Judges 13

⁹But they forgot the Lord their God, and He sold them into the hand of Sisera the commander of the army of Hazor, and into the hands of the Philistines and the king of Moab, who fought against them.

¹Again the Israelites did evil in the sight of the Lord; so He delivered them into the hand of Midian for seven years,

⁶God “will repay each one according to his deeds.”

⁷So the Israelites did evil in the sight of the Lord; they forgot the Lord their God and served the Baals and the Asherahs.

¹¹And the Israelites did evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals.

¹After Ehud died, the Israelites again did evil in the sight of the Lord.

⁴¹The territory of their inheritance included Zorah, Eshtaol, Ir-shemesh,

³³These were in the foothills: Eshtaol, Zorah, Ashnah,

⁷But they had no children, because Elizabeth was barren, and they were both well along in years.

²¹Later, Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife, because she was barren. And the Lord heard his prayer, and his wife Rebekah conceived.

¹Now Abram’s wife Sarai had borne him no children, but she had an Egyptian maidservant named Hagar.

²He had two wives, one named Hannah and the other Peninnah. And Peninnah had children, but Hannah had none.

³Year after year Elkanah would go up from his city to worship and sacrifice to the Lord of Hosts at Shiloh, where Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were priests to the Lord.

¹³But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, because your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to give him the name John.

¹¹Just then an angel of the Lord appeared to Zechariah, standing at the right side of the altar of incense.

¹¹Then the angel of the Lord came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to hide it from the Midianites.

¹²And the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon and said, “The Lord is with you, O mighty man of valor.”

¹⁰Then the Lord said, “I will surely return to you at this time next year, and your wife Sarah will have a son!” Now Sarah was behind him, listening at the entrance to the tent.

¹⁶And Elisha declared, “At this time next year, you will hold a son in your arms.” “No, my lord,” she said. “Do not lie to your maidservant, O man of God.”

¹Now the angel of the Lord went up from Gilgal to Bochim and said, “I brought you up out of Egypt and led you into the land that I had promised to your fathers, and I said, ‘I will never break My covenant with you,

¹⁵for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He shall never take wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother’s womb.

¹⁴She must not eat anything that comes from the vine, nor drink any wine or strong drink, nor eat anything unclean. She must do everything I have commanded her.”

²“Speak to the Israelites and tell them that if a man or woman makes a special vow, the vow of a Nazirite, to separate himself to the Lord,

³he is to abstain from wine and strong drink. He must not drink vinegar made from wine or strong drink, and he must not drink any grape juice or eat fresh grapes or raisins.

⁷But he said to me, ‘Behold, you will conceive and give birth to a son. Now, therefore, do not drink wine or strong drink, and do not eat anything unclean, because the boy will be a Nazirite to God from the womb until the day of his death.’”

⁴⁷You must distinguish between the unclean and the clean, between animals that may be eaten and those that may not.’”

¹⁴“No, Lord!” Peter answered. “I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.”

⁵For the entire period of his vow of separation, no razor shall touch his head. He must be holy until the time of his separation to the Lord is complete; he must let the hair of his head grow long.

¹¹And she made a vow, saying, “O Lord of Hosts, if only You will look upon the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me, not forgetting Your maidservant but giving her a son, then I will dedicate him to the Lord all the days of his life, and no razor shall ever touch his head.”

²“Speak to the Israelites and tell them that if a man or woman makes a special vow, the vow of a Nazirite, to separate himself to the Lord,

³he is to abstain from wine and strong drink. He must not drink vinegar made from wine or strong drink, and he must not drink any grape juice or eat fresh grapes or raisins.

¹Some time later, David defeated the Philistines, subdued them, and took Gath and its villages from the hand of the Philistines.

¹³So the Philistines were subdued, and they stopped invading the territory of Israel. And the hand of the Lord was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel.

¹Some time later, David defeated the Philistines, subdued them, and took Metheg-ammah from the hand of the Philistines.

³His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow.

⁴The guards trembled in fear of him and became like dead men.

¹⁷Then Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, “What is your name, so that we may honor you when your word comes to pass?”

¹⁸“Why do you ask my name,” said the angel of the Lord, “since it is beyond comprehension?”

⁶“Look,” said the servant, “in this city there is a man of God who is highly respected; everything he says surely comes to pass. Let us go there now. Perhaps he will tell us which way to go.”

¹⁷When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. But He placed His right hand on me and said, “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last,

²⁹And as He was praying, the appearance of His face changed, and His clothes became radiantly white.

¹This is the blessing that Moses the man of God pronounced upon the Israelites before his death.

⁴Now please be careful not to drink wine or strong drink, and not to eat anything unclean.

⁶“Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”

³²Teach me what I cannot see; if I have done wrong, I will not do it again.’

⁵Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding;

⁶in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.

²O You who listen to prayer, all people will come to You.

⁷Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you.

⁸For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.

⁴¹He first found his brother Simon and told him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated as Christ).

⁴²Andrew brought him to Jesus, who looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas” (which is translated as Peter).

²⁸Then the woman left her water jar, went back into the town, and said to the people,

²⁹“Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?”

⁴Fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath; instead, bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

⁶Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.

¹⁹For I have chosen him, so that he will command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just, in order that the Lord may bring upon Abraham what He has promised.”

⁴he taught me and said, “Let your heart lay hold of my words; keep my commands and you will live.

³²See that you do everything I command you; do not add to it or subtract from it.

⁵His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever He tells you.”

⁴Now please be careful not to drink wine or strong drink, and not to eat anything unclean.

⁴And we have confidence in the Lord that you are doing and will continue to do what we command.

¹⁴You are My friends if you do what I command you.

⁴All the days of his separation, he is not to eat anything that comes from the grapevine, not even the seeds or skins.

³“My lord,” said Abraham, “if I have found favor in your sight, please do not pass your servant by.

⁴Let a little water be brought, that you may wash your feet and rest yourselves under the tree.

³The angel of the Lord appeared to the woman and said to her, “It is true that you are barren and have no children; but you will conceive and give birth to a son.

¹⁸Please do not depart from this place until I return to You. Let me bring my offering and set it before You.” And the Lord said, “I will stay until you return.”

¹⁹So Gideon went in and prepared a young goat and unleavened bread and an ephah of flour. He placed the meat in a basket and the broth in a pot and brought them out to present to Him under the oak.

²³But his wife replied, “If the Lord had intended to kill us, He would not have accepted the burnt offering and the grain offering from our hands, nor would He have shown us all these things or spoken to us this way.”

²⁰And the angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened bread, lay them on this rock, and pour out the broth.” And Gideon did so.

²⁶Then build a proper altar to the Lord your God on the top of this stronghold. And with the wood of the Asherah pole you cut down, take the second bull and offer it as a burnt offering.”

²⁹And Jacob requested, “Please tell me your name.” But he replied, “Why do you ask my name?” Then he blessed Jacob there.

²⁹And Jacob requested, “Please tell me your name.” But he replied, “Why do you ask my name?” Then he blessed Jacob there.

⁶For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government will be upon His shoulders. And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

⁶So the woman went and told her husband, “A man of God came to me. His appearance was like the angel of God, exceedingly awesome. I did not ask him where he came from, and he did not tell me his name.

¹⁹So Gideon went in and prepared a young goat and unleavened bread and an ephah of flour. He placed the meat in a basket and the broth in a pot and brought them out to present to Him under the oak.

²⁰And the angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened bread, lay them on this rock, and pour out the broth.” And Gideon did so.

³⁰Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come near to me.” So all the people approached him, and he repaired the altar of the Lord that had been torn down.

³¹And Elijah took twelve stones, one for each tribe of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord had come and said, “Israel shall be your name.”

²⁴Fire came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed the burnt offering and the fat portions on the altar. And when all the people saw it, they shouted for joy and fell facedown.

¹¹As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire with horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up into heaven in a whirlwind.

¹⁶When David lifted up his eyes and saw the angel of the Lord standing between heaven and earth, with a drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem, David and the elders, clothed in sackcloth, fell facedown.

²⁸The appearance of the brilliant light all around Him was like that of a rainbow in a cloud on a rainy day. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And when I saw it, I fell facedown and heard a voice speaking.

⁶When the disciples heard this, they fell facedown in terror.

³The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His nature, upholding all things by His powerful word. After He had provided purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.

²²When Gideon realized that it was the angel of the Lord, he said, “Oh no, Lord God! I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face!”

⁴Yes, he struggled with the angel and prevailed; he wept and sought His favor; he found Him at Bethel and spoke with Him there—

⁵the Lord God of Hosts, the Lord is His name of renown.

¹⁶And the angel of the Lord replied, “Even if I stay, I will not eat your food. But if you prepare a burnt offering, offer it to the Lord.” For Manoah did not know that it was the angel of the Lord.

³⁰So Jacob named the place Peniel, saying, “Indeed, I have seen God face to face, and yet my life was spared.”

²⁶For who of all flesh has heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the fire, as we have, and survived?

¹⁸No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is Himself God and is at the Father’s side, has made Him known.

²⁰But He added, “You cannot see My face, for no one can see Me and live.”

³⁷And the Father who sent Me has Himself testified about Me. You have never heard His voice nor seen His form,

⁵Then I said: “Woe is me, for I am ruined, because I am a man of unclean lips dwelling among a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of Hosts.”

¹⁴The Lord confides in those who fear Him, and reveals His covenant to them.

²¹The eye cannot say to the hand, “I do not need you.” Nor can the head say to the feet, “I do not need you.”

¹⁷Show me a sign of Your goodness, that my enemies may see and be ashamed; for You, O Lord, have helped me and comforted me.

¹⁵No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not understand what his master is doing. But I have called you friends, because everything I have learned from My Father I have made known to you.

²⁰On that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you are in Me, and I am in you.

³²for the Lord detests the perverse, but He is a friend to the upright.

⁸⁰And the child grew and became strong in spirit; and he lived in the wilderness until the time of his public appearance to Israel.

¹⁹And Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him, and He let none of Samuel’s words fall to the ground.

³²And what more shall I say? Time will not allow me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets,

⁵²And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.

¹⁰The Spirit of the Lord came upon him, and he became Israel’s judge and went out to war. And the Lord delivered Cushan-rishathaim king of Aram into the hand of Othniel, who prevailed against him.

³³These were in the foothills: Eshtaol, Zorah, Ashnah,

³⁴For the One whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without limit.

⁶When Saul heard their words, the Spirit of God rushed upon him, and he burned with great anger.

¹Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

¹¹So six hundred Danites departed from Zorah and Eshtaol, armed with weapons of war.

¹²They went up and camped at Kiriath-jearim in Judah. That is why the place west of Kiriath-jearim is called Mahaneh-dan to this day.