Judges 15
1 Then, after some time, when the days of the wheat harvest were near, Samson arrived, intending to visit his wife, and he brought her a kid from the goats. And when he wanted to enter her bedroom, as usual, her father prohibited him, saying:
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.
2 “I thought that you would hate her, and therefore I gave her to your friend. But she has a sister, who is younger and more beautiful than she is. And she may be a wife for you, instead of her.”
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.
3 And Samson answered him: “From this day, there shall be no guilt for me against the Philistines. For I will do harm to you all.”
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.
4 And he went out and caught three hundred foxes. And he joined them tail to tail. And he tied torches between the tails.
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;
5 And setting these on fire, he released them, so that they might rush from place to place. And immediately they went into the grain fields of the Philistines, setting these on fire, both the grain that was already bound for carrying, and what was still standing on the stalk. These were completely burned up, so much so that the flame also consumed even the vineyards and the olive groves.
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.
6 And the Philistines said, “Who has done this thing?” And it was said: “Samson, the son-in-law of the Timnite, because he took away his wife, and gave her to another. He has done these things.” And the Philistines went up and burned the woman as well as her father.
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.
7 And Samson said to them, “Even though you have done this, I will still fulfill vengeance against you, and then I will be quieted.”
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.
8 And he struck them with a tremendous slaughter, so much so that, out of astonishment, they laid the calf of the leg upon the thigh. And descending, he lived in a cave of the rock at Etam.
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.
9 And so the Philistines, ascending into the land of Judah, made camp at the place which was later called Lehi, that is, the Jawbone, where their army spread out.
Then the Philistines went and put up their tents in Judah, all round Lehi.
10 And some from the tribe of Judah said to them, “Why have you ascended against us?” And they responded, “We have come to bind Samson, and to repay him for what he has done to us.”
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.
11 Then three thousand men of Judah descended to the cave of the rock at Etam. And they said to Samson: “Do you not know that the Philistines rule over us? Why would you want to do this?” And he said to them, “As they have done to me, so I have done to them.”
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.
12 And they said to him, “We have come to bind you, and to deliver you into the hands of the Philistines.” And Samson said to them, “Swear and promise to me that you will not kill me.”
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.
13 They said: “We will not kill you. But we will deliver you tied.” And they bound him with two new cords. And they took him from the rock at Etam.
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.
14 And when he had arrived at the place of the Jawbone, and the Philistines, shouting aloud, had met him, the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon him. And just as flax is usually consumed by a hint of fire, so were the ties with which he was bound broken and released.
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.
15 And finding a jawbone which was laying there, that is, the jawbone of a donkey, snatching it up, he put to death a thousand men with it.
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.
16 And he said, “With the jawbone of a donkey, with the jaw of the colt of a donkey, I have destroyed them, and I have struck down a thousand men.”
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.
17 And when he had completed these words, singing, he threw the jawbone from his hand. And called the name of that place Ramath-Lehi, which is translated as ‘the elevation of the jawbone.’
And having said these words, he let the mouth-bone go out of his hand; so that place was named Ramath-lehi.
18 And being very thirsty, he cried out to the Lord, and he said: “You have given, to the hand of your servant, this very great salvation and victory. But see that I am dying of thirst, and so I will fall into the hands of the uncircumcised.”
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.
19 And so the Lord opened a large tooth in the jawbone of the donkey, and water went out from it. And having drank it, his spirit was revived, and he recovered his strength. For this reason, the name of that place was called ‘the Spring called forth from the jawbone,’ even to the present day.
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.
20 And he judged Israel, in the days of the Philistines, for twenty years.
And he was judge of Israel in the days of the Philistines for twenty years.
