Why does voluntary separation honor יהוה?

2) How does blessing flow from obedience?

3) What does it mean to bear His Name in daily life?

Micah’s Idolatry

1Now there was a man of the hill country of Ephraim whose name was Micah. 2He said to his mother, “The eleven hundred pieces of silver which were taken from you, about which you uttered a curse in my hearing, behold, the silver is with me; I took it.” And his mother said, “Blessed be my son by the Lord.” 3He then returned the eleven hundred pieces of silver to his mother, and his mother said, “I wholly dedicate the silver from my hand to the Lord for my son to make a graven image and a molten image; now therefore, I will return them to you.” 4So when he returned the silver to his mother, his mother took two hundred pieces of silver and gave them to the silversmith who made them into a graven image and a molten image, and they were in the house of Micah. 5And the man Micah had a shrine and he made an ephod and household idols and consecrated one of his sons, that he might become his priest. 6In those days there was no king in Israel; every man did what was right in his own eyes.

7Now there was a young man from Bethlehem in Judah, of the family of Judah, who was a Levite; and he was staying there. 8Then the man departed from the city, from Bethlehem in Judah, to stay wherever he might find a place; and as he made his journey, he came to the hill country of Ephraim to the house of Micah. 9Micah said to him, “Where do you come from?” And he said to him, “I am a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah, and I am going to stay wherever I may find a place.” 10Micah then said to him, “Dwell with me and be a father and a priest to me, and I will give you ten pieces of silver a year, a suit of clothes, and your maintenance.” So the Levite went in. 11The Levite agreed to live with the man, and the young man became to him like one of his sons. 12So Micah consecrated the Levite, and the young man became his priest and lived in the house of Micah. 13Then Micah said, “Now I know that the Lord will prosper me, seeing I have a Levite as priest.”

BOOK 5

PSALM 107

The Lord Delivers Men from Manifold Troubles.

1Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good,

For His lovingkindness is everlasting.

2Let the redeemed of the Lord say so,

Whom He has redeemed from the hand of the adversary

3And gathered from the lands,

From the east and from the west,

From the north and from the south.

4They wandered in the wilderness in a desert region;

They did not find a way to an inhabited city.

5They were hungry and thirsty;

Their soul fainted within them.

6Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble;

He delivered them out of their distresses.

7He led them also by a straight way,

To go to an inhabited city.

8Let them give thanks to the Lord for His lovingkindness,

And for His wonders to the sons of men!

9For He has satisfied the thirsty soul,

And the hungry soul He has filled with what is good.

10There were those who dwelt in darkness and in the shadow of death,

Prisoners in misery and chains,

11Because they had rebelled against the words of God

And spurned the counsel of the Most High.

12Therefore He humbled their heart with labor;

They stumbled and there was none to help.

13Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble;

He saved them out of their distresses.

14He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death

And broke their bands apart.

15Let them give thanks to the Lord for His lovingkindness,

And for His wonders to the sons of men!

16For He has shattered gates of bronze

And cut bars of iron asunder.

17Fools, because of their rebellious way,

And because of their iniquities, were afflicted.

18Their soul abhorred all kinds of food,

And they drew near to the gates of death.

19Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble;

He saved them out of their distresses.

20He sent His word and healed them,

And delivered them from their destructions.

21Let them give thanks to the Lord for His lovingkindness,

And for His wonders to the sons of men!

22Let them also offer sacrifices of thanksgiving,

And tell of His works with joyful singing.

23Those who go down to the sea in ships,

Who do business on great waters;

24They have seen the works of the Lord,

And His wonders in the deep.

25For He spoke and raised up a stormy wind,

Which lifted up the waves of the sea.

26They rose up to the heavens, they went down to the depths;

Their soul melted away in their misery.

27They reeled and staggered like a drunken man,

And were at their wits’ end.

28Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,

And He brought them out of their distresses.

29He caused the storm to be still,

So that the waves of the sea were hushed.

30Then they were glad because they were quiet,

So He guided them to their desired haven.

31Let them give thanks to the Lord for His lovingkindness,

And for His wonders to the sons of men!

32Let them extol Him also in the congregation of the people,

And praise Him at the seat of the elders.

33He changes rivers into a wilderness

And springs of water into a thirsty ground;

34A fruitful land into a salt waste,

Because of the wickedness of those who dwell in it.

35He changes a wilderness into a pool of water

And a dry land into springs of water;

36And there He makes the hungry to dwell,

So that they may establish an inhabited city,

37And sow fields and plant vineyards,

And gather a fruitful harvest.

38Also He blesses them and they multiply greatly,

And He does not let their cattle decrease.

39When they are diminished and bowed down

Through oppression, misery and sorrow,

40He pours contempt upon princes

And makes them wander in a pathless waste.

41But He sets the needy securely on high away from affliction,

And makes his families like a flock.

42The upright see it and are glad;

But all unrighteousness shuts its mouth.

43Who is wise? Let him give heed to these things,

And consider the lovingkindnesses of the Lord.

The Conversion of Saul

1Now Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest, 2and asked for letters from him to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, both men and women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. 3As he was traveling, it happened that he was approaching Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him; 4and he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” 5And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” And He said, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting, 6but get up and enter the city, and it will be told you what you must do.” 7The men who traveled with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one. 8Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing; and leading him by the hand, they brought him into Damascus. 9And he was three days without sight, and neither ate nor drank.

10Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias; and the Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.” 11And the Lord said to him, “Get up and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying, 12and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him, so that he might regain his sight.” 13But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much harm he did to Your saints at Jerusalem; 14and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on Your name.” 15But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel; 16for I will show him how much he must suffer for My name’s sake.” 17So Ananias departed and entered the house, and after laying his hands on him said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road by which you were coming, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” 18And immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he regained his sight, and he got up and was baptized;