Hi, and welcome to
HIS WORDS ARE LIFE.
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I'm Kelly Mowrer, and thank you
for coming apart with me today,
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to read the word of God in
the book of Judges, which covers
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stories from the period
of God's people, Israel,
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and they were ruled
over by various judges.
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We're in the story of
Samson. Before we start, reading
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Let's pray together. Dear Lord,
please be with us as we hear
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your word right now and
may we learn from the story
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that you have preserved
from us to obey your better,
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to love you more, and to know
your heart. Please live with us,
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teach us, be our God
always. Thank you for loving us,
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and we love you so much Amen.
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We're reading the story
of Samson. Samson was born
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a Nazarite and was to leave
his hair uncut and not touch
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strong wine or drink for his
entire life. And he has decided
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to marry a Philistine
woman and at their wedding feast
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he gathered some of her people
together and proposes a riddle
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to them. He said, If you
can figure this riddle out,
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during the days of this feast,
then I will pay you 30 changes
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of garments and 30 sheets.
But if you can't figure it out,
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then you will give me the same.
And we're going to pick up the
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story in Judges, chapter
14, verse 14 as he tells them
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the riddle. And
he said unto them,
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Out of the eater came forth
meat, and out of the strong,
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came forth sweetness. And
they could not in three days
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expound the riddle. And it
came to pass on the seventh day,
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that they said unto Samson's
wife, Entice thy husband,
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that he may declare unto us
the riddled, lest we burn thee
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and thy father's house with
fire: Have ye called us to take
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that we have? is it not
so? And Samson's wife wept
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before him and said, Thou dost
but hate me, and lovest me not:
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thou hast put forth a riddle
unto the children of my people,
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and hath not told it me.
And he said unto her, Behold,
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I have not told it
my father nor my mother,
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and shall I tell it thee? And
she wept before him the 7 days,
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while their feast lasted: and
it came to pass on the 7th day,
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that he told her,
because she lay sore upon him:
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and she told the riddle to
the children of her people.
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And the men of the city
said unto him on the 7th day
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before the sun went down,
What is sweeter than honey?
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and what is stronger than a
lion? And he said unto them,
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If ye had not plowed with
my heifer, ye had not found out
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my riddle. And the spirit of
the Lord came upon him, and he
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went down to Ashkelon,
and slew thirty men of them,
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and took their spoil, and gave
change of garments unto them
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which expounded the riddle.
And his anger was kindled,
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and he went up to
his father's house.
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But Samson's wife was
given to his companion,
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whom he had used as his friend.
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Continuing the story of Samson
in Judges, chapter fifteen,
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and this is the
King James Version.
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But it came to pass within
a while after, in the time of
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wheat harvest, that Samson
visited his wife with a kid;
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and he said, I will go in
to my wife into the chamber.
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But her father would suffer him
to go in. And her father said,
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I verily thought that
thou hadst utterly hated her;
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therefore I gave her to thy
companion: is not her younger
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sister fairer than she? Take her
I pray thee, instead of her. And
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Samson said concerning them,
Now shall I be more blameless
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than the Philistines,
though I do them a displeasure.
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And Samson went and caught
300 foxes, and took firebrands,
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and turned tail to tail,
and put a firebrand in the midst
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between two tails. And when
he had set the brands on fire,
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he let them go into the standing
corn of the Philistines,
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and burnt up both the shocks,
and also the standing corn,
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with the
vineyards and the olives.
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Then the Philistines
said, Who hath done this?
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And they answered, Samson,
the son in law of the Timnite,
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because he had taken his wife,
and given her to his companion.
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And the Philistines came
up, and burnt her and her father
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with fire. And Samson said unto
them, Though ye have done this,
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yet will I be avenged of you,
and after that I will cease.
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And he smote them hip and
thigh with a great slaughter:
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And he went down and dwelt
in the top of the rock Etam.
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Then the Philistines
went up, and pitched in Judah,
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and spread themselves in
Lehi. And the men of Judah said,
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Why are ye come up against
us? And they answered, To bind
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Samson are we come up, to do
to him as he hath done to us.
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Then 3,000 men of Judah went
to the top of the rock Etam,
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and said to Samson, Knowest
thou not that the Philistines
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are rulers over us? what is this
that thou hast done unto us?
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And he said unto them, As
they did unto me, so have I done
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unto them. And they said unto
him, We are come down to bind
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thee, that we may deliver thee
into the hand of the Philistines
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and Samson said unto them,
Swear unto me, that ye will not
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fall upon me yourselves.
And they spake unto him, saying,
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No; but we will bind thee fast,
and deliver thee into their hand
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but surely we will not kill
thee. And they bound him with
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two new cords, and
brought him up from the rock.
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And when he came unto Lehi,
the Philistines shouted against
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him, and the spirit of the
Lord came mightily upon him,
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and the cords that were
upon his arms became as flax
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that was burnt with
fire, and his bands loosed
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from off his hands. And he
found a new jawbone of an ass,
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and put forth his hand,
and took it, and slew 1,000 men
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therewith. And Samson said,
With the jawbone of an ass,
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heaps upon heaps, with the
jaw of an ass have I slain a
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thousand men. And it came to
pass, when he had made and end
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of speaking, that he cast away
the jawbone out of his hand,
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and called that
place Ramath-lehi.
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And he was sore athirst, and
called on the Lord, and said,
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Thou hast given this
great deliverance into the hand
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of thy servant: and
now shall I die for thirst,
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and fall unto the
hands of the uncircumcised?
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But God clave an hollow
place that was in the jaw, and
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there came water
thereout; and when he had drunk,
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his spirit came again,
and he was revived: wherefore
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he called the name thereof
Enhakkore, which is in Lehi
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unto this day. And he
judged Israel in the days
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of the Philistines twenty years.
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Continuing in
Judges, chapter sixteen,
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and this is the
King James Version.
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Then went Samson to
Gaza, and saw there an harlot,
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and went in unto her. And it
was told the Gazites, saying,
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Samson is come hither. And they
compassed him in, and laid wait
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for him all night in the
gate of the city, and were quiet
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all the night, saying, In
the morning when it is day,
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we shall kill him. And Samson
lay till midnight, and arose
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at midnight, and took the doors
of the gate of the city, and the
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two posts, and went away
with them, bar and all, and
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put them upon his shoulders,
and carried them up to the top
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of an hill that is before
Hebron. And it came to pass
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afterward, that he loved a
woman in the valley of Sorek,
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whose name was Delilah. And
the Lords of the Philistines
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came up unto her, and
said unto her, Entice him,
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and see wherein his
great strength lieth,
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and by what means we
may prevail against him,
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that we may bind him to afflict
him; and we will give thee
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every one of us eleven
hundred pieces of silver.
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And Delilah said to Samson,
Tell me, I pray thee, wherein
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thy great strength lieth,
and wherewith thou mightest
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be bound to afflict
thee. And Samson said unto her,
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If they bind me with 7 green
withs that were never dried,
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then shall I be weak,
and be as another man.
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Then the lords of the
Philistines brought up to her
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seven green withs which had not
been dried, and she bound him
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with them. Now there were men
lying in wait, abiding with her
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in the chamber.
And she said unto him,
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The Philistines be upon thee,
Samson. And he brake the withs,
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as a thread of tow is broken
when it toucheth the fire.
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So his strength was not known.
And Delilah said unto Samson,
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Behold, thou hast mocked me,
and told me lies: now tell me,
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I pray thee, wherewith
thou mightest be bound.
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And he said unto her, If
they bind me fast with new ropes
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that never were occupied,
then shall I be weak, and
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be as another man. Delilah
therefore took new ropes,
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and bound him therewith, and
said unto him, The Philistines
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be upon thee, Samson. And there
were liers in wait abiding in
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the chamber. And he brake them
from off his arms like a thread.
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And Delilah said unto Samson,
Hitherto thou hast mocked me,
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and told me lies: tell
me wherewith thou mightest
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be bound. And he said unto
her, If thou weavest the 7 locks
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of my head with the web. And
she fastened it with the pin,
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and said unto him, the
Philistines be upon thee, Samson
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And he awaked out of his
sleep and went away with the pin
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of the beam, and with the
web. And she said unto him,
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How canst thou say, I love thee,
when thine heart is not with me?
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thou hast mocked me these three
times, and hast not told me
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wherein thy great strength
lieth. And it came to pass,
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when she pressed him daily
with her words, and urged him,
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so that his soul was vexed
unto death; that he told her
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all his heart, and said unto
her, There hath not come a razor
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upon mine head; for I
have been a Nazarite unto God
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from my mother's womb: if
I be shaven, then my strength
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will go from me, and I
shall become weak, and be like
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any other man. And when
Delilah saw that he had told her
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all his heart, she sent
and called for the lords
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of the Philistines, saying, Come
up this once, for he hath shewed
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me all his heart. Then the
lords of the Philistines came up
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unto her, and brought
money in their hand. And
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she made him sleep upon her
knees; and she called for a man,
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and she caused him to shave
off the seven locks of his head;
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and she began to afflict him,
and his strength went from him.
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And she said, The Philistines
be upon thee, Samson.
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And he awoke out of his sleep,
and said, I will go out as at
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other times before, and
shake myself. And he wist not
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that the Lord was departed from
him. But the Philistines took
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him, and put out his eyes,
and brought him down to Gaza,
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and bound him
with fetters of brass;
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and he did grind
in the prison house.
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Howbeit the hair of his
head began to grow again
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after he was shaven. Then
the lords of the Philistines
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gathered them together
for to offer a great sacrifice
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unto Dagon their god, and to
rejoice: for they said, our god
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hath delivered Samson
our enemy into our hand.
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And when the people saw
him, they praised their god:
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for they said, Our god
hath delivered into our hands
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our enemy, and the destroyer
of our country, which slew many
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of us. And it came to pass,
when their hearts were merry,
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that they said, Call for Samson,
that he may make us sport.
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And they called for Samson
out of the prison house; and
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he made them sport: and they
set him between the pillars.
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And Samson said unto the
lad that held him by the hand,
00:12:44.16\00:12:48.59
Suffer me that I may feel
the pillars whereupon the house
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standeth, that I may lean upon
them. Now the house was full
00:12:52.89\00:12:57.25
of men and women; and all
the lords of the Philistines
00:12:57.28\00:12:59.87
were there; and there were upon
the roof about 3,000 men and
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women, that beheld while Samson
made sport. And Samson called
00:13:03.73\00:13:08.57
unto the Lord, and said, O Lord
God, remember me, I pray thee,
00:13:08.60\00:13:13.53
and strengthen me, I pray
thee, only this once, O God,
00:13:13.56\00:13:18.23
that I may be at once
avenged of the Philistines
00:13:18.26\00:13:22.18
for my two eyes. And Samson
took hold of the two middle
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pillars upon
which the house stood,
00:13:26.26\00:13:28.29
and on which it was borne up,
of the one with his right hand,
00:13:28.32\00:13:31.42
and of the other with his left.
And Samson said, Let me die
00:13:31.45\00:13:35.80
with the Philistines. And he
bowed himself with all his might
00:13:35.83\00:13:39.56
and the house fell upon the
lords, and upon all the people
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that were therein. So the
dead which he slew at his death
00:13:43.49\00:13:47.32
were more than they
which he slew in his life.
00:13:47.35\00:13:49.78
Then his brethren and all the
house of his father came down,
00:13:49.81\00:13:53.13
and took him, and brought
him up, and buried him between
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Zorah and Eshtaol in
the burying place of Manoah
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his father. And he
judged Israel twenty years.
00:13:59.09\00:14:02.89
Thank you for being with me
today to read the word of God
00:14:02.92\00:14:07.17
together. And in the story
of Samson's life, may we find
00:14:07.20\00:14:10.39
again, a renewed encouragement
to seek God to keep us obedient
00:14:10.42\00:14:16.13
to his word, to keep
us set apart for Him;
00:14:16.16\00:14:18.81
so that he may be glorified
through us, only in his strength
00:14:18.84\00:14:23.98
will we receive all
that we need to serve him
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and to serve each other better.
So until then, may God keep us
00:14:26.90\00:14:29.87
all, and thank you for
joining with me. Goodbye.
00:14:29.90\00:14:33.03