Judges 16
1 And Sampson went to Gaza, and saw there a harlot, and went in to her.
Samson went to Gaza. There he saw a prostitute and he went to have sex with her that night.
2 And it was reported to the Gazites, saying, Sampson is come hither: and they compassed him and laid wait for him all night in the gate of the city, and they were quiet all the night, saying, Let us wait till the dawn appear, and we will slay him.
The men of Gaza found out Samson was there, so they gathered to spend the night lying in wait for him at the town gates. They kept quiet all night, whispering to one another, “We'll kill him when it gets light.”
3 And Sampson slept till midnight, and rose up at midnight, and took hold of the doors of the gate of the city with the two posts, and lifted them up with the bar, and laid them on his shoulders, and he went up to the top of the mountain that is before Chebron, and laid them there.
But Samson only stayed until halfway through the night. He grabbed hold of the town gates along with their two posts and ripped them up, along with the lock-bar. Putting them on his shoulders, he carried them to the hill opposite Hebron.
4 And it came to pass after this that he loved a woman in Alsorech, and her name [was] Dalida.
Later he fell in love with a woman named Delilah living in the Sorek Valley.
5 And the princess of the Philistines came up to her, and said to her, Beguile him, and see wherein his great strength [is], and wherewith we shall prevail against him, and bind him to humble him; and we will give thee each eleven hundred [pieces] of silver.
The Philistine leaders approached her, saying, “See if you can seduce him and get him to show you the secret of his incredible strength, and find out how we can overpower him and tie him up so he can't do anything. We'll all give you eleven hundred shekels of silver each.”
6 And Dalida said to Sampson, Tell me, I pray thee, wherein [is] thy great strength, and wherewith thou shalt be bound that thou mayest be humbled.
Delilah went and pleaded with Samson, “Please tell me where your incredible strength comes from, and what can be used to tie you up so you can't do anything.”
7 And Sampson said to her, If they bind me with seven moist cords that have not been spoiled, then shall I be weak and be as one of ordinary men.
“If I'm tied up with seven supple bowstrings that haven't dried out, I'll become just as weak,” Samson told her.
8 And the princess of the Philistines brought to her seven moist cords that had not been spoiled, and she bound him with them.
The Philistine leaders brought her seven supple bowstrings that hadn't dried out, and she tied him up with them.
9 And the liers in wait remained with her in the chamber; and she said to him, the Philistines [are] upon thee, Sampson: and he broke the cords as if any one should break a thread of tow when it has touched the fire, and his strength was not known.
Having arranged for men to hide in her bedroom ready to attack him, she shouted out, “Samson, the Philistines are here to get you!” But he snapped the bowstrings like a thread snaps when a flame touches it. So nobody found out where his strength came from.
10 And Dalida said to Sampson, Behold, thou hast cheated me, and told me lies; now then tell me wherewith thou shalt be bound.
Later Delilah said to Samson, “You've made me look stupid, telling me these lies! So now please tell me what can be used to tie you up.”
11 And he said to her, If they should bind me fast with new ropes with which work has not been done, then shall I be weak, and shall be as another man.
“If I'm tied up tight with new ropes that haven't been used before, I'll become just as weak as anyone else,” he told her.
12 And Dalida took new ropes, and bound him with them, and the liers in wait came out of the chamber, and she said, The Philistines [are] upon thee, Sampson: and he broke them off his arms like a thread.
So Delilah got some new ropes and tied him up with them. She shouted out, “Samson, the Philistines are here to get you!” As before, men were hiding in her bedroom. But again Samson snapped the ropes from his arms as if they were thin threads.
13 And Dalida said to Sampson, Behold, thou hast deceived me, and told me lies; tell me, I intreat thee, wherewith thou mayest be bound: and he said to her, If thou shouldest weave the seven locks of my head with the web, and shouldest fasten them with the pin into the wall, then shall I be weak as another man.
Delilah said to Samson, “You keep on making me look stupid, telling me these lies! Just tell me what can be used to tie you up!” “If you were to weave the seven braids of my hair into the web on the loom and tighten it with the pin, I'll become as weak as anyone else,” he told her. So while he was asleep, Delilah took the seven braids of his head, weaving them into the web,
14 And it came to pass when he was asleep, that Dalida took the seven locks of his head, and wove them with the web, and fastened them with the pin into the wall, and she said, The Philistines [are] upon thee, Sampson: and he awoke out of his sleep, and carried away the pin of the web out of the wall.
and tightening the pin. She shouted out, “Samson, the Philistines are here to get you!” But Samson woke up and ripped out both the pin and the web from the loom.
15 And Dalida said to Sampson, How sayest thou, I love thee, when thy heart is not with me? this third time thou hast deceived me, and hast not told me wherein [is] thy great strength.
Then Delilah complained to Samson, “How can you tell me, ‘I love you,’ when you don't let me into your confidence? Three times you've me look stupid, not telling me where your incredible strength comes from!”
16 And it came to pass as she pressed him sore with her words continually, and straitened him, that his spirit failed almost to death.
She nagged and complained all the time, pestering him until he wanted to die.
17 Then he told her all his heart, and said to her, A razor has not come upon my head, because I have been a holy [one] of God from my mother's womb; if then I should be shaven, my strength will depart from me, and I shall be weak, and I shall be as all [other] men.
Eventually Samson confided in her, sharing everything. “My hair has never been cut, because I've been dedicated as a Nazirite to God from my birth. If I'm shaved, my strength will leave me, and I'll become as weak as anyone else.”
18 And Dalida saw that he told her all his heart, and she sent and called the princess of the Philistines, saying, Come up yet this once; for he has told me all his heart. And the chiefs of the Philistines went up to her, and brought the money in their hands.
Delilah realized that he had truly confided in her and shared everything, she sent a message to the Philistine leaders telling them, “Come back once more, because this time he's confided in me and told me everything.” So the Philistine leaders returned, bringing with them the money to give to her.
19 And Dalida made Sampson sleep upon her knees; and she called a man, and he shaved the seven locks of his head, and she began to humble him, and his strength departed from him.
Delilah soothed him sleep on her lap, and then called in someone to shave off the seven braids of hair. She started to torment him but he couldn't do anything for his strength left him.
20 And Dalida said, The Philistines [are] upon thee, Sampson: and he awoke out of his sleep and said, I will go out as at former times, and shake myself; and he knew not that the Lord was departed from him.
She shouted out, “Samson, the Philistines are here to get you!” Samson woke up and thought to himself, “I'll do like before and shake myself free.” But he didn't know that the Lord had left him.
21 And the Philistines took him, and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he ground in the prison-house.
The Philistines grabbed him and gouged out his eyes. Then they took him to Gaza where they imprisoned him in bronze chains. He was made to work grinding grain at the mill in the prison.
22 And the hair of his head began to grow as before it was shaven.
But his hair began to grow back after it had been shaved off.
23 And the chiefs of the Philistines met to offer a great sacrifice to their god Dagon, and to make merry; and they said, God has given into our hand our enemy Sampson.
The Philistine leaders gathered for a great religious festival to sacrifice to their god Dagon and to celebrate, saying, “Our god has handed Samson our enemy over to us!”
24 And the people saw him, and sang praises to their god; for our god, [said they], has delivered into our hand our enemy, who wasted our land, and who multiplied our slain.
When the people saw him, they praised their god, and said, “Our god has handed our enemy over to us, the one who devastated our land and killed so many of us.”
25 And when their heart was merry, then they said, Call Sampson out of the prison-house, and let him play before us: and they called Sampson out of the prison-house, and he played before them; and they smote him with the palms of their hands, and set him between the pillars.
As they began to get drunk, they shouted, “Summon Samson so he can entertain us!” So they summoned Samson from the prison to entertain them, and made him stand between the two main pillars of the building.
26 And Sampson said to the young man that held his hand, Suffer me to feel the pillars on which the house [rests], and I will stay myself upon them.
Samson said to the servant boy who was leading him by the hand, “Leave me by the pillars on which the temple rests so I can feel them, and lean against them.”
27 And the house [was] full of men and woman, and there were all the chiefs of the Philistines, and on the roof [were] about three thousand men and woman looking at the sports of Sampson.
The temple was full of people. All the Philistine rulers were there, and on the roof were the ordinary people watching what Samson was doing.
28 And Sampson wept before the Lord, and said, O Lord, my lord, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, O God, yet this once, and I will requite one recompense to the Philistines for my two eyes.
Samson called out to the Lord, “Lord God, please remember me and give me strength. Please God, do this just once more, so that with one act I may pay the Philistines back in revenge for the loss of my two eyes.”
29 And Sampson took hold of the two pillars of the house on which the house stood, and leaned on them, and laid hold of one with his right hand, and the other with his left.
Samson reached for the two middle pillars that supported the temple. With his right hand leaning on one pillar and his left hand on the other,
30 And Sampson said, Let my wife perish with the Philistines: and he bowed himself mightily; and the house fell upon the princes, and upon all the people that were in it: and the dead whom Sampson slew in his death were more than those whom he slew in his life.
Samson shouted, “Let me die with the Philistines!” and he pushed with all his strength. The temple collapsed on the rulers and all the people in it. So those killed at his death were more than he killed in his life.
31 And his brethren and his father's house went down, and they took him; and they went up and buried him between Saraa and Esthaol in the sepulchre of his father Manoe; and he judged Israel twenty years.
Then his brothers and his whole family came and took him back and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of Manoah his father. He led Israel as judge for twenty years.
