Judges 16
1 And Samson goes to Gaza, and sees a woman there, a harlot, and goes in to her;
And Sampson went to Gaza, and saw there a harlot, and went in to her.
2 [it is told] to the Gazathites, saying, “Samson has come in here”; and they go around and lay wait for him all the night at the gate of the city, and keep themselves silent all the night, saying, “Until the morning light—then we have slain him.”
And it was reported to the Gazites, saying, Sampson is come here: 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 kill him.
3 And Samson lies down until the middle of the night, and rises in the middle of the night, and lays hold on the doors of the gate of the city, and on the two side-posts, and removes them with the bar, and puts [them] on his shoulders, and takes them up to the top of the hill, which [is] on the front of Hebron.
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.
4 And it comes to pass afterward that he loves a woman in the Valley of Sorek, and her name [is] Delilah,
And it came to pass after this that he loved a woman in Alsorech, and her name [was] Dalida.
5 and the princes of the Philistines come up to her, and say to her, “Entice him, and see wherein his great power [is], and wherein we are able for him—and we have bound him to afflict him, and each one of us gives eleven hundred pieces of silver to you.”
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 you each eleven hundred [pieces] of silver.
6 And Delilah says to Samson, “Please declare to me wherein your great power [is], and with what you are bound, to afflict you.”
And Dalida said to Sampson, Tell me, I pray you, wherein [is] your great strength, and wherewith you shall be bound that you may be humbled.
7 And Samson says to her, “If they bind me with seven green cords which have not been dried, then I have been weak, and have been as one of mankind.”
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.
8 And the princes of the Philistines bring up to her seven green cords which have not been dried, and she binds him with them.
And the princess of the Philistines brought to her seven moist cords that had not been spoiled, and she bound him with them.
9 And the ambush is abiding with her in an inner chamber, and she says to him, “Philistines [are] on you, Samson!” And he breaks the cords as a thread of tow is broken in its touching fire, and his power has not been known.
And the liers in wait remained with her in the chamber; and she said to him, the Philistines [are] upon you, 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.
10 And Delilah says to Samson, “Behold, you have played on me, and speak lies to me; now, please declare to me with what you are bound.”
And Dalida said to Sampson, Behold, you have cheated me, and told me lies; now then tell me wherewith you shall be bound.
11 And he says to her, “If they certainly bind me with thick bands, new ones, by which work has not been done, then I have been weak, and have been as one of mankind.”
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.
12 And Delilah takes thick bands, new ones, and binds him with them, and says to him, “Philistines [are] on you, Samson!” And the ambush is abiding in an inner chamber, and he breaks them from off his arms as a thread.
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 you, Sampson: and he broke them off his arms like a thread.
13 And Delilah says to Samson, “Until now you have played on me, and speak lies to me; declare to me with what you are bound.” And he says to her, “If you weave the seven locks of my head with the web.”
And Dalida said to Sampson, Behold, you have deceived me, and told me lies; tell me, I entreat you, wherewith you may be bound: and he said to her, If you should weave the seven locks of my head with the web, and should fasten them with the pin into the wall, then shall I be weak as another man.
14 And she fixes [it] with the pin and says to him, “Philistines [are] on you, Samson!” And he awakens out of his sleep, and pulls out the pin of the loom, and with the web.
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 you, Sampson: and he awoke out of his sleep, and carried away the pin of the web out of the wall.
15 And she says to him, “How do you say, I have loved you, and your heart is not with me? These three times you have played on me, and have not declared to me wherein your great power [is].”
And Dalida said to Sampson, How say you, I love you, when your heart is not with me? this third time you have deceived me, and have not told me wherein [is] your great strength.
16 And it comes to pass, because she distressed him with her words all the days, and urges him, and his soul is grieved to death,
And it came to pass as she pressed him sore with her words continually, and straitened him, that his spirit failed almost to death.
17 that he declares all his heart to her, and says to her, “A razor has not gone up on my head, for I [am] a Nazarite to God from the womb of my mother; if I have been shaven, then my power has turned aside from me, and I have been weak, and have been as all of mankind.”
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.
18 And Delilah sees that he has declared all his heart to her, and she sends and calls for the princes of the Philistines, saying, “Come up this time, for he has declared all his heart to me”; and the princes of the Philistines have come up to her, and bring up the money in their hand.
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.
19 And she makes him sleep on her knees, and calls for a man, and shaves the seven locks of his head, and begins to afflict him, and his power turns aside from off him;
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.
20 and she says, “Philistines [are] on you, Samson!” And he awakens out of his sleep and says, “I go out as time by time, and shake free”; but he has not known that YHWH has turned aside from off him.
And Dalida said, The Philistines [are] upon you, 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.
21 And the Philistines seize him, and pick out his eyes, and bring him down to Gaza, and bind him with two bronze chains; and he is grinding in the prison-house.
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.
22 And the hair of his head begins to shoot up when he has been shaven,
And the hair of his head began to grow as before it was shaven.
23 and the princes of the Philistines have been gathered together to sacrifice a great sacrifice to their god Dagon, and to rejoice; and they say, “Our god has given our enemy Samson into our hand.”
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.
24 And the people see him, and praise their god, for they said, “Our god has given into our hand our enemy, and he who is laying waste to our land, and who multiplied our wounded.”
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.
25 And it comes to pass, when their heart [is] glad, that they say, “Call for Samson, and he entertains for us”; and they call for Samson out of the prison-house, and he entertains their faces, and they cause him to stand between the pillars.
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 struck him with the palms of their hands, and set him between the pillars.
26 And Samson says to the young man who is keeping hold on his hand, “Let me also feel the pillars on which the house is established, and I lean on them.”
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.
27 And the house has been full of the men and the women, and all the princes of the Philistines [are] there, and about three thousand men and women [are] on the roof, who are watching Samson entertain.
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.
28 And Samson calls to YHWH and says, “Lord YHWH, please remember me and please strengthen me only this time, O God; and I am avenged—vengeance at once—because of my two eyes, on the Philistines.”
And Sampson wept before the Lord, and said, O Lord, my lord, remember me, I pray you, and strengthen me, O God, yet this once, and I will requite one recompense to the Philistines for my two eyes.
29 And Samson turns aside [to] the two middle pillars, on which the house is established, and on which it is supported, [to] one with his right hand and one with his left;
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.
30 and Samson says, “Let me die with the Philistines,” and he inclines himself powerfully, and the house falls on the princes, and on all the people who [are] in it, and the dead whom he has put to death in his death are more than those whom he put to death in his life.
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 killed in his death were more than those whom he killed in his life.
31 And his brothers come down, and all the house of his father, and lift him up, and bring him up, and bury him between Zorah and Eshtaol, in the burying-place of his father Manoah; and he has judged Israel [for] twenty years.
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.
