Judges 15
1 Now a short time after, at the time of the grain-cutting, Samson, taking with him a young goat, went to see his wife; and he said, I will go in to my wife into the bride's room. But her father would not let him go in.
And it came to pass after a time, in the days of wheat harvest, that Sampson visited his wife with a kid, and said, I will go in to my wife even into the chamber: but her father did not suffer him to go in.
2 And her father said, It seemed to me that you had only hate for her; so I gave her to your friend: but is not her younger sister fairer than she? so please take her in place of the other.
And her father spoke, saying, I said that you did surely hate her, and I gave her to one of your friends: [is] not her younger sister better than she? let her be to you instead of her.
3 Then Samson said to them, This time I will give payment in full to the Philistines, for I am going to do them great evil.
And Sampson said to them, Even for once am I guiltless with regard to the Philistines, in that I do mischief among them.
4 So Samson went and got three hundred foxes and some sticks of fire-wood; and he put the foxes tail to tail with a stick between every two tails;
And Sampson went and caught three hundred foxes, and took torches, and turned tail to tail, and put a torch between two tails, and fastened it.
5 Then firing the sticks, he let the foxes loose among the uncut grain of the Philistines, and all the corded stems as well as the living grain and the vine-gardens and the olives went up in flames.
And he set fire to the torches, and sent [the foxes] into the corn of the Philistines; and every thing was burnt from the threshing floor to the standing corn, and even to the vineyard and olives.
6 Then the Philistines said, Who has done this? And they said, Samson, the son-in-law of the Timnite, because he took his wife and gave her to his friend. So the Philistines came up and had her and her father's house burned.
And the Philistines said, Who [has done] these things? and they said, Sampson the son-in-law of the Thamnite, because he has taken his wife, and given her to one of his friends; and the Philistines went up, and burnt her and her father's house with fire.
7 And Samson said to them, If you go on like this, truly I will take my full payment from you; and that will be the end of it.
And Sampson said to them, Though you may have dealt thus with her, verily I will be avenged of you, and afterwards I will cease.
8 And he made an attack on them, driving them in uncontrolled flight, and causing great destruction; then he went away to his safe place in the crack of the rock at Etam.
And he struck them leg on thigh [with] a great overthrow; and went down and lived in a cave of the rock Etam.
9 Then the Philistines went and put up their tents in Judah, all round Lehi.
And the Philistines went up, and encamped in Juda, and spread themselves abroad in Lechi.
10 And the men of Judah said, Why have you come up against us? And they said, We have come up to take Samson, and to do to him as he has done to us.
And the men of Juda said, Why are you come up against us? and the Philistines said, We are come up to bind Sampson, and to do to him as he has done to us.
11 Then three thousand of the men of Judah went down to the crack of the rock of Etam, and said to Samson, Is it not clear to you that the Philistines are our rulers? What is this you have done to us? And he said to them, I only did to them as they did to me.
And the three thousand men of Juda went down to the hole of the rock Etam, and they said to Sampson, Know you not that the Philistines rule over us? and what [is] this [that] you have done to us? and Sampson said to them, As they did to me, so have I done to them.
12 Then they said to him, We have come down to take you and give you up into the hands of the Philistines. And Samson said to them, Give me your oath that you will not make an attack on me yourselves.
And they said to him, We are come down to bind you to deliver you into the hand of the Philistines: and Sampson said to them, Swear to me that you will not fall upon me yourselves.
13 And they said, No; we will take you and give you up into their hands, but truly we will not put you to death. So knotting two new cords round him they took him up from the rock.
And they spoke to him, saying, Nay, but we will only bind you fast, and deliver you into their hand, and will by no means kill you: and they bound him with two new ropes, and brought him from that rock.
14 And when he came to Lehi, the Philistines came out, meeting him with loud cries; then the spirit of the Lord came rushing on him, and the cords on his arms became like grass which has been burned with fire, and the bands came falling off his hands.
And they came to Lechi: and the Philistines shouted, and ran to meet him: and the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him, and the ropes that were upon his arms became as tow which is burnt with fire; and his bonds were consumed from off his hands.
15 And taking up the mouth-bone of an ass newly dead, which he saw by chance on the earth, he put to death a thousand men with it.
And he found the jaw-bone of an ass that had been cast away, and he put forth his hand and took it, and struck with it a thousand men.
16 And Samson said, With a red ass's mouth-bone I have made them red with blood, with a red ass's mouth-bone I have sent destruction on a thousand men.
And Sampson said, With the jaw-bone of an ass I have utterly destroyed them, for with the jaw-bone of an ass I have struck a thousand men.
17 And having said these words, he let the mouth-bone go out of his hand; so that place was named Ramath-lehi.
And it came to pass when he ceased speaking, that he cast the jaw-bone out of his hand; and he called that place the Lifting of the jaw-bone.
18 After this, he was in great need of water, and crying out to the Lord, he said, You have given this great salvation by the hand of your servant, and now need of water will be my death; and I will be given into the hands of this people who are without circumcision.
And he was very thirsty, and wept before the Lord, and said, You have been well pleased to grant this great deliverance by the hand of your servant, and new shall I die for thirst, and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised?
19 Then God made a crack in the hollow rock in Lehi and water came out of it; and after drinking, his spirit came back to him and he was strong again; so that place was named En-hakkore; it is in Lehi to this day.
And God broke open a hollow place in the jaw, and there came thence water, and he drank; and his spirit returned and he revived: therefore the name of the fountain was called 'The well of the invoker,' which is in Lechi, until this day.
20 And he was judge of Israel in the days of the Philistines for twenty years.
And he judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years.
