To discern ¹  the meaning of ²  a proverb and a parable, ³  the sayings of the wise ⁴  and their ⁵  riddles. ⁶ 

“Son of man, offer a riddle, ¹  and tell a parable to the house of Israel.

I will learn a song that imparts wisdom; I will then sing my insightful song to the accompaniment of a harp. ¹ 

Samson said to them, “I will give you a riddle. If you really can solve it during the seven days the party lasts, ¹  I will give you thirty linen robes and thirty sets ²  of clothes.

But if you cannot solve it, ¹  you will give me thirty linen robes and thirty sets of clothes.” They said to him, “Let us hear your riddle.” ² 

He said to them, “Out of the one who eats came something to eat; out of the strong one came something sweet.” They could not solve the riddle for three days.

She cried on his shoulder ¹  until the party was almost over. ²  Finally, on the seventh day, he told her because she had nagged him so much. ³  Then she told the young men the solution to the riddle. ⁴ 

With him I will speak face to face, ¹  openly, ²  and not in riddles; and he will see the form ³  of the Lord. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?”

On the seventh day, before the sun set, the men of the city said to him, “What is sweeter than honey? What is stronger than a lion?” He said to them, “If you had not plowed with my heifer, ¹  you would not have solved my riddle!”

The Lord’s spirit empowered him. He went down to Ashkelon and murdered thirty men. He took their clothes ¹  and gave them ²  to the men who had solved the riddle. He was furious as he went back home. ³ 

On the fourth ¹  day they said to Samson’s bride, “Trick your husband into giving the solution to the riddle. ²  If you refuse, ³  we will burn up ⁴  you and your father’s family. ⁵  Did you invite us here ⁶  to make us poor?” ⁷ 

Thus there was found in this man Daniel, whom the king renamed Belteshazzar, an extraordinary spirit, knowledge, and skill to interpret ¹  dreams, solve riddles, and decipher knotty problems. ²  Now summon ³  Daniel, and he will disclose the interpretation.”

So Samson’s bride cried on his shoulder ¹  and said, “You must ²  hate me; you do not love me! You told the young men ³  a riddle, but you have not told me the solution.” He said to her, “Look, I have not even told my father or mother. Do you really expect me to tell you?” ⁴ 

“But all these nations will someday taunt him ¹  and ridicule him with proverbial sayings: ²  ‘The one who accumulates what does not belong to him is as good as dead ³  (How long will this go on?) ⁴  – he who gets rich by extortion!’ ⁵ 

Then I said, “O sovereign Lord! They are saying of me, ‘Does he not simply speak in eloquent figures of speech?’”

For now we see in a mirror indirectly, ¹  but then we will see face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know fully, just as I have been fully known.

When the queen of Sheba heard about Solomon, ¹  she came to challenge ²  him with difficult questions. ³ 

Toward the end of their rule, when rebellious acts ¹  are complete, a rash ²  and deceitful ³  king will arise. ⁴ 

This calls for wisdom: ¹  Let the one who has insight calculate the beast’s number, for it is man’s number, ²  and his number is 666. ³ 

On ¹  her forehead was written a name, a mystery: ²  “Babylon the Great, the Mother of prostitutes and of the detestable things of the earth.”