heaven: the ftars in their fell down dead. courfes fought against Si- 28 The mother of Sifera looked out at a window, fera. 21 The river of Kifhon and cried through the latfwept them away, that an- tice, Why is his chariot fa cient river, the river Ki-long in coming? why tarry fhon: O my foul, thou haft the wheels of his chariot ? trodden down ftrength. - 22 Then were the horfehoofs broken by the means of the pranfings, the pranfings of their mighty ones. 23 Curfe ye Meroz, faid the angel of the Lord, curfe ye bitterly the inhabitants thereof because they came not to the help of the Lord, to the help of the Lord against the mighty. 24 Bleffed above women fhall Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite be, bleffed fhall the be above women in the tent. 25 He asked water, and The gave him milk; fhe brought forth butter in a lordly difh. 26 She put her hand to the nail, and her right hand to the workman's hammer: and with the hammer fhe fmote Sifera; fhe fmote off his head, when he had pierced and ftricken through his temples. 27 At her feet he bowed, he fell, he lay down at her feet he bowed, he fell where he bowed, there he 2 29 Her wife ladies an-1 fwered her, yea, fhe returned answer to herself, 30 Have they not fped? have they not divided the prey, to every man a damfel or two? to Sifera a prey of divers colours, a prey of divers colours of needlework, of divers colours of needle-work on both fides, meet for the necks of them that take the spoil? 31 So let all thine enemies perifh, O Lord: but let them that love him be as the fun when he goeth forth in his might. And the land had reft forty years. 3 And the angel of the Lord appeared unto the woman, and said unto her, Behold now, thou art barren, and beareft not: but thou fhalt conceive, and bear a fon. Now therefore, beware, I pray thee, and drink not wine, nor ftrong drink, and eat not any unclean thing. 5 For lo, thou shalt conceive, and bear a fon; and no razor shall come on his head for the child fhall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb and he fhall begin to deliver Ifrael out of the hand of the Philiftines. 6 Then the woman came and told her husband, faying, A man of God came unto me, and his countenance was like the countenance of an angel of God, very terrible but I afked him not whence he was, neither told he me his name. 7 But he faid unto me, Behold, thou fhalt conceive, and bear a fon; and now drink no wine, nor ftrong drink, neither eat any unclean thing: for the child fhall be a Nazarite to God from the womb to the day of his death. 8Then Manoah intreated the Lord, and faid, O my Lord, let the man of God which thou didst send, come again unto us, and teach us what we fhall do unto the child that shall be born. 9 And God hearkened unto the voice of Manoah; and the angel of God came again unto the woman, as fhe fat in the field: but Manoah her husband was not with her. 10 And the woman made hafte, and ran, and fhewed her husband, and faid unto him, Behold, the man hath appeared unto me, that came unto me the other day. II And Manoah arofe, and went after his wife, and came to the man, and faid unto him, Art thou the man that fpakeft unto the woman? And he faid, I am. 12 And Manoah faid, Now let thy words come to país: How fhall we order the child? and bow fhall we do unto him? 13 And the angel of the Lord faid unto Manoah, Of all that I faid unto the woman let her beware. 14 She may not eat of any thing that cometh of the vine, neither let her drink wine or ftrong drink, nor eat any unclean thing: all that I commanded her, let her observe. 15 And Manoah faid | Manoah and to his wife. unto the angel of the Lord, Then Manoah knew that he I pray thee, let us detain thee until we fhall have made ready a kid for thee. 16 And the angel of the Lord faid unto Manoah, Though thou detain me, I will not eat of thy bread: and if thou wilt offer a burnt-offering, thou muft offer it unto the Lord. For Manoah knew not that he was an angel of the Lord. 17 And Manoah faid unto the angel of the Lord, What is thy name, that when thy fayings come to pafs we may do thee honour? 4 18 And the angel of the Lord faid unto him, Why afkest thou thus after my name, seeing it is secret? 19 So Manoah took a kid, with a meat-offering, and offered it upon a rock unto the Lord. And the angel did wonderoufly, and Manoah and his wife looked on. 20 For it came to país, when the flame went up toward heaven from off the altar, that the angel of the Lord afcended in the flame of the altar. And Manoah and his wife looked on it, and fell on their faces to the ground. 21 But the angel of the Lord did no more appear to was an angel of the Lord. 22 And Manoah faid unto his wife, We fhall furely die, because we have feen God. 23 But his wife faid unto him, If the Lord were pleafed to kill us, he would not have received a burnt-offering, and a meat-offering, at our hands, neither would he have fhewed us all these things, nor would, as at this time, have told us fuch things as these. 24¶ And the woman bare a fon, and called his name Samfon. And the child grew, and the Lord bleffed him. 25 And the fpirit of the Lord began to move him at times in the camp of Dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol. Is there never a woman among the daughters of thy brethren, or among all my people, that thou goeft to take a wife of the uncircumcifed Philiftines? And Samfon faid unto his father, Get her for me; for the pleaseth me well. 4 But his father and his mother knew not that it was of the Lord, that he fought an occafion againft the Philiftines: for at that time the Philiftines had dominion over Ifrael. 5 Then went Samfon down, and his father and his mother, to Timnath, and came to the vineyards of Timnath and behold, a young lion roared againft him. 6 And the spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him; and he rent him as he would have rent a kid, and he had nothing in his hand : but he told not his father or his mother what he had done. 7 And he went down and talked with the woman; and The pleafed Samson well. 8 And after a time, he returned to take her, and he turned afide to fee the carcafe of the lion: and behold there was a swarm of bees, and honey in the carcafe of the lion. 11 And it came to pafs when they faw him, that they brought thirty companions to be with him. 12 And Samfon faid unto them, I will now put forth a riddle unto you: if ye can certainly declare it me within the feven days of the feaft, and find it out, then I will give you thirty fheets, and thirty change of garments. 13 But if ye cannot declare it me, then shall give me thirty fheets, and thirty change of garments. And they faid unto him, Pat forth thy riddle, that we may hear it. 14 And he said unto them, Out of the eater came forth meat, and out of the ftrong came forth sweetness. And they could not in three days expound the riddle. 15 And it came to pass on the feventh day, that they took their spoil, and gave faid unto Samfon's wife, change of garments unto Entice thy husband, that he them which expounded the may declare unto us the rid-riddle. And his anger was dle, left we burn thee and kindled, and he went up to thy father's houfe with fire: his father's house. have ye called us to take that we have? is it not fo? 16 And Samfon's wife wept before him, and faid, Thou doft but hate me, and loveft me not: thou hast put forth a riddle unto the children of my people, and haft not told it me. And he faid unto her, Behold, I have not told it my father nor my mother, and fhail I tell it thee? 17 And the wept before him the feven days, while their feast lasted: and it came to pafs on the feventh day, that he told her, because the lay fore upon him: and the told the riddle to the children of her people. 20 But Samfon's wife was given to his companion, whom he had ufed as his friend. CHAP. XV. UT it came to pass within a while after, in the time of wheat harvest, that Samfon vifited his wife with a kid, and he said, I will go in to my wife into the chamber. But her father would not suffer him to go in. 2 And her father faid, I verily thought that thou hadft utterly hated her; therefore I gave her to thy companion is not her younger fifter fairer than fhe? take 18 And the men of the city faid unto him on the her, I pray thee, instead of feventh day, before the fun | her. went down, What is sweeter than honey? and what is ftronger than a lion? And he faid unto them, If ye had not plowed with my heifer, ye had not found out my riddle. 19 And the Spirit of the Lord came upon him, and he went down to Afhkelon, and flew thirty men of them, and 3¶ And Samfon faid concerning them, Now fhall I be more blameless than the Philiftines, though I do them a displeasure. 4 And Samfon went and caught three hundred foxes, and took fire-brands, and turned tail to tail, and put a fire-brand in the midst between two tails. |