Study Desk

Then the woman went to her husband and told him what had happened. She said, "A man of God came to me. He looked like the angel of God. He frightened me. I didn't ask him where he was from, and he didn't tell me his name.

But he said to me, ‘You are pregnant and will have a son. Don't drink any wine or other strong drink. Don't eat any food that is unclean, because the boy will be dedicated to God in a special way. The boy will be God's special person from before he is born until the day he dies.'"

Then Manoah prayed to the Lord . He said, "Lord, I beg you to send the man of God to us again. We want him to teach us what we should do for the boy who will soon be born."

God heard Manoah's prayer. The angel of God came to the woman again. She was sitting in a field and her husband Manoah was not with her.

Manoah said to his wife, "We have seen God. Surely we will die because of this."

There is a hole in the ground at Lehi. God made that hole crack open, and water came out. Samson drank the water and felt better. He felt strong again. So he named that water spring En Hakkore. It is still there in the city of Lehi today.

Finally, Samson told Delilah everything. He said, "I have never had my hair cut. I was dedicated to God before I was born. If someone shaved my head, I would lose my strength. I would become as weak as any other man."

The Philistine rulers came together to celebrate. They were going to offer a great sacrifice to their god Dagon. They said, "Our god helped us defeat Samson our enemy."

When the Philistines saw Samson, they praised their god. They said, "This man destroyed our people! He killed many of our people! But our god helped us take our enemy!"

The people were having a good time at the celebration. So they said, "Bring Samson out. We want to make fun of him." So they brought Samson from the prison and made fun of him. They made him stand between the columns in the temple of the god Dagon.

Then Samson said a prayer to the Lord , "Lord God , remember me. God, please give me strength one more time. Let me do this one thing to punish these Philistines for tearing out both of my eyes!"

So they said to him, "Please ask God if our search for a place to live will be successful."

When you come to that place, you will see that there is plenty of land. There is plenty of everything there. You will also see that the people are not expecting an attack. Surely God has given that land to us."

The people of Dan set up for themselves the idol that Micah had made. That idol was there the whole time that the house of God was in Shiloh.

Now this is what we will do to the city of Gibeah. We will throw lots to let God show us who will lead the attack.

The Israelites went up to the city of Bethel. At Bethel they asked God, "Which tribe will be first to attack the tribe of Benjamin?" The Lord answered, "The tribe of Judah will go first."

Phinehas was the priest who served God there. Phinehas was the son of Eleazar. Eleazar was the son of Aaron.) The Israelites asked, "The people of Benjamin are our relatives. Should we again go to fight against them? Or should we stop fighting?" The Lord answered, "Go. Tomorrow I will help you defeat them."

The Israelites went to the city of Bethel. There they sat before God until evening. They cried loudly as they sat there.

They said to God, " Lord , you are the God of the Israelites. Why has this terrible thing happened to us? Why has one tribe of the Israelites been taken away?"

Early the next day, the Israelites built an altar. They put burnt offerings and fellowship offerings to God on that altar.