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Psalm 92

1  It is a good thing to give thanks to the Lord ♦︎
   and to sing praises to your name, O Most High;
2  To tell of your love early in the morning ♦︎
   and of your faithfulness in the night-time,
3  Upon the ten-stringed instrument, upon the harp, ♦︎
   and to the melody of the lyre.
4  For you, Lord, have made me glad by your acts, ♦︎
   and I sing aloud at the works of your hands.
5  O Lord, how glorious are your works! ♦︎
   Your thoughts are very deep.
6  The senseless do not know, ♦︎
   nor do fools understand,
7  That though the wicked sprout like grass ♦︎
   and all the workers of iniquity flourish,
8  It is only to be destroyed for ever; ♦︎
   but you, O Lord, shall be exalted for evermore.
9  For lo, your enemies, O Lord,
      lo, your enemies shall perish, ♦︎
   and all the workers of iniquity shall be scattered.
10  But my horn you have exalted
      like the horns of wild oxen; ♦︎
   I am anointed with fresh oil.
11  My eyes will look down on my foes; ♦︎
   my ears shall hear the ruin of the evildoers
      who rise up against me.
12  The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree, ♦︎
   and shall spread abroad like a cedar of Lebanon.
13  Such as are planted in the house of the Lord ♦︎
   shall flourish in the courts of our God.
14  They shall still bear fruit in old age; ♦︎
   they shall be vigorous and in full leaf;
15  That they may show that the Lord is true; ♦︎
   he is my rock,
      and there is no unrighteousness in him.

4 After this he fell in love with a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah. ⁵The lords of the Philistines came to her and said to her, ‘Coax him, and find out what makes his strength so great, and how we may overpower him, so that we may bind him in order to subdue him; and we will each give you eleven hundred pieces of silver.’ ⁶So Delilah said to Samson, ‘Please tell me what makes your strength so great, and how you could be bound, so that one could subdue you.’ ⁷Samson said to her, ‘If they bind me with seven fresh bowstrings that are not dried out, then I shall become weak, and be like anyone else.’ ⁸Then the lords of the Philistines brought her seven fresh bowstrings that had not dried out, and she bound him with them. ⁹While men were lying in wait in an inner chamber, she said to him, ‘The Philistines are upon you, Samson!’ But he snapped the bowstrings, as a strand of fibre snaps when it touches the fire. So the secret of his strength was not known.

10 Then Delilah said to Samson, ‘You have mocked me and told me lies; please tell me how you could be bound.’ ¹¹He said to her, ‘If they bind me with new ropes that have not been used, then I shall become weak, and be like anyone else.’ ¹²So Delilah took new ropes and bound him with them, and said to him, ‘The Philistines are upon you, Samson!’ (The men lying in wait were in an inner chamber.) But he snapped the ropes off his arms like a thread.

13 Then Delilah said to Samson, ‘Until now you have mocked me and told me lies; tell me how you could be bound.’ He said to her, ‘If you weave the seven locks of my head with the web and make it tight with the pin, then I shall become weak, and be like anyone else.’ ¹⁴So while he slept, Delilah took the seven locks of his head and wove them into the web,^* and made them tight with the pin. Then she said to him, ‘The Philistines are upon you, Samson!’ But he awoke from his sleep, and pulled away the pin, the loom, and the web.

15 Then she said to him, ‘How can you say, “I love you”, when your heart is not with me? You have mocked me three times now and have not told me what makes your strength so great.’ ¹⁶Finally, after she had nagged him with her words day after day, and pestered him, he was tired to death. ¹⁷So he told her his whole secret, and said to her, ‘A razor has never come upon my head; for I have been a nazirite^* to God from my mother’s womb. If my head were shaved, then my strength would leave me; I would become weak, and be like anyone else.’

18 When Delilah realized that he had told her his whole secret, she sent and called the lords of the Philistines, saying, ‘This time come up, for he has told his whole secret to me.’ Then the lords of the Philistines came up to her, and brought the money in their hands. ¹⁹She let him fall asleep on her lap; and she called a man, and had him shave off the seven locks of his head. He began to weaken,^* and his strength left him. ²⁰Then she said, ‘The Philistines are upon you, Samson!’ When he awoke from his sleep, he thought, ‘I will go out as at other times, and shake myself free.’ But he did not know that the Lord had left him. ²¹So the Philistines seized him and gouged out his eyes. They brought him down to Gaza and bound him with bronze shackles; and he ground at the mill in the prison. ²²But the hair of his head began to grow again after it had been shaved.

Samson’s Death

23 Now the lords of the Philistines gathered to offer a great sacrifice to their god Dagon, and to rejoice; for they said, ‘Our god has given Samson our enemy into our hand.’ ²⁴When the people saw him, they praised their god; for they said, ‘Our god has given our enemy into our hand, the ravager of our country, who has killed many of us.’ ²⁵And when their hearts were merry, they said, ‘Call Samson, and let him entertain us.’ So they called Samson out of the prison, and he performed for them. They made him stand between the pillars; ²⁶and Samson said to the attendant who held him by the hand, ‘Let me feel the pillars on which the house rests, so that I may lean against them.’ ²⁷Now the house was full of men and women; all the lords of the Philistines were there, and on the roof there were about three thousand men and women, who looked on while Samson performed.

28 Then Samson called to the Lord and said, ‘Lord God, remember me and strengthen me only this once, O God, so that with this one act of revenge I may pay back the Philistines for my two eyes.’^{* 29}And Samson grasped the two middle pillars on which the house rested, and he leaned his weight against them, his right hand on the one and his left hand on the other. ³⁰Then Samson said, ‘Let me die with the Philistines.’ He strained with all his might; and the house fell on the lords and all the people who were in it. So those he killed at his death were more than those he had killed during his life. ³¹Then his brothers and all his family came down and took him and brought him up and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of his father Manoah. He had judged Israel for twenty years.

A Third Time Jesus Foretells His Death and Resurrection

31 Then he took the twelve aside and said to them, ‘See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished. ³²For he will be handed over to the Gentiles; and he will be mocked and insulted and spat upon. ³³After they have flogged him, they will kill him, and on the third day he will rise again.’ ³⁴But they understood nothing about all these things; in fact, what he said was hidden from them, and they did not grasp what was said.

Jesus Heals a Blind Beggar Near Jericho

35 As he approached Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. ³⁶When he heard a crowd going by, he asked what was happening. ³⁷They told him, ‘Jesus of Nazareth^* is passing by.’ ³⁸Then he shouted, ‘Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!’ ³⁹Those who were in front sternly ordered him to be quiet; but he shouted even more loudly, ‘Son of David, have mercy on me!’ ⁴⁰Jesus stood still and ordered the man to be brought to him; and when he came near, he asked him, ⁴¹‘What do you want me to do for you?’ He said, ‘Lord, let me see again.’ ⁴²Jesus said to him, ‘Receive your sight; your faith has saved you.’ ⁴³Immediately he regained his sight and followed him, glorifying God; and all the people, when they saw it, praised God.