Study Desk

The Spirit of the Lord came upon Samson with power. Samson tore the lion apart like one tears a young goat. He had nothing in his hand. But he did not tell his father or mother what he had done.

So he took the honey out with his hands and went on his way, eating as he went. He came to his father and mother and gave some honey to them, and they ate it. But he did not tell them he had taken the honey out of the lion's body.

But if you cannot answer me, you must give me thirty linen coats and thirty pieces of clothing." And they said to him, "Ask your question. Let us hear it."

So Samson said to them, "Out of the eater came something to eat. Out of the strong came something sweet. Now what does this mean?" But they could not answer the question in three days.

But she cried in front of him for seven days while their special supper lasted. On the seventh day Samson told her the answer because she begged him so much. Then she told the answer to her people.

But later Samson visited his wife during grain gathering time with a young goat. Samson said, "I will go in to my wife in her room." But her father did not let him go in.

But God broke open a place in Lehi, and water came out of it. When Samson drank, his strength returned. He received new life. So he called the place En-hakkore. It is in Lehi to this day.

But Samson lay until late at night. Then he got up and took hold of the doors of the city gate and the pieces that held them. He pulled them up together with the locks and put them on his shoulders. And he carried them up to the top of the mountain beside Hebron.

She had men hiding and waiting in another room. She said to him, "The Philistines are upon you, Samson!" But he broke the ropes like a string breaks when it touches fire. So they did not find the secret of his strength.

So Delilah took new ropes, tied Samson with them, and said, "The Philistines are upon you, Samson!" Men were hiding and waiting in another room. But Samson broke the ropes from his arms like a string.

So while Samson slept, Delilah took the seven strings of his hair and worked them into the cloth. She held it in place with the nail. Then she said to him, "The Philistines are upon you, Samson!" But he awoke from his sleep and pulled away the nail, the cloth maker and the cloth.

She said, "The Philistines are upon you, Samson!" He awoke from his sleep and said, "I will go out as I have at other times. I will shake myself free." But he did not know that the Lord had left him.

But the hair of his head started to grow again after it was cut off.

When you go in, you will come to people who feel very safe. They have much land, but God has given it to you. It will be a place where you will have all you need on earth."

But his woman was not faithful to him. She left him and went to her father's house in Bethlehem in Judah. She stayed there four months.

The man stood up to go. But his father-in-law begged him so that he stayed another night there.

He got up to go early in the morning on the fifth day. But the girl's father said, "I beg you, get your strength first. Wait until later in the day." So both of them ate.

But the man would not stay the night. He stood up and left and came to a place beside Jebus (that is, Jerusalem). He had his woman with him and two donkeys to carry them both.

But his owner said to him, "We will not go into the city of strangers who are not of the people of Israel. We will go as far as Gibeah."

In the evening an old man came out of the field from his work. He was from the hill country of Ephraim and was staying in Gibeah. But the men of the place were Benjamites.