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Judges 14 :: New International Version (NIV)

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Samson’s Marriage

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Unchecked Copy Box Jdg 14:1

Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 14:1 - Samson went down to Timnah and saw there a young Philistine woman.

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Unchecked Copy Box Jdg 14:2

Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 14:2 - When he returned, he said to his father and mother, “I have seen a Philistine woman in Timnah; now get her for me as my wife.”

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Unchecked Copy Box Jdg 14:3

Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 14:3 - His father and mother replied, “Isn’t there an acceptable woman among your relatives or among all our people? Must you go to the uncircumcised Philistines to get a wife?” But Samson said to his father, “Get her for me. She’s the right one for me.”

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Unchecked Copy Box Jdg 14:4

Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 14:4 - (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.)

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Unchecked Copy Box Jdg 14:5

Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 14:5 - Samson 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.

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Unchecked Copy Box Jdg 14:6

Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 14:6 - The 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.

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Unchecked Copy Box Jdg 14:7

Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 14:7 - Then he went down and talked with the woman, and he liked her.

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Unchecked Copy Box Jdg 14:8

Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 14:8 - Some time later, when he went back to marry her, he turned aside to look at the lion’s carcass, and in it he saw a swarm of bees and some honey.

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Unchecked Copy Box Jdg 14:9

Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 14:9 - He 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’s carcass.

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Unchecked Copy Box Jdg 14:10

Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 14:10 - Now his father went down to see the woman. And there Samson held a feast, as was customary for young men.

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Unchecked Copy Box Jdg 14:11

Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 14:11 - When the people saw him, they chose thirty men to be his companions.

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Unchecked Copy Box Jdg 14:12

Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 14:12 - “Let me tell you a riddle,” Samson said to them. “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.

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Unchecked Copy Box Jdg 14:13

Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 14:13 - If you can’t tell me the answer, you must give me thirty linen garments and thirty sets of clothes.” “Tell us your riddle,” they said. “Let’s hear it.”

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Unchecked Copy Box Jdg 14:14

Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 14:14 - He replied, “Out of the eater, something to eat; out of the strong, something sweet.” For three days they could not give the answer.

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Unchecked Copy Box Jdg 14:15

Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 14:15 - On the fourth[fn] day, they said to Samson’s wife, “Coax your husband into explaining the riddle for us, or we will burn you and your father’s household to death. Did you invite us here to steal our property?”

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Unchecked Copy Box Jdg 14:16

Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 14:16 - Then Samson’s wife threw herself on him, sobbing, “You hate me! You don’t really love me. You’ve given my people a riddle, but you haven’t told me the answer.” “I haven’t even explained it to my father or mother,” he replied, “so why should I explain it to you?”

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Unchecked Copy Box Jdg 14:17

Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 14:17 - She 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.

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Unchecked Copy Box Jdg 14:18

Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 14:18 - Before sunset on the seventh day the men of the town said to him, “What is sweeter than honey? What is stronger than a lion?” Samson said to them, “If you had not plowed with my heifer, you would not have solved my riddle.”

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Unchecked Copy Box Jdg 14:19

Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 14:19 - Then 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’s home.

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Unchecked Copy Box Jdg 14:20

Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 14:20 - And Samson’s wife was given to one of his companions who had attended him at the feast.
See the NIV Preface (Especially for Parenthesis, Brackets, & Asterisks).
NIV Footnotes
Some Septuagint manuscripts and Syriac; Hebrew seventh
NIV

HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV®
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.
Used with permission. All rights reserved worldwide.


See detailed copyright information.

For more information on this translation, see the NIV Preface.

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Judges Chapter 14 — Additional Translations:

King James Version New King James Version New Living Translation English Standard Version Christian Standard Bible New American Standard Bible 2020 New American Standard Bible 1995 Legacy Standard Bible Amplified Bible New English Translation Revised Standard Version American Standard Version Young's Literal Translation Darby Translation Webster's Bible Hebrew Names Version Latin Vulgate Westminster Leningrad Codex Septuagint Smith Van Dyck Arabic Bible Open New Arabic Version Brenton's English Septuagint Reina Valera 1909 Reina-Valera 1960 Bible in Basic English Chinese Traditional Union Espanol Moderno Korean Holy Bible Louis Segond German Luther Russian Synodal Translation Sagradas Escrituras