Laitloekkung 16
1 Samson te Gaza laa caeh vaengah pumyoi nua hmuh hatah a taenglaa kun thil.
One day Samson went to Gaza [city in the Philistia area]. He spent some time with a prostitute.
2 Azzathi rhoek loh, “Samson he la ha pawk coeng,” a ti uh. Te dongaha vael uh tih khoyin puet khopuei vongka ah rhongngol uh. Khoyin puet te hil a phah uh tih mincang khothaih hlanah ng'ngawn pawn ni,” a ti uh.
People soon found out that Samson was there, so the men of Gaza gathered together at the city gate and waited all night. They said to themselves, “When it dawns tomorrow morning, we will kill him [when he tries to leave the city].”
3 Tedae Samson te khoyin boengli duela yalh tih khoyin boengli ah koep thoo. Te vaengah khopuei vongka kah thohkhaih te rhungsut rhoi neh rhen a tuuk tih thohkalh khaw a phil. Te phoeiah a laengpang aha tloeng tih Hebron dan kah tlang som laa koh.
But Samson did not stay there all night. At midnight, he got up. He went to the city gate, he took hold of its two posts, and he lifted it up out of the ground, with its [connecting cross] bar still attached. He put it on his shoulders and carried it [many miles] uphill to Hebron.
4 Te tlam te a om phoeiah Sorek soklong kah huta pakhat, a ming ah Delilah te a lungnah.
Later Samson fell in love with a woman named Delilah, [and started to live with her]. She lived in Sorek Valley [in the Philistia area].
5 Te vaengah Delilah te Philisti boei rhoek loh a paan uh tih, “Anih te hloih lamtah ba nen lae a thaduenga len tih ba nen lae anih n'na eh ti han so laeh. Te vaengah anih phaep ham ka khit uh saeh lamtah nang te kaimih loh tangka thawngkhat yakhat rhip kam pae uh eh,” a ti nah.
The Philistine leaders went to her and said, “Find out from Samson what makes him so strong. And find out how we can subdue him and tie him up securely. If you do that, each of us will give you 1,100 pieces of silver.”
6 Te dongah Samson te Delilah loh, “Me nen lae na thaduenga len tih nang phaep ham te ba nen lae ng'khih eh tite kai taengah bet han thui lah,” a ti nah.
So Delilah said to Samson, “Please tell me what makes you so strong, and tell me how someone can subdue you and tie you up.”
7 Tedae anih te Samson loh, “Kai he kuelrhui aka rhae pawha thingsup yungrhih nen te ng'khit uh koinih ka kha sut vetih hlang mailai banglam ni ka om eh?,” a ti nah.
Samson said, “If someone ties me with seven new bowstrings, ones that are not dry yet, I will become as weak as other men.”
8 Te dongah Delilah ham Philisti boei rhoek te kuelrhui aka rhae pawh yungrhih tea thingsup la a khuen pa uh tih Samson te a khih.
So [after Delilah told that to the Philistine leaders], they brought seven new bowstrings to Delilah.
9 Delilah te imkhui aha rhongngol doela om tih, “Samson nang pum dongkah Philisti rhoek te,” a ti nah hatah hmai loh a laeh vaengkah hamnak rhuia pat bangla kuelrhui tea bawt. Te dongah a thadueng te ming uh pawh.
Then she hid the men in one of the rooms in her house. Then [while Samson was sleeping], she tied him up with the bowstrings. Then she called out, “Samson! The Philistines have come here to capture you!” But Samson snapped the bowstrings as easily as though they were strings that had been singed in a fire. So the Philistines did not find out what made Samson so strong.
10 Tedae Samson te Delilah loh, “Kai taengah na omsaa tih kai taengah laithae na thui he. Tahae ah kai ham han thui laeh, ba nen lae ng'khih eh?,” a ti nah.
Then Delilah said to Samson, “You have deceived me and lied to me! Now tell me [the truth, ] how someone can tie you up securely.”
11 Te dongah, “Kai he bitata saii nah mueh rhuivaeha thai neh n'khih la n'khih uh atah ka kha sut vetih hlang mailai banglam ni ka om eh?,” a ti nah.
Samson replied, “If someone ties me with new ropes, ones that have never been used, I will be as weak as other men.”
12 Te dongah Delilah loh rhuivaeha thai te a loh tih Samsona khih. Te phoeiah, “Samson na pum dongkah Philisti rhoek te,” a ti nah. Te vaengah imkhui ah aka rhongngol thil khaw om coeng dae a ban dongkah te rhuihet bangla but a bawt.
So again, [she told the Philistine leaders, and] they [came and] hid in the room as they had done before. And again, while Samson was sleeping, she took the new ropes and tied him up with them. Then she called out, “Samson! The Philistines have come to capture you!” But Samson snapped the ropes on his arms as easily as if they were threads.
13 Te dongah Samson te Delilah loh, “Tahae duela kai taengah na omsaa tih kai taengah laithae na thui, kai taengah thui laeh, ba nen lae ng'khih eh?,” a ti nah. Te vaengah, “Ka lu kah samtum parhih he hnitah dongah na tah atah,” a ti nah.
Then Delilah said, “You have deceived me and lied to me [again]! Please tell me how someone can tie you up securely!” Samson replied, “If you weave the seven braids of my hair into the threads you are weaving on the loom, and then fasten those threads with the pin [that makes the threads tight], then I will be as weak as other men.” So again, while Samson was sleeping on her lap, Delilah held the seven braids of his hair, and wove them into the threads on the loom,
14 Te dongah a sam te ciphuem neh khak a hen pah tih, “Samson na pum dongkah Philisti rhoek te,” a ti nah. Te vaengah a ih kung lamkah haenghang tih ciphuem te tampai neh hnitah neh rhen a dueng.
and she tightened them with the pin. Then she called out, “Samson! The Philistines have come to capture you!” But Samson woke up and pulled out the pin, and pulled his hair from the threads on the loom.
15 Te phoeiah, “Nang loh, 'Kan lungnah,’ tila metlamlae na thui thai, na lungbuei te kai taengah a om pawt dongah kai taengah voei thum na omsaa tih, me tla na thaduenga len khaw kai taengah na thui moenih,” a ti nah.
Then Delilah said to him, “How can you say that you love me when you do not tell me the truth about yourself? You have deceived me three times, and you still have not told me what really makes you so strong!”
16 Tedae Samson te hnin takuem ah a ol neha kilh tih a toeh a oeih dongah duek ham ni a hinglu long a hnuenah coeng.
Day after day she nagged him like that. He thought he would die from her nagging [IDM].
17 Te dongah a lungbuei kah boeih te Delilah taengaha thui pah. Te vaengah, “Kai he a nu bung khui lamloh Pathen kah hlangcoelh la ka om dongah thiha loh ka lua ben moenih. Vo koinih ka thadueng he kai lamloh nong vetih ka tlo ni. Te vaengah hlang boeih banglam ni ka om eh?,” a ti nah.
Finally Samson told her the truth. He said, “I have been set apart for God since the day I was born. And because of that, my hair has never been cut. If my hair were shaved off, my strength would be gone, and I would be as weak as other men.”
18 A lungbuei kah aka om boeih tea thui coeng tila Delilah loh a hmuh. Te dongah tah Philisti boei rhoek tea tah tiha khue vaengah, “Anih long he kamah taengah a lungbuei kah boeih tea phoe coeng dongah vai ah halo uh saeh,” a ti nah. Te dongah Philisti boei rhoek loh Delilah taengla halo uh tih a kut dongah tangka hang khuen uh.
Delilah realized that this time he had told her the truth. So she summoned the Philistine leaders again, saying, “Come back one more time, because Samson has really told me everything [about why he is so strong]”. So the Philistine leaders returned and brought to Delilah the money [that they promised to give her].
19 A khuklu dongah Samsona soei tih hlanga khue. Samson lu dongkah samtum parhih tea vok pah tih Samson te phaep ham te a poeih. Te dongah a thadueng khaw Samson dong lamloh viik nong.
Again she lulled Samson to sleep, with his head in her lap. Then she called one of the Philistine men to come and shave off Samson’s hair. As he did that, Samson began to get weaker. And finally his strength was all gone.
20 Te vaengah, “Samson, na pum dongkah Philisti rhoek te,” a ti nah tih a ih lamkah haenghang. A noek noek vaengkah bangla ka thoo vetih ka khoek bitni a ti. Tedae anih taeng lamloh BOEIPAa nong te amah loh ming pawh.
Then [after she tied him up], she called out, “Samson! The Philistines have come to capture you!” He woke up and thought, “I will do as I did before. I will shake [these ropes] off myself and be free!” But he did not realize that Yahweh had left him.
21 Te dongah Samson te Philisti rhoek loh a tuuk uh tih a mika koeih pauh. Gaza laa suntlak puei uh tih rhohum neha khih uh. Te dongah Samson tah thongtla im ah sum aka kuelh la a khih uh.
So the Philistine men seized him and gouged out his eyes. Then they took him to Gaza. There they put him in prison and bound him with bronze chains. They made him [turn a millstone to] grind grain [every day].
22 Tedaea vok vanbangla a lu dongkah a sam loh pahoia cawn pah.
But his hair started to grow again.
23 Te vaengah Philisti boei rhoek loh amamih kah Dagon pathen taengah hmueih puei nawn ham tingtun uh. Te dongah kohoenah neh, “Mamih kah thunkha Samson tah mamih kah pathen loh mamih kut ah m'paek coeng,” a ti uh.
[Several months later] the Philistine leaders celebrated a big festival. During the festival they offered sacrifices to their god Dagon. They praised him, saying, “Our god has enabled us to defeat our great enemy Samson!”
24 Pilnam loh a hmuh vaengah a pathen tea thangthen uh tih, “Mamih kah khohmuena khah tih mamih rhok aka pung sak, mamih kah thunkha tah mamih kut ah pathen loh m'paek coeng,” a ti uh.
And when the other people saw Samson, they also praised their god Dagon, saying, “Samson ruined our crops and killed many of our people, but our god has put our enemy into our hands. Our god helped us to capture the one who has killed so many of us!”
25 A lungbueia umyaa umya uh vaengah ah, “Samson te khue lamtah mamih ham luem lah saeh,” a ti uh. Te dongah thongtla im kah a pael Samson tea khue uh. Samson te amih mikhmuh ah a lawn uh tih tung laklo ah a pai sakuh.
By that time the people were half-drunk. They shouted, “Bring Samson out of the prison! Bring him here so that he can entertain us!” So they brought Samson from the prison and made fun of him. Then they made him stand in the center of the temple. They made him stand between the two pillars that held up the roof.
26 Te vaengah Samson loh a kut dongah aka pangtung camoe pakhat taengah, “Kai ng'khuen lamtah im tung te ka yam lah eh. Te dongah te a naep la ka duem lah eh,” a ti nah.
Samson said to the servant who was leading him by his hand, “Place my hands against the two pillars. I want to rest against them.”
27 Te vaengah huta tongpa loh im khuiah muep thet uh tih Philisti boei rhoek boeih tah imphu ah ngoluh. Samson kah luem aka so huta tongpa thawng thum tluk louh.
At that time the temple was full of men and women. All the Philistine leaders were also there. And there were about 3,000 people on the roof, watching Samson and making fun of him.
28 Tedae Samson loh BOEIPAa khue tih, “Ka Boeipa Yahovah aw, kai m'poek laem lamtah tahae ah kai he Pathen loh voeikhat mah n'talong lah saeh, te daengah ni ka mik rhoi ham Philisti soah pakhat la phulohnah neh phu ka loh eh?,” a ti nah.
Then Samson prayed, saying, “Yahweh, my Lord, think about me again! Please give me strength one more time, so that I may get revenge on the Philistines for gouging out my eyes!”
29 Te vaengah Samson loh im laklung kah tung rhoi taengla hoi uh. Te rhoi dongah tawn uh tih pakhat te a bantang ah, pakhat te a banvoei aha duel thil.
Then Samson put his hands on the two center pillars of the temple. He put his right hand on one pillar and his left hand on the other pillar.
30 Te phoeiah Samson loh, “Ka hinglu he Philisti rhoek neh hmaih duek saeh,” a ti tih thadueng neha tulh. Te dongah boei rhoek neh a khuikah pilnam boeih te im loh a cungku thil. A duek vaengaha ngawn tih aka duek he a hing vaengkaha ngawn lakaha yet ngai om.
Then he shouted [to God], “Let me die with the Philistines!”, and he pushed with all his strength. [The pillars collapsed], and the temple crashed down on the Philistine leaders and all the other Philistine people, [and they all died]. So Samson killed more people when he died than he had killed all during his life.
31 Te vaengah a mana rhoek neh a napa cako te boeih suntla uh tih rhoka loh uh. Te phoeiaha khuen uh tih Zorah laklo neh Eshtaol laklo kah a napa Manoah phuel aha up uh. Israel te anih loh kum kul lai a tloek pah.
Later his brothers and their relatives went down [from Zorah to Gaza] to get his body. They took it back home and buried it between Zorah and Eshtaol, at the place where Samson’s father Manoah was buried. Samson had been Israel’s leader for 20 years.
