Art in Scripture: A Glimpse of Eternity

Raising the Next Generation: Trusting God’s Plan for Single Mothers

In Crisis but Not Consumed

The Leadership Style of Jesus

Exploring Biblical Wisdom - Words From the Wise

Spiritual Beings

Art in Scripture: The Earth Is the Lord's

Faith Under Fire

Titus: Godliness in a Rebellious Culture | Video Devotional

How to Deal With Complicated People

The Listener’s Bible®: NIV Edition

New International Version™  (Anglicised), Audio Edition

Holy Bible, New International Version™ (Anglicised), South Asian Audio Edition

<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkJDG">
 <div class="chapter ch14" data-usfm="JDG.14">
 <div class="label">14</div><div class="s1">Samson&#8217;s Marriage</div><div class="p">1Samson went down to Timnah and saw there a young Philistine woman. 2When he returned, he said to his father and mother, &#8220;I have seen a Philistine woman in Timnah; now get her for me as my wife.&#8221;</div><div class="p">3His father and mother replied, &#8220;Isn&#8217;t there an acceptable woman among your relatives or among all our people? Must you go to the uncircumcised Philistines to get a wife?&#8221;</div><div class="p">But Samson said to his father, &#8220;Get her for me. She&#8217;s the right one for me.&#8221; 4(His parents did not know that this was from the Lord, who was seeking an occasion to confront the Philistines; for at that time they were ruling over Israel.)</div><div class="p">5Samson went down to Timnah together with his father and mother. As they approached the vineyards of Timnah, suddenly a young lion came roaring toward him. 6The Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon him so that he tore the lion apart with his bare hands as he might have torn a young goat. But he told neither his father nor his mother what he had done. 7Then he went down and talked with the woman, and he liked her.</div><div class="p">8Some time later, when he went back to marry her, he turned aside to look at the lion&#8217;s carcass, and in it he saw a swarm of bees and some honey. 9He scooped out the honey with his hands and ate as he went along. When he rejoined his parents, he gave them some, and they too ate it. But he did not tell them that he had taken the honey from the lion&#8217;s carcass.</div><div class="p">10Now his father went down to see the woman. And there Samson held a feast, as was customary for young men. 11When the people saw him, they chose thirty men to be his companions.</div><div class="p">12&#8220;Let me tell you a riddle,&#8221; Samson said to them. &#8220;If you can give me the answer within the seven days of the feast, I will give you thirty linen garments and thirty sets of clothes. 13If you can&#8217;t tell me the answer, you must give me thirty linen garments and thirty sets of clothes.&#8221;</div><div class="p">&#8220;Tell us your riddle,&#8221; they said. &#8220;Let&#8217;s hear it.&#8221;</div><div class="p">14He replied,</div><div class="q1">&#8220;Out of the eater, something to eat;</div><div class="q2">out of the strong, something sweet.&#8221;</div><div class="m">For three days they could not give the answer.</div><div class="p">15On the fourth#14:15 Some Septuagint manuscripts and Syriac; Hebrew seventh day, they said to Samson&#8217;s wife, &#8220;Coax your husband into explaining the riddle for us, or we will burn you and your father&#8217;s household to death. Did you invite us here to steal our property?&#8221;</div><div class="p">16Then Samson&#8217;s wife threw herself on him, sobbing, &#8220;You hate me! You don&#8217;t really love me. You&#8217;ve given my people a riddle, but you haven&#8217;t told me the answer.&#8221;</div><div class="p">&#8220;I haven&#8217;t even explained it to my father or mother,&#8221; he replied, &#8220;so why should I explain it to you?&#8221; 17She cried the whole seven days of the feast. So on the seventh day he finally told her, because she continued to press him. She in turn explained the riddle to her people.</div><div class="p">18Before sunset on the seventh day the men of the town said to him,</div><div class="q1">&#8220;What is sweeter than honey?</div><div class="q2">What is stronger than a lion?&#8221;</div><div class="p">Samson said to them,</div><div class="q1">&#8220;If you had not plowed with my heifer,</div><div class="q2">you would not have solved my riddle.&#8221;</div><div class="p">19Then the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon him. He went down to Ashkelon, struck down thirty of their men, stripped them of everything and gave their clothes to those who had explained the riddle. Burning with anger, he returned to his father&#8217;s home. 20And Samson&#8217;s wife was given to one of his companions who had attended him at the feast.</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkJDG">
 <div class="chapter ch15" data-usfm="JDG.15">
 <div class="label">15</div><div class="s1">Samson&#8217;s Vengeance on the Philistines</div><div class="p">1Later on, at the time of wheat harvest, Samson took a young goat and went to visit his wife. He said, &#8220;I&#8217;m going to my wife&#8217;s room.&#8221; But her father would not let him go in.</div><div class="p">2&#8220;I was so sure you hated her,&#8221; he said, &#8220;that I gave her to your companion. Isn&#8217;t her younger sister more attractive? Take her instead.&#8221;</div><div class="p">3Samson said to them, &#8220;This time I have a right to get even with the Philistines; I will really harm them.&#8221; 4So he went out and caught three hundred foxes and tied them tail to tail in pairs. He then fastened a torch to every pair of tails, 5lit the torches and let the foxes loose in the standing grain of the Philistines. He burned up the shocks and standing grain, together with the vineyards and olive groves.</div><div class="p">6When the Philistines asked, &#8220;Who did this?&#8221; they were told, &#8220;Samson, the Timnite&#8217;s son-in-law, because his wife was given to his companion.&#8221;</div><div class="p">So the Philistines went up and burned her and her father to death. 7Samson said to them, &#8220;Since you&#8217;ve acted like this, I swear that I won&#8217;t stop until I get my revenge on you.&#8221; 8He attacked them viciously and slaughtered many of them. Then he went down and stayed in a cave in the rock of Etam.</div><div class="p">9The Philistines went up and camped in Judah, spreading out near Lehi. 10The people of Judah asked, &#8220;Why have you come to fight us?&#8221;</div><div class="p">&#8220;We have come to take Samson prisoner,&#8221; they answered, &#8220;to do to him as he did to us.&#8221;</div><div class="p">11Then three thousand men from Judah went down to the cave in the rock of Etam and said to Samson, &#8220;Don&#8217;t you realize that the Philistines are rulers over us? What have you done to us?&#8221;</div><div class="p">He answered, &#8220;I merely did to them what they did to me.&#8221;</div><div class="p">12They said to him, &#8220;We&#8217;ve come to tie you up and hand you over to the Philistines.&#8221;</div><div class="p">Samson said, &#8220;Swear to me that you won&#8217;t kill me yourselves.&#8221;</div><div class="p">13&#8220;Agreed,&#8221; they answered. &#8220;We will only tie you up and hand you over to them. We will not kill you.&#8221; So they bound him with two new ropes and led him up from the rock. 14As he approached Lehi, the Philistines came toward him shouting. The Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon him. The ropes on his arms became like charred flax, and the bindings dropped from his hands. 15Finding a fresh jawbone of a donkey, he grabbed it and struck down a thousand men.</div><div class="p">16Then Samson said,</div><div class="q1">&#8220;With a donkey&#8217;s jawbone</div><div class="q2">I have made donkeys of them.#15:16 Or made a heap or two; the Hebrew for donkey sounds like the Hebrew for heap.</div><div class="q1">With a donkey&#8217;s jawbone</div><div class="q2">I have killed a thousand men.&#8221;</div><div class="m">17When he finished speaking, he threw away the jawbone; and the place was called Ramath Lehi.#15:17 Ramath Lehi means jawbone hill.</div><div class="p">18Because he was very thirsty, he cried out to the Lord, &#8220;You have given your servant this great victory. Must I now die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?&#8221; 19Then God opened up the hollow place in Lehi, and water came out of it. When Samson drank, his strength returned and he revived. So the spring was called En Hakkore,#15:19 En Hakkore means caller&#8217;s spring. and it is still there in Lehi.</div><div class="p">20Samson led#15:20 Traditionally judged Israel for twenty years in the days of the Philistines.</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkEZK">
 <div class="chapter ch1" data-usfm="EZK.1">
 <div class="label">1</div><div class="s1">Ezekiel&#8217;s Inaugural Vision</div><div class="p">1In my thirtieth year, in the fourth month on the fifth day, while I was among the exiles by the Kebar River, the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God.</div><div class="p">2On the fifth of the month&#8212;it was the fifth year of the exile of King Jehoiachin&#8212; 3the word of the Lord came to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, by the Kebar River in the land of the Babylonians.#1:3 Or Chaldeans There the hand of the Lord was on him.</div><div class="p">4I looked, and I saw a windstorm coming out of the north&#8212;an immense cloud with flashing lightning and surrounded by brilliant light. The center of the fire looked like glowing metal, 5and in the fire was what looked like four living creatures. In appearance their form was human, 6but each of them had four faces and four wings. 7Their legs were straight; their feet were like those of a calf and gleamed like burnished bronze. 8Under their wings on their four sides they had human hands. All four of them had faces and wings, 9and the wings of one touched the wings of another. Each one went straight ahead; they did not turn as they moved.</div><div class="p">10Their faces looked like this: Each of the four had the face of a human being, and on the right side each had the face of a lion, and on the left the face of an ox; each also had the face of an eagle. 11Such were their faces. They each had two wings spreading out upward, each wing touching that of the creature on either side; and each had two other wings covering its body. 12Each one went straight ahead. Wherever the spirit would go, they would go, without turning as they went. 13The appearance of the living creatures was like burning coals of fire or like torches. Fire moved back and forth among the creatures; it was bright, and lightning flashed out of it. 14The creatures sped back and forth like flashes of lightning.</div><div class="p">15As I looked at the living creatures, I saw a wheel on the ground beside each creature with its four faces. 16This was the appearance and structure of the wheels: They sparkled like topaz, and all four looked alike. Each appeared to be made like a wheel intersecting a wheel. 17As they moved, they would go in any one of the four directions the creatures faced; the wheels did not change direction as the creatures went. 18Their rims were high and awesome, and all four rims were full of eyes all around.</div><div class="p">19When the living creatures moved, the wheels beside them moved; and when the living creatures rose from the ground, the wheels also rose. 20Wherever the spirit would go, they would go, and the wheels would rise along with them, because the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels. 21When the creatures moved, they also moved; when the creatures stood still, they also stood still; and when the creatures rose from the ground, the wheels rose along with them, because the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.</div><div class="p">22Spread out above the heads of the living creatures was what looked something like a vault, sparkling like crystal, and awesome. 23Under the vault their wings were stretched out one toward the other, and each had two wings covering its body. 24When the creatures moved, I heard the sound of their wings, like the roar of rushing waters, like the voice of the Almighty,#1:24 Hebrew Shaddai like the tumult of an army. When they stood still, they lowered their wings.</div><div class="p">25Then there came a voice from above the vault over their heads as they stood with lowered wings. 26Above the vault over their heads was what looked like a throne of lapis lazuli, and high above on the throne was a figure like that of a man. 27I saw that from what appeared to be his waist up he looked like glowing metal, as if full of fire, and that from there down he looked like fire; and brilliant light surrounded him. 28Like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the radiance around him.</div><div class="p">This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. When I saw it, I fell facedown, and I heard the voice of one speaking.</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkEZK">
 <div class="chapter ch2" data-usfm="EZK.2">
 <div class="label">2</div><div class="s1">Ezekiel&#8217;s Call to Be a Prophet</div><div class="p">1He said to me, &#8220;Son of man,#2:1 The Hebrew phrase ben adam means human being. The phrase son of man is retained as a form of address here and throughout Ezekiel because of its possible association with &#8220;Son of Man&#8221; in the New Testament. stand up on your feet and I will speak to you.&#8221; 2As he spoke, the Spirit came into me and raised me to my feet, and I heard him speaking to me.</div><div class="p">3He said: &#8220;Son of man, I am sending you to the Israelites, to a rebellious nation that has rebelled against me; they and their ancestors have been in revolt against me to this very day. 4The people to whom I am sending you are obstinate and stubborn. Say to them, &#8216;This is what the Sovereign Lord says.&#8217; 5And whether they listen or fail to listen&#8212;for they are a rebellious people&#8212;they will know that a prophet has been among them. 6And you, son of man, do not be afraid of them or their words. Do not be afraid, though briers and thorns are all around you and you live among scorpions. Do not be afraid of what they say or be terrified by them, though they are a rebellious people. 7You must speak my words to them, whether they listen or fail to listen, for they are rebellious. 8But you, son of man, listen to what I say to you. Do not rebel like that rebellious people; open your mouth and eat what I give you.&#8221;</div><div class="p">9Then I looked, and I saw a hand stretched out to me. In it was a scroll, 10which he unrolled before me. On both sides of it were written words of lament and mourning and woe.</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkMAT">
 <div class="chapter ch3" data-usfm="MAT.3">
 <div class="label">3</div><div class="s1">John the Baptist Prepares the Way</div><div class="p">1In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea 2and saying, &#8220;Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.&#8221; 3This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah:</div><div class="q1">&#8220;A voice of one calling in the wilderness,</div><div class="q1">&#8216;Prepare the way for the Lord,</div><div class="q2">make straight paths for him.&#8217;&#8198;&#8221;#3:3 Isaiah 40:3</div><div class="p">4John&#8217;s clothes were made of camel&#8217;s hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. 5People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. 6Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.</div><div class="p">7But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: &#8220;You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. 9And do not think you can say to yourselves, &#8216;We have Abraham as our father.&#8217; I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. 10The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.</div><div class="p">11&#8220;I baptize you with#3:11 Or in water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with#3:11 Or in the Holy Spirit and fire. 12His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.&#8221;</div><div class="s1">The Baptism of Jesus</div><div class="p">13Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. 14But John tried to deter him, saying, &#8220;I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?&#8221;</div><div class="p">15Jesus replied, &#8220;Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.&#8221; Then John consented.</div><div class="p">16As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. 17And a voice from heaven said, &#8220;This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.&#8221;</div>
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New International Version

<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
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 <div class="p">1What advantage, then, is there in being a Jew, or what value is there in circumcision? 2Much in every way! First of all, the Jews have been entrusted with the very words of God.</div><div class="p">3What if some were unfaithful? Will their unfaithfulness nullify God&#8217;s faithfulness? 4Not at all! Let God be true, and every human being a liar. As it is written:</div><div class="q1">&#8220;So that you may be proved right when you speak</div><div class="q2">and prevail when you judge.&#8221;#3:4 Psalm 51:4</div><div class="p">5But if our unrighteousness brings out God&#8217;s righteousness more clearly, what shall we say? That God is unjust in bringing his wrath on us? (I am using a human argument.) 6Certainly not! If that were so, how could God judge the world? 7Someone might argue, &#8220;If my falsehood enhances God&#8217;s truthfulness and so increases his glory, why am I still condemned as a sinner?&#8221; 8Why not say&#8212;as some slanderously claim that we say&#8212;&#8220;Let us do evil that good may result&#8221;? Their condemnation is just!</div><div class="s1">No One Is Righteous</div><div class="p">9What shall we conclude then? Do we have any advantage? Not at all! For we have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under the power of sin. 10As it is written:</div><div class="q1">&#8220;There is no one righteous, not even one;</div><div class="q2">11there is no one who understands;</div><div class="q2">there is no one who seeks God.</div><div class="q1">12All have turned away,</div><div class="q2">they have together become worthless;</div><div class="q1">there is no one who does good,</div><div class="q2">not even one.&#8221;#3:12 Psalms 14:1-3; 53:1-3; Eccles. 7:20</div><div class="q1">13&#8220;Their throats are open graves;</div><div class="q2">their tongues practice deceit.&#8221;#3:13 Psalm 5:9</div><div class="q1">&#8220;The poison of vipers is on their lips.&#8221;#3:13 Psalm 140:3</div><div class="q2">14&#8220;Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.&#8221;#3:14 Psalm 10:7 (see Septuagint)</div><div class="q1">15&#8220;Their feet are swift to shed blood;</div><div class="q2">16ruin and misery mark their ways,</div><div class="q1">17and the way of peace they do not know.&#8221;#3:17 Isaiah 59:7,8</div><div class="q2">18&#8220;There is no fear of God before their eyes.&#8221;#3:18 Psalm 36:1</div><div class="p"></div>
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