Chapter 4<\/h4>

1<\/small><\/span> Therefore when the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John<\/p>

2<\/small><\/span> (although Jesus Himself was not baptizing, but His disciples were),<\/p>

3<\/small><\/span> He left Judea and went away again into Galilee.<\/p>

4<\/small><\/span> And He had to pass through Samaria.<\/p>

5<\/small><\/span> So He *came to a city of Samaria called Sychar, near the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph;<\/p>

6<\/small><\/span> and Jacob's well was there. So Jesus, being wearied from His journey, was sitting thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour.<\/p>

7<\/small><\/span> There *came a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus *said to her, \"Give Me a drink.\"<\/p>

8<\/small><\/span> For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.<\/p>

9<\/small><\/span> Therefore the Samaritan woman *said to Him, \"How is it that You, being a Jew, ask me for a drink since I am a Samaritan woman?\" (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.)<\/p>

10<\/small><\/span> Jesus answered and said to her, \"If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, 'Give Me a drink,' you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.\"<\/p>

11<\/small><\/span> She *said to Him, \"Sir, You have nothing to draw with and the well is deep; where then do You get that living water?<\/p>

12<\/small><\/span> \"You are not greater than our father Jacob, are You, who gave us the well, and drank of it himself and his sons and his cattle?\"<\/p>

13<\/small><\/span> Jesus answered and said to her, \"Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again;<\/p>

14<\/small><\/span> but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.\"<\/p>

15<\/small><\/span> The woman *said to Him, \"Sir, give me this water, so I will not be thirsty nor come all the way here to draw.\"<\/p>

16<\/small><\/span> He *said to her, \"Go, call your husband and come here.\"<\/p>

17<\/small><\/span> The woman answered and said, \"I have no husband.\" Jesus *said to her, \"You have correctly said, 'I have no husband';<\/p>

18<\/small><\/span> for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; this you have said truly.\"<\/p>

19<\/small><\/span> The woman *said to Him, \"Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet.<\/p>

20<\/small><\/span> \"Our fathers worshiped in this mountain, and you people say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.\"<\/p>

21<\/small><\/span> Jesus *said to her, \"Woman, believe Me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father.<\/p>

22<\/small><\/span> \"You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews.<\/p>

23<\/small><\/span> \"But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers.<\/p>

24<\/small><\/span> \"God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.\"<\/p>

25<\/small><\/span> The woman *said to Him, \"I know that Messiah is coming (He who is called Christ); when that One comes, He will declare all things to us.\"<\/p>

26<\/small><\/span> Jesus *said to her, \"I who speak to you am He.\"<\/p>

27<\/small><\/span> At this point His disciples came, and they were amazed that He had been speaking with a woman, yet no one said, \"What do You seek?\" or, \"Why do You speak with her?\"<\/p>

28<\/small><\/span> So the woman left her waterpot, and went into the city and *said to the men,<\/p>

29<\/small><\/span> \"Come, see a man who told me all the things that I have done; this is not the Christ, is it?\"<\/p>

30<\/small><\/span> They went out of the city, and were coming to Him.<\/p>

31<\/small><\/span> Meanwhile the disciples were urging Him, saying, \"Rabbi, eat.\"<\/p>

32<\/small><\/span> But He said to them, \"I have food to eat that you do not know about.\"<\/p>

33<\/small><\/span> So the disciples were saying to one another, \"No one brought Him anything to eat, did he?\"<\/p>

34<\/small><\/span> Jesus *said to them, \"My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work.<\/p>

35<\/small><\/span> \"Do you not say, 'There are yet four months, and then comes the harvest'? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields, that they are white for harvest.<\/p>

36<\/small><\/span> \"Already he who reaps is receiving wages and is gathering fruit for life eternal; so that he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together.<\/p>

37<\/small><\/span> \"For in this case the saying is true, 'One sows and another reaps.'<\/p>

38<\/small><\/span> \"I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored and you have entered into their labor.\"<\/p>

39<\/small><\/span> From that city many of the Samaritans believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, \"He told me all the things that I have done.\"<\/p>

40<\/small><\/span> So when the Samaritans came to Jesus, they were asking Him to stay with them; and He stayed there two days.<\/p>

41<\/small><\/span> Many more believed because of His word;<\/p>

42<\/small><\/span> and they were saying to the woman, \"It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves and know that this One is indeed the Savior of the world.\"<\/p><\/div>\n

Translation: NASB<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

#9: Jochebed (Moses\u2019 Mother)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Exodus 2:1-10<\/p>\n

Chapter 2<\/h4>

1<\/small><\/span> Now a man from the house of Levi went and married a daughter of Levi.<\/p>

2<\/small><\/span> The woman conceived and bore a son; and when she saw that he was beautiful, she hid him for three months.<\/p>

3<\/small><\/span> But when she could hide him no longer, she got him a wicker basket and covered it over with tar and pitch. Then she put the child into it and set it among the reeds by the bank of the Nile.<\/p>

4<\/small><\/span> His sister stood at a distance to find out what would happen to him.<\/p>

5<\/small><\/span> The daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the Nile, with her maidens walking alongside the Nile; and she saw the basket among the reeds and sent her maid, and she brought it to her.<\/p>

6<\/small><\/span> When she opened it, she saw the child, and behold, the boy was crying. And she had pity on him and said, \"This is one of the Hebrews' children.\"<\/p>

7<\/small><\/span> Then his sister said to Pharaoh's daughter, \"Shall I go and call a nurse for you from the Hebrew women that she may nurse the child for you?\"<\/p>

8<\/small><\/span> Pharaoh's daughter said to her, \"Go ahead.\" So the girl went and called the child's mother.<\/p>

9<\/small><\/span> Then Pharaoh's daughter said to her, \"Take this child away and nurse him for me and I will give you your wages.\" So the woman took the child and nursed him.<\/p>

10<\/small><\/span> The child grew, and she brought him to Pharaoh's daughter and he became her son. And she named him Moses, and said, \"Because I drew him out of the water.\"<\/p><\/div>\n

Translation: NASB<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

#8: The Woman Who Had Faith To Touch Jesus And Be Healed<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mark 5:21-34<\/p>\n

Chapter 5<\/h4>

21<\/small><\/span> When Jesus had crossed over again in the boat to the other side, a large crowd gathered around Him; and so He stayed by the seashore.<\/p>

22<\/small><\/span> One of the synagogue officials named Jairus *came up, and on seeing Him, *fell at His feet<\/p>

23<\/small><\/span> and *implored Him earnestly, saying, \"My little daughter is at the point of death; please come and lay Your hands on her, so that she will get well and live.\"<\/p>

24<\/small><\/span> And He went off with him; and a large crowd was following Him and pressing in on Him.<\/p>

25<\/small><\/span> A woman who had had a hemorrhage for twelve years,<\/p>

26<\/small><\/span> and had endured much at the hands of many physicians, and had spent all that she had and was not helped at all, but rather had grown worse--<\/p>

27<\/small><\/span> after hearing about Jesus, she came up in the crowd behind Him and touched His cloak.<\/p>

28<\/small><\/span> For she thought, \"If I just touch His garments, I will get well.\"<\/p>

29<\/small><\/span> Immediately the flow of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her affliction.<\/p>

30<\/small><\/span> Immediately Jesus, perceiving in Himself that the power proceeding from Him had gone forth, turned around in the crowd and said, \"Who touched My garments?\"<\/p>

31<\/small><\/span> And His disciples said to Him, \"You see the crowd pressing in on You, and You say, 'Who touched Me?'\"<\/p>

32<\/small><\/span> And He looked around to see the woman who had done this.<\/p>

33<\/small><\/span> But the woman fearing and trembling, aware of what had happened to her, came and fell down before Him and told Him the whole truth.<\/p>

34<\/small><\/span> And He said to her, \"Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace and be healed of your affliction.\"<\/p><\/div>\n

Translation: NASB<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

#7: Rahab The Prostitute<\/strong><\/p>\n

Joshua 2:1-24<\/p>\n

Chapter 2<\/h4>

1<\/small><\/span> Then Joshua the son of Nun sent two men as spies secretly from Shittim, saying, \"Go, view the land, especially Jericho.\" So they went and came into the house of a harlot whose name was Rahab, and lodged there.<\/p>

2<\/small><\/span> It was told the king of Jericho, saying, \"Behold, men from the sons of Israel have come here tonight to search out the land.\"<\/p>

3<\/small><\/span> And the king of Jericho sent word to Rahab, saying, \"Bring out the men who have come to you, who have entered your house, for they have come to search out all the land.\"<\/p>

4<\/small><\/span> But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them, and she said, \"Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they were from.<\/p>

5<\/small><\/span> \"It came about when it was time to shut the gate at dark, that the men went out; I do not know where the men went. Pursue them quickly, for you will overtake them.\"<\/p>

6<\/small><\/span> But she had brought them up to the roof and hidden them in the stalks of flax which she had laid in order on the roof.<\/p>

7<\/small><\/span> So the men pursued them on the road to the Jordan to the fords; and as soon as those who were pursuing them had gone out, they shut the gate.<\/p>

8<\/small><\/span> Now before they lay down, she came up to them on the roof,<\/p>

9<\/small><\/span> and said to the men, \"I know that the LORD has given you the land, and that the terror of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land have melted away before you.<\/p>

10<\/small><\/span> \"For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed.<\/p>

11<\/small><\/span> \"When we heard it, our hearts melted and no courage remained in any man any longer because of you; for the LORD your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath.<\/p>

12<\/small><\/span> \"Now therefore, please swear to me by the LORD, since I have dealt kindly with you, that you also will deal kindly with my father's household, and give me a pledge of truth,<\/p>

13<\/small><\/span> and spare my father and my mother and my brothers and my sisters, with all who belong to them, and deliver our lives from death.\"<\/p>

14<\/small><\/span> So the men said to her, \"Our life for yours if you do not tell this business of ours; and it shall come about when the LORD gives us the land that we will deal kindly and faithfully with you.\"<\/p>

15<\/small><\/span> Then she let them down by a rope through the window, for her house was on the city wall, so that she was living on the wall.<\/p>

16<\/small><\/span> She said to them, \"Go to the hill country, so that the pursuers will not happen upon you, and hide yourselves there for three days until the pursuers return. Then afterward you may go on your way.\"<\/p>

17<\/small><\/span> The men said to her, \"We shall be free from this oath to you which you have made us swear,<\/p>

18<\/small><\/span> unless, when we come into the land, you tie this cord of scarlet thread in the window through which you let us down, and gather to yourself into the house your father and your mother and your brothers and all your father's household.<\/p>

19<\/small><\/span> \"It shall come about that anyone who goes out of the doors of your house into the street, his blood shall be on his own head, and we shall be free; but anyone who is with you in the house, his blood shall be on our head if a hand is laid on him.<\/p>

20<\/small><\/span> \"But if you tell this business of ours, then we shall be free from the oath which you have made us swear.\"<\/p>

21<\/small><\/span> She said, \"According to your words, so be it.\" So she sent them away, and they departed; and she tied the scarlet cord in the window.<\/p>

22<\/small><\/span> They departed and came to the hill country, and remained there for three days until the pursuers returned. Now the pursuers had sought them all along the road, but had not found them.<\/p>

23<\/small><\/span> Then the two men returned and came down from the hill country and crossed over and came to Joshua the son of Nun, and they related to him all that had happened to them.<\/p>

24<\/small><\/span> They said to Joshua, \"Surely the LORD has given all the land into our hands; moreover, all the inhabitants of the land have melted away before us.\"<\/p><\/div>\n

Translation: NASB<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

#6: The Team Of Ruth\/Naomi<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ruth 1:1-22<\/p>\n

Chapter 1<\/h4>

1<\/small><\/span> Now it came about in the days when the judges governed, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Bethlehem in Judah went to sojourn in the land of Moab with his wife and his two sons.<\/p>

2<\/small><\/span> The name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife, Naomi; and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion, Ephrathites of Bethlehem in Judah. Now they entered the land of Moab and remained there.<\/p>

3<\/small><\/span> Then Elimelech, Naomi's husband, died; and she was left with her two sons.<\/p>

4<\/small><\/span> They took for themselves Moabite women as wives; the name of the one was Orpah and the name of the other Ruth. And they lived there about ten years.<\/p>

5<\/small><\/span> Then both Mahlon and Chilion also died, and the woman was bereft of her two children and her husband.<\/p>

6<\/small><\/span> Then she arose with her daughters-in-law that she might return from the land of Moab, for she had heard in the land of Moab that the LORD had visited His people in giving them food.<\/p>

7<\/small><\/span> So she departed from the place where she was, and her two daughters-in-law with her; and they went on the way to return to the land of Judah.<\/p>

8<\/small><\/span> And Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, \"Go, return each of you to her mother's house. May the LORD deal kindly with you as you have dealt with the dead and with me.<\/p>

9<\/small><\/span> \"May the LORD grant that you may find rest, each in the house of her husband.\" Then she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices and wept.<\/p>

10<\/small><\/span> And they said to her, \"No, but we will surely return with you to your people.\"<\/p>

11<\/small><\/span> But Naomi said, \"Return, my daughters. Why should you go with me? Have I yet sons in my womb, that they may be your husbands?<\/p>

12<\/small><\/span> \"Return, my daughters! Go, for I am too old to have a husband. If I said I have hope, if I should even have a husband tonight and also bear sons,<\/p>

13<\/small><\/span> would you therefore wait until they were grown? Would you therefore refrain from marrying? No, my daughters; for it is harder for me than for you, for the hand of the LORD has gone forth against me.\"<\/p>

14<\/small><\/span> And they lifted up their voices and wept again; and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her.<\/p>

15<\/small><\/span> Then she said, \"Behold, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and her gods; return after your sister-in-law.\"<\/p>

16<\/small><\/span> But Ruth said, \"Do not urge me to leave you or turn back from following you; for where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God.<\/p>

17<\/small><\/span> \"Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. Thus may the LORD do to me, and worse, if anything but death parts you and me.\"<\/p>

18<\/small><\/span> When she saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more to her.<\/p>

19<\/small><\/span> So they both went until they came to Bethlehem. And when they had come to Bethlehem, all the city was stirred because of them, and the women said, \"Is this Naomi?\"<\/p>

20<\/small><\/span> She said to them, \"Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me.<\/p>

21<\/small><\/span> \"I went out full, but the LORD has brought me back empty. Why do you call me Naomi, since the LORD has witnessed against me and the Almighty has afflicted me?\"<\/p>

22<\/small><\/span> So Naomi returned, and with her Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter-in-law, who returned from the land of Moab. And they came to Bethlehem at the beginning of barley harvest.<\/p><\/div>\n

Translation: NASB<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Strong Women\u00a0Honorable Mentions:<\/strong><\/p>\n

In addition to telling the story of these wonderfully strong women, the Bible also includes the stories of some women who were strong but so bad that their names have become synonymous with evil.\u00a0 Here are three such women we didn\u2019t dare include on the same list as the strong women of the faith:<\/p>\n

Jezebel<\/strong><\/p>\n

1 Kings 18:1-15<\/p>\n

Chapter 18<\/h4>

1<\/small><\/span> Now it happened after many days that the word of the LORD came to Elijah in the third year, saying, \"Go, show yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the face of the earth.\"<\/p>

2<\/small><\/span> So Elijah went to show himself to Ahab. Now the famine was severe in Samaria.<\/p>

3<\/small><\/span> Ahab called Obadiah who was over the household. (Now Obadiah feared the LORD greatly;<\/p>

4<\/small><\/span> for when Jezebel destroyed the prophets of the LORD, Obadiah took a hundred prophets and hid them by fifties in a cave, and provided them with bread and water.)<\/p>

5<\/small><\/span> Then Ahab said to Obadiah, \"Go through the land to all the springs of water and to all the valleys; perhaps we will find grass and keep the horses and mules alive, and not have to kill some of the cattle.\"<\/p>

6<\/small><\/span> So they divided the land between them to survey it; Ahab went one way by himself and Obadiah went another way by himself.<\/p>

7<\/small><\/span> Now as Obadiah was on the way, behold, Elijah met him, and he recognized him and fell on his face and said, \"Is this you, Elijah my master?\"<\/p>

8<\/small><\/span> He said to him, \"It is I. Go, say to your master, 'Behold, Elijah is here.'\"<\/p>

9<\/small><\/span> He said, \"What sin have I committed, that you are giving your servant into the hand of Ahab to put me to death?<\/p>

10<\/small><\/span> \"As the LORD your God lives, there is no nation or kingdom where my master has not sent to search for you; and when they said, 'He is not here,' he made the kingdom or nation swear that they could not find you.<\/p>

11<\/small><\/span> \"And now you are saying, 'Go, say to your master, \"Behold, Elijah is here.\"'<\/p>

12<\/small><\/span> \"It will come about when I leave you that the Spirit of the LORD will carry you where I do not know; so when I come and tell Ahab and he cannot find you, he will kill me, although I your servant have feared the LORD from my youth.<\/p>

13<\/small><\/span> \"Has it not been told to my master what I did when Jezebel killed the prophets of the LORD, that I hid a hundred prophets of the LORD by fifties in a cave, and provided them with bread and water?<\/p>

14<\/small><\/span> \"And now you are saying, 'Go, say to your master, \"Behold, Elijah is here\"'; he will then kill me.\"<\/p>

15<\/small><\/span> Elijah said, \"As the LORD of hosts lives, before whom I stand, I will surely show myself to him today.\"<\/p><\/div>\n

Translation: NASB<\/em><\/p>\n

Delilah<\/strong><\/p>\n

Judges 16:1-31<\/p>\n

Chapter 16<\/h4>

1<\/small><\/span> Now Samson went to Gaza and saw a harlot there, and went in to her.<\/p>

2<\/small><\/span> When it was told to the Gazites, saying, \"Samson has come here,\" they surrounded the place and lay in wait for him all night at the gate of the city. And they kept silent all night, saying, \"Let us wait until the morning light, then we will kill him.\"<\/p>

3<\/small><\/span> Now Samson lay until midnight, and at midnight he arose and took hold of the doors of the city gate and the two posts and pulled them up along with the bars; then he put them on his shoulders and carried them up to the top of the mountain which is opposite Hebron.<\/p>

4<\/small><\/span> After this it came about that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah.<\/p>

5<\/small><\/span> The lords of the Philistines came up to her and said to her, \"Entice him, and see where his great strength lies and how we may overpower him that we may bind him to afflict him. Then we will each give you eleven hundred pieces of silver.\"<\/p>

6<\/small><\/span> So Delilah said to Samson, \"Please tell me where your great strength is and how you may be bound to afflict you.\"<\/p>

7<\/small><\/span> Samson said to her, \"If they bind me with seven fresh cords that have not been dried, then I will become weak and be like any other man.\"<\/p>

8<\/small><\/span> Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven fresh cords that had not been dried, and she bound him with them.<\/p>

9<\/small><\/span> Now she had men lying in wait in an inner room. And she said to him, \"The Philistines are upon you, Samson!\" But he snapped the cords as a string of tow snaps when it touches fire. So his strength was not discovered.<\/p>

10<\/small><\/span> Then Delilah said to Samson, \"Behold, you have deceived me and told me lies; now please tell me how you may be bound.\"<\/p>

11<\/small><\/span> He said to her, \"If they bind me tightly with new ropes which have not been used, then I will become weak and be like any other man.\"<\/p>

12<\/small><\/span> So Delilah took new ropes and bound him with them and said to him, \"The Philistines are upon you, Samson!\" For the men were lying in wait in the inner room. But he snapped the ropes from his arms like a thread.<\/p>

13<\/small><\/span> Then Delilah said to Samson, \"Up to now you have deceived me and told me lies; tell me how you may be bound.\" And he said to her, \"If you weave the seven locks of my hair with the web [and fasten it with a pin, then I will become weak and be like any other man.\"<\/p>

14<\/small><\/span> So while he slept, Delilah took the seven locks of his hair and wove them into the web]. And she fastened it with the pin and said to him, \"The Philistines are upon you, Samson!\" But he awoke from his sleep and pulled out the pin of the loom and the web.<\/p>

15<\/small><\/span> Then she said to him, \"How can you say, 'I love you,' when your heart is not with me? You have deceived me these three times and have not told me where your great strength is.\"<\/p>

16<\/small><\/span> It came about when she pressed him daily with her words and urged him, that his soul was annoyed to death.<\/p>

17<\/small><\/span> So he told her all that was in his heart and said to her, \"A razor has never come on my head, for I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother's womb. If I am shaved, then my strength will leave me and I will become weak and be like any other man.\"<\/p>

18<\/small><\/span> When Delilah saw that he had told her all that was in his heart, she sent and called the lords of the Philistines, saying, \"Come up once more, for he has told me all that is in his heart.\" Then the lords of the Philistines came up to her and brought the money in their hands.<\/p>

19<\/small><\/span> She made him sleep on her knees, and called for a man and had him shave off the seven locks of his hair. Then she began to afflict him, and his strength left him.<\/p>

20<\/small><\/span> She said, \"The Philistines are upon you, Samson!\" And he awoke from his sleep and said, \"I will go out as at other times and shake myself free.\" But he did not know that the LORD had departed from him.<\/p>

21<\/small><\/span> Then the Philistines seized him and gouged out his eyes; and they brought him down to Gaza and bound him with bronze chains, and he was a grinder in the prison.<\/p>

22<\/small><\/span> However, the hair of his head began to grow again after it was shaved off.<\/p>

23<\/small><\/span> Now the lords of the Philistines assembled to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god, and to rejoice, for they said, \"Our god has given Samson our enemy into our hands.\"<\/p>

24<\/small><\/span> When the people saw him, they praised their god, for they said, \"Our god has given our enemy into our hands, Even the destroyer of our country, Who has slain many of us.\"<\/p>

25<\/small><\/span> It so happened when they were in high spirits, that they said, \"Call for Samson, that he may amuse us.\" So they called for Samson from the prison, and he entertained them. And they made him stand between the pillars.<\/p>

26<\/small><\/span> Then Samson said to the boy who was holding his hand, \"Let me feel the pillars on which the house rests, that I may lean against them.\"<\/p>

27<\/small><\/span> Now the house was full of men and women, and all the lords of the Philistines were there. And about 3,000 men and women were on the roof looking on while Samson was amusing them.<\/p>

28<\/small><\/span> Then Samson called to the LORD and said, \"O Lord GOD, please remember me and please strengthen me just this time, O God, that I may at once be avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes.\"<\/p>

29<\/small><\/span> Samson grasped the two middle pillars on which the house rested, and braced himself against them, the one with his right hand and the other with his left.<\/p>

30<\/small><\/span> And Samson said, \"Let me die with the Philistines!\" And he bent with all his might so that the house fell on the lords and all the people who were in it. So the dead whom he killed at his death were more than those whom he killed in his life.<\/p>

31<\/small><\/span> Then his brothers and all his father's household came down, took him, brought him up and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of Manoah his father. Thus he had judged Israel twenty years.<\/p><\/div>\n

Translation: NASB<\/em><\/p>\n

Herodias (Herod’s\u00a0brother’s\u00a0wife)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Matthew 14:1-12<\/p>\n

Chapter 14<\/h4>

1<\/small><\/span> At that time Herod the tetrarch heard the news about Jesus,<\/p>

2<\/small><\/span> and said to his servants, \"This is John the Baptist; he has risen from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in him.\"<\/p>

3<\/small><\/span> For when Herod had John arrested, he bound him and put him in prison because of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip.<\/p>

4<\/small><\/span> For John had been saying to him, \"It is not lawful for you to have her.\"<\/p>

5<\/small><\/span> Although Herod wanted to put him to death, he feared the crowd, because they regarded John as a prophet.<\/p>

6<\/small><\/span> But when Herod's birthday came, the daughter of Herodias danced before them and pleased Herod,<\/p>

7<\/small><\/span> so much that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked.<\/p>

8<\/small><\/span> Having been prompted by her mother, she *said, \"Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist.\"<\/p>

9<\/small><\/span> Although he was grieved, the king commanded it to be given because of his oaths, and because of his dinner guests.<\/p>

10<\/small><\/span> He sent and had John beheaded in the prison.<\/p>

11<\/small><\/span> And his head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she brought it to her mother.<\/p>

12<\/small><\/span> His disciples came and took away the body and buried it; and they went and reported to Jesus.<\/p><\/div>\n

Translation: NASB<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

#5: Deborah<\/strong><\/p>\n

Judges 4:1-23<\/p>\n

Chapter 4<\/h4>

1<\/small><\/span> Then the sons of Israel again did evil in the sight of the LORD, after Ehud died.<\/p>

2<\/small><\/span> And the LORD sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor; and the commander of his army was Sisera, who lived in Harosheth-hagoyim.<\/p>

3<\/small><\/span> The sons of Israel cried to the LORD; for he had nine hundred iron chariots, and he oppressed the sons of Israel severely for twenty years.<\/p>

4<\/small><\/span> Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel at that time.<\/p>

5<\/small><\/span> She used to sit under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim; and the sons of Israel came up to her for judgment.<\/p>

6<\/small><\/span> Now she sent and summoned Barak the son of Abinoam from Kedesh-naphtali, and said to him, \"Behold, the LORD, the God of Israel, has commanded, 'Go and march to Mount Tabor, and take with you ten thousand men from the sons of Naphtali and from the sons of Zebulun.<\/p>

7<\/small><\/span> 'I will draw out to you Sisera, the commander of Jabin's army, with his chariots and his many troops to the river Kishon, and I will give him into your hand.'\"<\/p>

8<\/small><\/span> Then Barak said to her, \"If you will go with me, then I will go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go.\"<\/p>

9<\/small><\/span> She said, \"I will surely go with you; nevertheless, the honor shall not be yours on the journey that you are about to take, for the LORD will sell Sisera into the hands of a woman.\" Then Deborah arose and went with Barak to Kedesh.<\/p>

10<\/small><\/span> Barak called Zebulun and Naphtali together to Kedesh, and ten thousand men went up with him; Deborah also went up with him.<\/p>

11<\/small><\/span> Now Heber the Kenite had separated himself from the Kenites, from the sons of Hobab the father-in-law of Moses, and had pitched his tent as far away as the oak in Zaanannim, which is near Kedesh.<\/p>

12<\/small><\/span> Then they told Sisera that Barak the son of Abinoam had gone up to Mount Tabor.<\/p>

13<\/small><\/span> Sisera called together all his chariots, nine hundred iron chariots, and all the people who were with him, from Harosheth-hagoyim to the river Kishon.<\/p>

14<\/small><\/span> Deborah said to Barak, \"Arise! For this is the day in which the LORD has given Sisera into your hands; behold, the LORD has gone out before you.\" So Barak went down from Mount Tabor with ten thousand men following him.<\/p>

15<\/small><\/span> The LORD routed Sisera and all his chariots and all his army with the edge of the sword before Barak; and Sisera alighted from his chariot and fled away on foot.<\/p>

16<\/small><\/span> But Barak pursued the chariots and the army as far as Harosheth-hagoyim, and all the army of Sisera fell by the edge of the sword; not even one was left.<\/p>

17<\/small><\/span> Now Sisera fled away on foot to the tent of Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite, for there was peace between Jabin the king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite.<\/p>

18<\/small><\/span> Jael went out to meet Sisera, and said to him, \"Turn aside, my master, turn aside to me! Do not be afraid.\" And he turned aside to her into the tent, and she covered him with a rug.<\/p>

19<\/small><\/span> He said to her, \"Please give me a little water to drink, for I am thirsty.\" So she opened a bottle of milk and gave him a drink; then she covered him.<\/p>

20<\/small><\/span> He said to her, \"Stand in the doorway of the tent, and it shall be if anyone comes and inquires of you, and says, 'Is there anyone here?' that you shall say, 'No.'\"<\/p>

21<\/small><\/span> But Jael, Heber's wife, took a tent peg and seized a hammer in her hand, and went secretly to him and drove the peg into his temple, and it went through into the ground; for he was sound asleep and exhausted. So he died.<\/p>

22<\/small><\/span> And behold, as Barak pursued Sisera, Jael came out to meet him and said to him, \"Come, and I will show you the man whom you are seeking.\" And he entered with her, and behold Sisera was lying dead with the tent peg in his temple.<\/p>

23<\/small><\/span> So God subdued on that day Jabin the king of Canaan before the sons of Israel.<\/p><\/div>\n

Translation: NASB<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

#4: Abigail<\/strong><\/p>\n

1 Samuel 25:1-44<\/p>\n

Chapter 25<\/h4>

1<\/small><\/span> Then Samuel died; and all Israel gathered together and mourned for him, and buried him at his house in Ramah. And David arose and went down to the wilderness of Paran.<\/p>

2<\/small><\/span> Now there was a man in Maon whose business was in Carmel; and the man was very rich, and he had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats. And it came about while he was shearing his sheep in Carmel<\/p>

3<\/small><\/span> (now the man's name was Nabal, and his wife's name was Abigail. And the woman was intelligent and beautiful in appearance, but the man was harsh and evil in his dealings, and he was a Calebite),<\/p>

4<\/small><\/span> that David heard in the wilderness that Nabal was shearing his sheep.<\/p>

5<\/small><\/span> So David sent ten young men; and David said to the young men, \"Go up to Carmel, visit Nabal and greet him in my name;<\/p>

6<\/small><\/span> and thus you shall say, 'Have a long life, peace be to you, and peace be to your house, and peace be to all that you have.<\/p>

7<\/small><\/span> 'Now I have heard that you have shearers; now your shepherds have been with us and we have not insulted them, nor have they missed anything all the days they were in Carmel.<\/p>

8<\/small><\/span> 'Ask your young men and they will tell you. Therefore let my young men find favor in your eyes, for we have come on a festive day. Please give whatever you find at hand to your servants and to your son David.'\"<\/p>

9<\/small><\/span> When David's young men came, they spoke to Nabal according to all these words in David's name; then they waited.<\/p>

10<\/small><\/span> But Nabal answered David's servants and said, \"Who is David? And who is the son of Jesse? There are many servants today who are each breaking away from his master.<\/p>

11<\/small><\/span> \"Shall I then take my bread and my water and my meat that I have slaughtered for my shearers, and give it to men whose origin I do not know?\"<\/p>

12<\/small><\/span> So David's young men retraced their way and went back; and they came and told him according to all these words.<\/p>

13<\/small><\/span> David said to his men, \"Each of you gird on his sword.\" So each man girded on his sword. And David also girded on his sword, and about four hundred men went up behind David while two hundred stayed with the baggage.<\/p>

14<\/small><\/span> But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal's wife, saying, \"Behold, David sent messengers from the wilderness to greet our master, and he scorned them.<\/p>

15<\/small><\/span> \"Yet the men were very good to us, and we were not insulted, nor did we miss anything as long as we went about with them, while we were in the fields.<\/p>

16<\/small><\/span> \"They were a wall to us both by night and by day, all the time we were with them tending the sheep.<\/p>

17<\/small><\/span> \"Now therefore, know and consider what you should do, for evil is plotted against our master and against all his household; and he is such a worthless man that no one can speak to him.\"<\/p>

18<\/small><\/span> Then Abigail hurried and took two hundred loaves of bread and two jugs of wine and five sheep already prepared and five measures of roasted grain and a hundred clusters of raisins and two hundred cakes of figs, and loaded them on donkeys.<\/p>

19<\/small><\/span> She said to her young men, \"Go on before me; behold, I am coming after you.\" But she did not tell her husband Nabal.<\/p>

20<\/small><\/span> It came about as she was riding on her donkey and coming down by the hidden part of the mountain, that behold, David and his men were coming down toward her; so she met them.<\/p>

21<\/small><\/span> Now David had said, \"Surely in vain I have guarded all that this man has in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that belonged to him; and he has returned me evil for good.<\/p>

22<\/small><\/span> \"May God do so to the enemies of David, and more also, if by morning I leave as much as one male of any who belong to him.\"<\/p>

23<\/small><\/span> When Abigail saw David, she hurried and dismounted from her donkey, and fell on her face before David and bowed herself to the ground.<\/p>

24<\/small><\/span> She fell at his feet and said, \"On me alone, my lord, be the blame. And please let your maidservant speak to you, and listen to the words of your maidservant.<\/p>

25<\/small><\/span> \"Please do not let my lord pay attention to this worthless man, Nabal, for as his name is, so is he. Nabal is his name and folly is with him; but I your maidservant did not see the young men of my lord whom you sent.<\/p>

26<\/small><\/span> \"Now therefore, my lord, as the LORD lives, and as your soul lives, since the LORD has restrained you from shedding blood, and from avenging yourself by your own hand, now then let your enemies and those who seek evil against my lord, be as Nabal.<\/p>

27<\/small><\/span> \"Now let this gift which your maidservant has brought to my lord be given to the young men who accompany my lord.<\/p>

28<\/small><\/span> \"Please forgive the transgression of your maidservant; for the LORD will certainly make for my lord an enduring house, because my lord is fighting the battles of the LORD, and evil will not be found in you all your days.<\/p>

29<\/small><\/span> \"Should anyone rise up to pursue you and to seek your life, then the life of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of the living with the LORD your God; but the lives of your enemies He will sling out as from the hollow of a sling.<\/p>

30<\/small><\/span> \"And when the LORD does for my lord according to all the good that He has spoken concerning you, and appoints you ruler over Israel,<\/p>

31<\/small><\/span> this will not cause grief or a troubled heart to my lord, both by having shed blood without cause and by my lord having avenged himself. When the LORD deals well with my lord, then remember your maidservant.\"<\/p>

32<\/small><\/span> Then David said to Abigail, \"Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me,<\/p>

33<\/small><\/span> and blessed be your discernment, and blessed be you, who have kept me this day from bloodshed and from avenging myself by my own hand.<\/p>

34<\/small><\/span> \"Nevertheless, as the LORD God of Israel lives, who has restrained me from harming you, unless you had come quickly to meet me, surely there would not have been left to Nabal until the morning light as much as one male.\"<\/p>

35<\/small><\/span> So David received from her hand what she had brought him and said to her, \"Go up to your house in peace. See, I have listened to you and granted your request.\"<\/p>

36<\/small><\/span> Then Abigail came to Nabal, and behold, he was holding a feast in his house, like the feast of a king. And Nabal's heart was merry within him, for he was very drunk; so she did not tell him anything at all until the morning light.<\/p>

37<\/small><\/span> But in the morning, when the wine had gone out of Nabal, his wife told him these things, and his heart died within him so that he became as a stone.<\/p>

38<\/small><\/span> About ten days later, the LORD struck Nabal and he died.<\/p>

39<\/small><\/span> When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, \"Blessed be the LORD, who has pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal and has kept back His servant from evil. The LORD has also returned the evildoing of Nabal on his own head.\" Then David sent a proposal to Abigail, to take her as his wife.<\/p>

40<\/small><\/span> When the servants of David came to Abigail at Carmel, they spoke to her, saying, \"David has sent us to you to take you as his wife.\"<\/p>

41<\/small><\/span> She arose and bowed with her face to the ground and said, \"Behold, your maidservant is a maid to wash the feet of my lord's servants.\"<\/p>

42<\/small><\/span> Then Abigail quickly arose, and rode on a donkey, with her five maidens who attended her; and she followed the messengers of David and became his wife.<\/p>

43<\/small><\/span> David had also taken Ahinoam of Jezreel, and they both became his wives.<\/p>

44<\/small><\/span> Now Saul had given Michal his daughter, David's wife, to Palti the son of Laish, who was from Gallim.<\/p><\/div>\n

Translation: NASB<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

#3: Esther<\/strong><\/p>\n

Esther 4:1-17<\/p>\n

Chapter 4<\/h4>

1<\/small><\/span> When Mordecai learned all that had been done, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the midst of the city and wailed loudly and bitterly.<\/p>

2<\/small><\/span> He went as far as the king's gate, for no one was to enter the king's gate clothed in sackcloth.<\/p>

3<\/small><\/span> In each and every province where the command and decree of the king came, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting, weeping and wailing; and many lay on sackcloth and ashes.<\/p>

4<\/small><\/span> Then Esther's maidens and her eunuchs came and told her, and the queen writhed in great anguish. And she sent garments to clothe Mordecai that he might remove his sackcloth from him, but he did not accept them.<\/p>

5<\/small><\/span> Then Esther summoned Hathach from the king's eunuchs, whom the king had appointed to attend her, and ordered him to go to Mordecai to learn what this was and why it was.<\/p>

6<\/small><\/span> So Hathach went out to Mordecai to the city square in front of the king's gate.<\/p>

7<\/small><\/span> Mordecai told him all that had happened to him, and the exact amount of money that Haman had promised to pay to the king's treasuries for the destruction of the Jews.<\/p>

8<\/small><\/span> He also gave him a copy of the text of the edict which had been issued in Susa for their destruction, that he might show Esther and inform her, and to order her to go in to the king to implore his favor and to plead with him for her people.<\/p>

9<\/small><\/span> Hathach came back and related Mordecai's words to Esther.<\/p>

10<\/small><\/span> Then Esther spoke to Hathach and ordered him to reply to Mordecai:<\/p>

11<\/small><\/span> \"All the king's servants and the people of the king's provinces know that for any man or woman who comes to the king to the inner court who is not summoned, he has but one law, that he be put to death, unless the king holds out to him the golden scepter so that he may live. And I have not been summoned to come to the king for these thirty days.\"<\/p>

12<\/small><\/span> They related Esther's words to Mordecai.<\/p>

13<\/small><\/span> Then Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, \"Do not imagine that you in the king's palace can escape any more than all the Jews.<\/p>

14<\/small><\/span> \"For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place and you and your father's house will perish. And who knows whether you have not attained royalty for such a time as this?\"<\/p>

15<\/small><\/span> Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai,<\/p>

16<\/small><\/span> \"Go, assemble all the Jews who are found in Susa, and fast for me; do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my maidens also will fast in the same way. And thus I will go in to the king, which is not according to the law; and if I perish, I perish.\"<\/p>

17<\/small><\/span> So Mordecai went away and did just as Esther had commanded him.<\/p><\/div>\n

Translation: NASB<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

#2: Mary, Mother of Jesus<\/strong><\/p>\n

Luke 1:26-38<\/p>\n

Chapter 1<\/h4>

26<\/small><\/span> Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee called Nazareth,<\/p>

27<\/small><\/span> to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the descendants of David; and the virgin's name was Mary.<\/p>

28<\/small><\/span> And coming in, he said to her, \"Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.\"<\/p>

29<\/small><\/span> But she was very perplexed at this statement, and kept pondering what kind of salutation this was.<\/p>

30<\/small><\/span> The angel said to her, \"Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God.<\/p>

31<\/small><\/span> \"And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus.<\/p>

32<\/small><\/span> \"He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David;<\/p>

33<\/small><\/span> and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.\"<\/p>

34<\/small><\/span> Mary said to the angel, \"How can this be, since I am a virgin?\"<\/p>

35<\/small><\/span> The angel answered and said to her, \"The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God.<\/p>

36<\/small><\/span> \"And behold, even your relative Elizabeth has also conceived a son in her old age; and she who was called barren is now in her sixth month.<\/p>

37<\/small><\/span> \"For nothing will be impossible with God.\"<\/p>

38<\/small><\/span> And Mary said, \"Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word.\" And the angel departed from her.<\/p><\/div>\n

Translation: NASB<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

#1: The Wife Of Noble Character<\/strong><\/p>\n

Proverbs 31:10-31<\/p>\n

Chapter 31<\/h4>

10<\/small><\/span> An excellent wife, who can find? For her worth is far above jewels.<\/p>

11<\/small><\/span> The heart of her husband trusts in her, And he will have no lack of gain.<\/p>

12<\/small><\/span> She does him good and not evil All the days of her life.<\/p>

13<\/small><\/span> She looks for wool and flax And works with her hands in delight.<\/p>

14<\/small><\/span> She is like merchant ships; She brings her food from afar.<\/p>

15<\/small><\/span> She rises also while it is still night And gives food to her household And portions to her maidens.<\/p>

16<\/small><\/span> She considers a field and buys it; From her earnings she plants a vineyard.<\/p>

17<\/small><\/span> She girds herself with strength And makes her arms strong.<\/p>

18<\/small><\/span> She senses that her gain is good; Her lamp does not go out at night.<\/p>

19<\/small><\/span> She stretches out her hands to the distaff, And her hands grasp the spindle.<\/p>

20<\/small><\/span> She extends her hand to the poor, And she stretches out her hands to the needy.<\/p>

21<\/small><\/span> She is not afraid of the snow for her household, For all her household are clothed with scarlet.<\/p>

22<\/small><\/span> She makes coverings for herself; Her clothing is fine linen and purple.<\/p>

23<\/small><\/span> Her husband is known in the gates, When he sits among the elders of the land.<\/p>

24<\/small><\/span> She makes linen garments and sells them, And supplies belts to the tradesmen.<\/p>

25<\/small><\/span> Strength and dignity are her clothing, And she smiles at the future.<\/p>

26<\/small><\/span> She opens her mouth in wisdom, And the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.<\/p>

27<\/small><\/span> She looks well to the ways of her household, And does not eat the bread of idleness.<\/p>

28<\/small><\/span> Her children rise up and bless her; Her husband also, and he praises her, saying:<\/p>

29<\/small><\/span> \"Many daughters have done nobly, But you excel them all.\"<\/p>

30<\/small><\/span> Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, But a woman who fears the LORD, she shall be praised.<\/p>

31<\/small><\/span> Give her the product of her hands, And let her works praise her in the gates.<\/p><\/div>\n

Translation: NASB<\/em><\/p>\n

Downloads<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

[bsk-pdf-manager-pdf id=”11″ target=”_blank”]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Though written centuries ago in male dominated societies, the Bible includes some noteworthy stories of strong women and the role they played in the history of the Christian faith.\u00a0 From royalty to prostitutes, women in the Bible display great inner strength and courage. In fact, three women on our list are so noteworthy they are …<\/p>\n

Top 10 Strongest Women Of The Bible<\/span> Read More »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1113,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[57,56,58],"yoast_head":"\n