Judges 13:1-14:2

    Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord, so the Lord delivered them into the hands of the Philistines for forty years.
    [2] A certain man of Zorah, named Manoah, from the clan of the Danites, had a wife who was sterile and remained childless. [3] The angel of the Lord appeared to her and said, "You are sterile and childless, but you are going to conceive and have a son. [4] Now see to it that you drink no wine or other fermented drink and that you do not eat anything unclean, [5] because you will conceive and give birth to a son. No razor may be used on his head, because the boy is to be a Nazirite, set apart to God from birth, and he will begin the deliverance of Israel from the hands of the Philistines."
    [6] Then the woman went to her husband and told him, "A man of God came to me. He looked like an angel of God, very awesome. I didn't ask him where he came from, and he didn't tell me his name. [7] But he said to me, 'You will conceive and give birth to a son. Now then, drink no wine or other fermented drink and do not eat anything unclean, because the boy will be a Nazirite of God from birth until the day of his death.' "
    [8] Then Manoah prayed to the Lord: "O Lord, I beg you, let the man of God you sent to us come again to teach us how to bring up the boy who is to be born."
    [9] God heard Manoah, and the angel of God came again to the woman while she was out in the field; but her husband Manoah was not with her. [10] The woman hurried to tell her husband, "He's here! The man who appeared to me the other day!"
    [11] Manoah got up and followed his wife. When he came to the man, he said, "Are you the one who talked to my wife?"
    "I am," he said.
    [12] So Manoah asked him, "When your words are fulfilled, what is to be the rule for the boy's life and work?"
    [13] The angel of the Lord answered, "Your wife must do all that I have told her. [14] She must not eat anything that comes from the grapevine, nor drink any wine or other fermented drink nor eat anything unclean. She must do everything I have commanded her."
    [15] Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, "We would like you to stay until we prepare a young goat for you."
    [16] The angel of the Lord replied, "Even though you detain me, I will not eat any of your food. But if you prepare a burnt offering, offer it to the Lord." (Manoah did not realize that it was the angel of the Lord.)
    [17] Then Manoah inquired of the angel of the Lord, "What is your name, so that we may honor you when your word comes true?"
    [18] He replied, "Why do you ask my name? It is beyond understanding." [19] Then Manoah took a young goat, together with the grain offering, and sacrificed it on a rock to the Lord. And the Lord did an amazing thing while Manoah and his wife watched: [20] As the flame blazed up from the altar toward heaven, the angel of the Lord ascended in the flame. Seeing this, Manoah and his wife fell with their faces to the ground. [21] When the angel of the Lord did not show himself again to Manoah and his wife, Manoah realized that it was the angel of the Lord.
    [22] "We are doomed to die!" he said to his wife. "We have seen God!"
    [23] But his wife answered, "If the Lord had meant to kill us, he would not have accepted a burnt offering and grain offering from our hands, nor shown us all these things or now told us this."
    [24] The woman gave birth to a boy and named him Samson. He grew and the Lord blessed him, [25] and the Spirit of the Lord began to stir him while he was in Mahaneh Dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.
    [14:1] Samson went down to Timnah and saw there a young Philistine woman. [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." _^[NIV]

Commitment doesn’t guarantee success (in the short run).

Numbers 6:1-21

    The Lord said to Moses, [2] "Speak to the Israelites and say to them: 'If a man or woman wants to make a special vow, a vow of separation to the Lord as a Nazirite, [3] he must abstain from wine and other fermented drink and must not drink vinegar made from wine or from other fermented drink. He must not drink grape juice or eat grapes or raisins. [4] As long as he is a Nazirite, he must not eat anything that comes from the grapevine, not even the seeds or skins.
    [5] " 'During the entire period of his vow of separation no razor may be used on his head. He must be holy until the period of his separation to the Lord is over; he must let the hair of his head grow long. [6] Throughout the period of his separation to the Lord he must not go near a dead body. [7] Even if his own father or mother or brother or sister dies, he must not make himself ceremonially unclean on account of them, because the symbol of his separation to God is on his head. [8] Throughout the period of his separation he is consecrated to the Lord.
    [9] " 'If someone dies suddenly in his presence, thus defiling the hair he has dedicated, he must shave his head on the day of his cleansing--the seventh day. [10] Then on the eighth day he must bring two doves or two young pigeons to the priest at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. [11] The priest is to offer one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering to make atonement for him because he sinned by being in the presence of the dead body. That same day he is to consecrate his head. [12] He must dedicate himself to the Lord for the period of his separation and must bring a year-old male lamb as a guilt offering. The previous days do not count, because he became defiled during his separation.
    [13] " 'Now this is the law for the Nazirite when the period of his separation is over. He is to be brought to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. [14] There he is to present his offerings to the Lord: a year-old male lamb without defect for a burnt offering, a year-old ewe lamb without defect for a sin offering, a ram without defect for a fellowship offering, [15] together with their grain offerings and drink offerings, and a basket of bread made without yeast--cakes made of fine flour mixed with oil, and wafers spread with oil.
    [16] " 'The priest is to present them before the Lord and make the sin offering and the burnt offering. [17] He is to present the basket of unleavened bread and is to sacrifice the ram as a fellowship offering to the Lord, together with its grain offering and drink offering.
    [18] " 'Then at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, the Nazirite must shave off the hair that he dedicated. He is to take the hair and put it in the fire that is under the sacrifice of the fellowship offering.
    [19] " 'After the Nazirite has shaved off the hair of his dedication, the priest is to place in his hands a boiled shoulder of the ram, and a cake and a wafer from the basket, both made without yeast. [20] The priest shall then wave them before the Lord as a wave offering; they are holy and belong to the priest, together with the breast that was waved and the thigh that was presented. After that, the Nazirite may drink wine.
    [21] " 'This is the law of the Nazirite who vows his offering to the Lord in accordance with his separation, in addition to whatever else he can afford. He must fulfill the vow he has made, according to the law of the Nazirite.' " _^[NIV]

Psalm 15:1-4

A psalm of David.

    Lord, who may dwell in your sanctuary?
        Who may live on your holy hill?

    [2] He whose walk is blameless
        and who does what is righteous,
    who speaks the truth from his heart
        [3] and has no slander on his tongue,
    who does his neighbor no wrong
        and casts no slur on his fellowman,
    [4] who despises a vile man
        but honors those who fear the Lord,
    who keeps his oath
        even when it hurts, _^[NIV]

Matthew 5:33-37

"Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'Do not break your oath, but keep the oaths you have made to the Lord.' [34] But I tell you, Do not swear at all: either by heaven, for it is God's throne; [35] or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. [36] And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. [37] Simply let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No'; anything beyond this comes from the evil one. _^[NIV]

Luke 9:51

As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem. _^[NIV]

Isaiah 50:7

    Because the Sovereign Lord helps me,
        I will not be disgraced.
    Therefore have I set my face like flint,
        and I know I will not be put to shame. _^[NIV]

Deuteronomy 30:11-20

    Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. [12] It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, "Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?" [13] Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, "Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?" [14] No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it.
    [15] See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. [16] For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.
    [17] But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, [18] I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess.
    [19] This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live [20] and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. _^[NIV]

Joshua 24:15

But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord." _^[NIV]

Matthew 26:36-46

    Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, "Sit here while I go over there and pray." [37] He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. [38] Then he said to them, "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me."
    [39] Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will."
    [40] Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. "Could you men not keep watch with me for one hour?" he asked Peter. [41] "Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak."
    [42] He went away a second time and prayed, "My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done."
    [43] When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. [44] So he left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing.
    [45] Then he returned to the disciples and said to them, "Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour is near, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. [46] Rise, let us go! Here comes my betrayer!" _^[NIV]