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The Blue Letter Bible

Judges 14 :: New Living Translation (NLT)

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Samson’s Riddle

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Unchecked Copy Box Jdg 14:1

Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 14:1 - One day when Samson was in Timnah, one of the Philistine women caught his eye.

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Unchecked Copy Box Jdg 14:2

Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 14:2 - When he returned home, he told his father and mother, “A young Philistine woman in Timnah caught my eye. I want to marry her. Get her for me.”

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Unchecked Copy Box Jdg 14:3

Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 14:3 - His father and mother objected. “Isn’t there even one woman in our tribe or among all the Israelites you could marry?” they asked. “Why must you go to the pagan Philistines to find a wife?”
But Samson told his father, “Get her for me! She looks good to me.”

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Unchecked Copy Box Jdg 14:4

Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 14:4 - His father and mother didn’t realize the LORD was at work in this, creating an opportunity to work against the Philistines, who ruled over Israel at that time.

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Unchecked Copy Box Jdg 14:5

Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 14:5 - As Samson and his parents were going down to Timnah, a young lion suddenly attacked Samson near the vineyards of Timnah.

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Unchecked Copy Box Jdg 14:6

Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 14:6 - At that moment the Spirit of the LORD came powerfully upon him, and he ripped the lion’s jaws apart with his bare hands. He did it as easily as if it were a young goat. But he didn’t tell his father or mother about it.

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Unchecked Copy Box Jdg 14:7

Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 14:7 - When Samson arrived in Timnah, he talked with the woman and was very pleased with her.

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Unchecked Copy Box Jdg 14:8

Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 14:8 - Later, when he returned to Timnah for the wedding, he turned off the path to look at the carcass of the lion. And he found that a swarm of bees had made some honey in the carcass.

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Unchecked Copy Box Jdg 14:9

Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 14:9 - He scooped some of the honey into his hands and ate it along the way. He also gave some to his father and mother, and they ate it. But he didn’t tell them he had taken the honey from the carcass of the lion.

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Unchecked Copy Box Jdg 14:10

Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 14:10 - As his father was making final arrangements for the marriage, Samson threw a party at Timnah, as was the custom for elite young men.

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Unchecked Copy Box Jdg 14:11

Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 14:11 - When the bride’s parents[fn] saw him, they selected thirty young men from the town to be his companions.

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Unchecked Copy Box Jdg 14:12

Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 14:12 - Samson said to them, “Let me tell you a riddle. If you solve my riddle during these seven days of the celebration, I will give you thirty fine linen robes and thirty sets of festive clothing.

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Unchecked Copy Box Jdg 14:13

Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 14:13 - But if you can’t solve it, then you must give me thirty fine linen robes and thirty sets of festive clothing.”
“All right,” they agreed, “let’s hear your riddle.”

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Unchecked Copy Box Jdg 14:14

Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 14:14 - So he said:
“Out of the one who eats came something to eat;
out of the strong came something sweet.” Three days later they were still trying to figure it out.

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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, “Entice your husband to explain the riddle for us, or we will burn down your father’s house with you in it. Did you invite us to this party just to make us poor?”

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Unchecked Copy Box Jdg 14:16

Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 14:16 - So Samson’s wife came to him in tears and said, “You don’t love me; you hate me! You have given my people a riddle, but you haven’t told me the answer.”
“I haven’t even given the answer to my father or mother,” he replied. “Why should I tell you?”

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Unchecked Copy Box Jdg 14:17

Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 14:17 - So she cried whenever she was with him and kept it up for the rest of the celebration. At last, on the seventh day he told her the answer because she was tormenting him with her nagging. Then she explained the riddle to the young men.

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Unchecked Copy Box Jdg 14:18

Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 14:18 - So before sunset of the seventh day, the men of the town came to Samson with their answer:
“What is sweeter than honey?
What is stronger than a lion?” Samson replied, “If you hadn’t plowed with my heifer, you wouldn’t 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 the town of Ashkelon, killed thirty men, took their belongings, and gave their clothing to the men who had solved his riddle. But Samson was furious about what had happened, and he went back home to live with his father and mother.

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Unchecked Copy Box Jdg 14:20

Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 14:20 - So his wife was given in marriage to the man who had been Samson’s best man at the wedding.
See the NLT Preface (Especially for Parenthesis, Brackets, & Asterisks).
NLT Footnotes
Hebrew they.
As in Greek version; Hebrew reads seventh.
NLT

Holy Bible, New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Full copyright information is provided here. Visit the New Living Translation website.

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

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Judges Chapter 14 — Additional Translations:

King James Version New King James Version New International Version 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