April 18

Mark 7:1-23

Traditions and Commandments

[1] Now when the Pharisees gathered to him, with some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem, [2] they saw that some of his disciples ate with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed. [3] (For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands properly, holding to the tradition of the elders, [4] and when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. And there are many other traditions that they observe, such as the washing of cups and pots and copper vessels and dining couches.) [5] And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?” [6] And he said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, 

    “‘This people honors me with their lips,

        but their heart is far from me; 

    [7] in vain do they worship me,

        teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’

    [8] You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.”

[9] And he said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition! [10] For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’ [11] But you say, ‘If a man tells his father or his mother, “Whatever you would have gained from me is Corban”’ (that is, given to God)—[12] then you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or mother, [13] thus making void the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And many such things you do.”

What Defiles a Person

[14] And he called the people to him again and said to them, “Hear me, all of you, and understand: [15] There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.” [17] And when he had entered the house and left the people, his disciples asked him about the parable. [18] And he said to them, “Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, [19] since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?” (Thus he declared all foods clean.) [20] And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. [21] For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, [22] coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. [23] All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”

1 Corinthians 12:1-13

Spiritual Gifts

[1] Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be uninformed. [2] You know that when you were pagans you were led astray to mute idols, however you were led. [3] Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says “Jesus is accursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit.

[4] Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; [5] and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; [6] and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. [7] To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. [8] For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, [9] to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, [10] to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. [11] All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.

One Body with Many Members

[12] For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. [13] For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.

Psalm 88

I Cry Out Day and Night Before You

A Song. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah. To the choirmaster: according to Mahalath Leannoth. A Maskil of Heman the Ezrahite.

    [1] O LORD, God of my salvation,

        I cry out day and night before you. 

    [2] Let my prayer come before you;

        incline your ear to my cry!

    [3] For my soul is full of troubles,

        and my life draws near to Sheol. 

    [4] I am counted among those who go down to the pit;

        I am a man who has no strength, 

    [5] like one set loose among the dead,

        like the slain that lie in the grave,

    like those whom you remember no more,

        for they are cut off from your hand. 

    [6] You have put me in the depths of the pit,

        in the regions dark and deep. 

    [7] Your wrath lies heavy upon me,

        and you overwhelm me with all your waves. Selah

    [8] You have caused my companions to shun me;

        you have made me a horror to them.

    I am shut in so that I cannot escape; 

    [9]     my eye grows dim through sorrow.

    Every day I call upon you, O LORD;

        I spread out my hands to you. 

    [10] Do you work wonders for the dead?

        Do the departed rise up to praise you? Selah 

    [11] Is your steadfast love declared in the grave,

        or your faithfulness in Abaddon? 

    [12] Are your wonders known in the darkness,

        or your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?

    [13] But I, O LORD, cry to you;

        in the morning my prayer comes before you. 

    [14] O LORD, why do you cast my soul away?

        Why do you hide your face from me? 

    [15] Afflicted and close to death from my youth up,

        I suffer your terrors; I am helpless. 

    [16] Your wrath has swept over me;

        your dreadful assaults destroy me. 

    [17] They surround me like a flood all day long;

        they close in on me together. 

    [18] You have caused my beloved and my friend to shun me;

        my companions have become darkness.

Judges 13

The Birth of Samson

[1] And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, so the LORD gave them into the hand of the Philistines for forty years.

[2] There was a certain man of Zorah, of the tribe of the Danites, whose name was Manoah. And his wife was barren and had no children. [3] And the angel of the LORD appeared to the woman and said to her, “Behold, you are barren and have not borne children, but you shall conceive and bear a son. [4] Therefore be careful and drink no wine or strong drink, and eat nothing unclean, [5] for behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. No razor shall come upon his head, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb, and he shall begin to save Israel from the hand of the Philistines.” [6] Then the woman came and told her husband, “A man of God came to me, and his appearance was like the appearance of the angel of God, very awesome. I did not ask him where he was from, and he did not tell me his name, [7] but he said to me, ‘Behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. So then drink no wine or strong drink, and eat nothing unclean, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb to the day of his death.’”

[8] Then Manoah prayed to the LORD and said, “O Lord, please let the man of God whom you sent come again to us and teach us what we are to do with the child who will be born.” [9] And God listened to the voice of Manoah, and the angel of God came again to the woman as she sat in the field. But Manoah her husband was not with her. [10] So the woman ran quickly and told her husband, “Behold, the man who came to me the other day has appeared to me.” [11] And Manoah arose and went after his wife and came to the man and said to him, “Are you the man who spoke to this woman?” And he said, “I am.” [12] And Manoah said, “Now when your words come true, what is to be the child’s manner of life, and what is his mission?” [13] And the angel of the LORD said to Manoah, “Of all that I said to the woman let her be careful. [14] She may not eat of anything that comes from the vine, neither let her drink wine or strong drink, or eat any unclean thing. All that I commanded her let her observe.”

[15] Manoah said to the angel of the LORD, “Please let us detain you and prepare a young goat for you.” [16] And the angel of the LORD said to Manoah, “If you detain me, I will not eat of your food. But if you prepare a burnt offering, then offer it to the LORD.” (For Manoah did not know that he was the angel of the LORD.) [17] And Manoah said to the angel of the LORD, “What is your name, so that, when your words come true, we may honor you?” [18] And the angel of the LORD said to him, “Why do you ask my name, seeing it is wonderful?” [19] So Manoah took the young goat with the grain offering, and offered it on the rock to the LORD, to the one who works wonders, and Manoah and his wife were watching. [20] And when the flame went up toward heaven from the altar, the angel of the LORD went up in the flame of the altar. Now Manoah and his wife were watching, and they fell on their faces to the ground.

[21] The angel of the LORD appeared no more to Manoah and to his wife. Then Manoah knew that he was the angel of the LORD. [22] And Manoah said to his wife, “We shall surely die, for we have seen God.” [23] But his wife said to him, “If the LORD had meant to kill us, he would not have accepted a burnt offering and a grain offering at our hands, or shown us all these things, or now announced to us such things as these.” [24] And the woman bore a son and called his name Samson. And the young man grew, and the LORD blessed him. [25] And the Spirit of the LORD began to stir him in Mahaneh-dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.

Judges 14

Samson’s Marriage

[1] Samson went down to Timnah, and at Timnah he saw one of the daughters of the Philistines. [2] Then he came up and told his father and mother, “I saw one of the daughters of the Philistines at Timnah. Now get her for me as my wife.” [3] But his father and mother said to him, “Is there not a woman among the daughters of your relatives, or among all our people, that you must go to take a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines?” But Samson said to his father, “Get her for me, for she is right in my eyes.”

[4] His father and mother did not know that it was from the LORD, for he was seeking an opportunity against the Philistines. At that time the Philistines ruled over Israel.

[5] Then Samson went down with his father and mother to Timnah, and they came to the vineyards of Timnah. And behold, a young lion came toward him roaring. [6] Then the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon him, and although he had nothing in his hand, he tore the lion in pieces as one tears a young goat. But he did not tell his father or his mother what he had done. [7] Then he went down and talked with the woman, and she was right in Samson’s eyes.

[8] After some days he returned to take her. And he turned aside to see the carcass of the lion, and behold, there was a swarm of bees in the body of the lion, and honey. [9] He scraped it out into his hands and went on, eating as he went. And he came to his father and mother and gave some to them, and they ate. But he did not tell them that he had scraped the honey from the carcass of the lion.

[10] His father went down to the woman, and Samson prepared a feast there, for so the young men used to do. [11] As soon as the people saw him, they brought thirty companions to be with him. [12] And Samson said to them, “Let me now put a riddle to you. If you can tell me what it is, within the seven days of the feast, and find it out, then I will give you thirty linen garments and thirty changes of clothes, [13] but if you cannot tell me what it is, then you shall give me thirty linen garments and thirty changes of clothes.” And they said to him, “Put your riddle, that we may hear it.” [14] And he said to them, 

    “Out of the eater came something to eat.

    Out of the strong came something sweet.”

    And in three days they could not solve the riddle. 

[15] On the fourth day they said to Samson’s wife, “Entice your husband to tell us what the riddle is, lest we burn you and your father’s house with fire. Have you invited us here to impoverish us?” [16] And Samson’s wife wept over him and said, “You only hate me; you do not love me. You have put a riddle to my people, and you have not told me what it is.” And he said to her, “Behold, I have not told my father nor my mother, and shall I tell you?” [17] She wept before him the seven days that their feast lasted, and on the seventh day he told her, because she pressed him hard. Then she told the riddle to her people. [18] And the men of the city said to him on the seventh day before the sun went down, 

    “What is sweeter than honey?

    What is stronger than a lion?”

    And he said to them, 

    “If you had not plowed with my heifer,

    you would not have found out my riddle.”

    [19] And the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon him, and he went down to Ashkelon and struck down thirty men of the town and took their spoil and gave the garments to those who had told the riddle. In hot anger he went back to his father’s house. [20] And Samson’s wife was given to his companion, who had been his best man.

Judges 15

Samson Defeats the Philistines

[1] After some days, at the time of wheat harvest, Samson went to visit his wife with a young goat. And he said, “I will go in to my wife in the chamber.” But her father would not allow him to go in. [2] And her father said, “I really thought that you utterly hated her, so I gave her to your companion. Is not her younger sister more beautiful than she? Please take her instead.” [3] And Samson said to them, “This time I shall be innocent in regard to the Philistines, when I do them harm.” [4] So Samson went and caught 300 foxes and took torches. And he turned them tail to tail and put a torch between each pair of tails. [5] And when he had set fire to the torches, he let the foxes go into the standing grain of the Philistines and set fire to the stacked grain and the standing grain, as well as the olive orchards. [6] Then the Philistines said, “Who has done this?” And they said, “Samson, the son-in-law of the Timnite, because he has taken his wife and given her to his companion.” And the Philistines came up and burned her and her father with fire. [7] And Samson said to them, “If this is what you do, I swear I will be avenged on you, and after that I will quit.” [8] And he struck them hip and thigh with a great blow, and he went down and stayed in the cleft of the rock of Etam.

[9] Then the Philistines came up and encamped in Judah and made a raid on Lehi. [10] And the men of Judah said, “Why have you come up against us?” They said, “We have come up to bind Samson, to do to him as he did to us.” [11] Then 3,000 men of Judah went down to the cleft of the rock of Etam, and said to Samson, “Do you not know that the Philistines are rulers over us? What then is this that you have done to us?” And he said to them, “As they did to me, so have I done to them.” [12] And they said to him, “We have come down to bind you, that we may give you into the hands of the Philistines.” And Samson said to them, “Swear to me that you will not attack me yourselves.” [13] They said to him, “No; we will only bind you and give you into their hands. We will surely not kill you.” So they bound him with two new ropes and brought him up from the rock.

[14] When he came to Lehi, the Philistines came shouting to meet him. Then the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon him, and the ropes that were on his arms became as flax that has caught fire, and his bonds melted off his hands. [15] And he found a fresh jawbone of a donkey, and put out his hand and took it, and with it he struck 1,000 men. [16] And Samson said, 

    “With the jawbone of a donkey,

        heaps upon heaps,

    with the jawbone of a donkey

        have I struck down a thousand men.”

    [17] As soon as he had finished speaking, he threw away the jawbone out of his hand. And that place was called Ramath-lehi.

[18] And he was very thirsty, and he called upon the LORD and said, “You have granted this great salvation by the hand of your servant, and shall I now die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?” [19] And God split open the hollow place that is at Lehi, and water came out from it. And when he drank, his spirit returned, and he revived. Therefore the name of it was called En-hakkore; it is at Lehi to this day. [20] And he judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years.