Judges 16
1 Then went Samson to Azzah, and sawe there an harlot, and went in vnto her.
One day Samson went to Gaza [city in the Philistia area]. He spent some time with a prostitute.
2 And it was tolde to the Azzahites, Samson is come hither. And they went about, and laied wayte for him all night in the gate of the citie, and were quiet all the nyght, saying, Abide till the morning earely, and we shall kill him.
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 And Samson slept till midnight, and arose at midnight, and tooke the doores of the gates of the citie, and the two postes and lift them away with the barres, and put them vpon his shoulders, and caried them vp to the top of the mountaine that is before Hebron.
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 And after this hee loued a woman by the riuer of Sorek, whose name was Delilah:
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 Vnto whome came the princes of the Philistims, and said vnto her, Entise him, and see wherein his great strength lieth, and by what meane we may ouercome him, that we may binde him, and punish him, and euery one of vs shall giue thee eleuen hundreth shekels of siluer.
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 And Delilah saide to Samson, Tell mee, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength lieth, and wherewith thou mightest bee bound, to doe thee hurt.
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 Samson then answered vnto her, If they binde mee with seuen greene cordes, that were neuer dryed, then shall I bee weake, and be as an other man.
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 And the princes of the Philistims brought her seuen greene cordes that were not dry, and she bound him therewith.
So [after Delilah told that to the Philistine leaders], they brought seven new bowstrings to Delilah.
9 (And she had men lying in wayte with her in the chamber) Then she said vnto him, The Philistims be vpon thee, Samson. And hee brake the cordes, as a threede of towe is broken, when it feeleth fire: so his strength was not knowen.
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 After Delilah saide vnto Samson, See, thou hast mocked mee and tolde mee lies. I pray thee nowe, tell me wherewith thou mightest be bound.
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 Then he answered her, If they binde mee with newe ropes that neuer were occupied, then shall I be weake, and be as an other man.
Samson replied, “If someone ties me with new ropes, ones that have never been used, I will be as weak as other men.”
12 Delilah therefore tooke newe ropes, and bounde him therewith, and saide vnto him, The Philistims be vpon thee, Samson: (and men lay in wayte in the chamber) and hee brake them from his armes, as a threede.
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 Afterward Delilah said to Samson, Hitherto thou hast beguiled mee, and tolde me lies: tell me how thou mightest be bounde. And he sayde vnto her, If thou plattedst seuen lockes of mine head with the threedes of the woufe.
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 And she fastened it with a pinne, and saide vnto him, The Philistims be vpon thee, Samson. And he awoke out of his sleepe, and went away with the pinne of the webbe and the woufe.
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 Againe shee sayde vnto him, Howe canst thou say, I loue thee, when thine heart is not with me? thou hast mocked mee these three times, and hast not tolde me wherein thy great strength lieth.
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 And because shee was importunate vpon him with her wordes continually, and vexed him, his soule was pained vnto the death.
Day after day she nagged him like that. He thought he would die from her nagging [IDM].
17 Therefore he tolde her all his heart, and said vnto her, There neuer came rasor vpon mine head: for I am a Nazarite vnto God from my mothers wombe: therefore if I bee shauen, my strength will goe from me, and I shalbe weake, and be like all other men.
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 And when Delilah sawe that he had tolde her all his heart, she sent, and called for the Princes of ye Philistims, saying, Come vp once againe: for he hath shewed mee all his heart. Then the Princes of the Philistims came vp vnto her, and brought the money in their handes.
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 And she made him sleepe vpon her knees, and she called a man, and made him to shaue off the seuen lockes of his head, and shee began to vexe him, and his strength was gone from him.
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 Then she said, The Philistims be vpon thee, Samson. And hee awoke out of his sleepe, and thought, I will go out now as at other times, and shake my selfe, but he knewe not that the Lord was departed from him.
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 Therefore the Philistims tooke him, and put out his eyes, and brought him downe to Azzah, and bounde him with fetters: and hee did grinde in the prison house.
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 And the heare of his head began to growe againe after that it was shauen.
But his hair started to grow again.
23 Then the Princes of the Philistims gathered them together for to offer a great sacrifice vnto Dagon their god, and to reioyce: for they said, Our god hath deliuered Samson our enemie into our handes.
[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 Also when the people saw him, they praysed their god: for they sayde, Our god hath deliuered into our hands our enemie and destroyer of our countrey, which hath slayne many of vs.
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 And when their heartes were merie, they said, Call Samson, that he may make vs pastime. So they called Samson out of the prison house, and he was a laughing stocke vnto them, and they set him betweene the pillars.
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 Then Samson saide vnto the seruant that led him by the hande, Lead me, that I may touch the pillars that the house standeth vpon, and that I may leane to them.
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 (Nowe the house was full of men and women, and there were all the princes of the Philistims: also vpon the roofe were about three thousande men and women that behelde while Samson played)
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 Then Samson called vnto the Lord, and sayde, O Lord God, I pray thee, thinke vpon me: O God, I beseech thee, strengthen me at this time onely, that I may be at once auenged of the Philistims for my two eyes.
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 And Samson layd hold on the two middle pillars whereupon the house stood, and on which it was borne vp: on the one with his right hand, and on the other with his left.
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 Then Samson saide, Let me lose my life with the Philistims: and he bowed him with all his might, and the house fell vpon the princes, and vpon all the people that were therein. so the dead which he slewe at his death were more then they which he had slaine in his life.
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 Then his brethren, and all the house of his father came downe and tooke him, and brought him vp and buryed him betweene Zorah and Eshtaol, in the sepulchre of Manoah his father: nowe he had iudged Israel twenty yeeres.
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.
