Judges 16
1 And Samson goes to Gaza, and sees a woman there, a harlot, and goes in to her;
Samson went to Gaza and saw a prostitute there, and he went to bed with 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.”
The Gazites were told, “Samson has come here.” The Gazites surrounded the place and in secret, they waited for him all night at the city gate. They kept silent all night. They had said, “Let us wait until daylight, and then let us 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.
Samson lay in bed until midnight. At midnight he got up and he took hold of the city gate and its two posts. He pulled them up out of the ground, bar and all, put them on his shoulders, and carried them up to the top of the hill, in front of Hebron.
4 And it comes to pass afterward that he loves a woman in the Valley of Sorek, and her name [is] Delilah,
After this, Samson came to love a woman who lived in the Valley of Sorek. Her name was Delilah.
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.”
The rulers of the Philistines came up to her, and said to her, “Trick Samson to see where his great strength lies, and by what means we may overpower him, that we may bind him in order to humiliate him. Do this, and each one of us will give you 1,100 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.”
Then Delilah said to Samson, “Please, tell me how is it that you are so strong, and how could anyone bind you, so you might be controlled?”
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.”
Samson said to her, “If they tie me with seven fresh bowstrings that have not been dried, then I will become weak and be like any other man.”
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.
Then the rulers of the Philistines brought up to Delilah seven fresh bowstrings that had not been dried, and she tied Samson up 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.
Now she had men hiding in secret, staying in her inner room. She said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” But he broke the bowstrings like a thread of yarn when it touches the fire. So the secret of his strength was not discovered.
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.”
Then Delilah said to Samson, “This is how you have deceived me and told me lies. Please, tell me how you can be overpowered.”
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.”
He said to her, “If they tie me up with new ropes which have never been used for work, I will become weak and like any other 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.
So Delilah took new ropes and tied him up with them, and said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” The men lying in wait were in the inner room. But Samson tore off the ropes from his arms like they were a piece of 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.”
Delilah said to Samson, “Until now you have deceived me and told me lies. Tell me how you may be overpowered.” Samson said to her, “If you weave seven locks of my hair into a fabric on a loom, and then nail that to the loom, I will be like any other 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.
While he slept, Delilah wove seven locks of his hair into the fabric on the loom and nailed it to the loom, and she said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” He woke from his sleep and he pulled out the fabric and the pin from the loom.
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].”
She said to him, “How can you say, 'I love you,' when you do not share your secrets with me? You have mocked me these three times and have not told me how you have such 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,
Every day she pressed him hard with her words, and she pressured him so much that he wished he would die.
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.”
So Samson told her everything and said to her, “I have never had a razor cut the hair on my head, for I have been a Nazirite for God from my mother's womb. If my head is shaved, then my strength will leave me, and I will become weak and be like every other man.”
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.
When Delilah saw that he had told her the truth about everything, she sent and called for the rulers of the Philistines, saying, “Come up again, for he has told me everything.” Then the rulers of the Philistines went up to her, bringing the silver 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;
She had him fall asleep in her lap. She called for a man to shave off the seven locks of his head, and she began to subdue him, for his strength had left 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.
She said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” He woke up out of his sleep and said, “I will get out like the other times and shake myself free.” But he did not know that Yahweh had left 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.
The Philistines captured him and put out his eyes. They brought him down to Gaza and bound him with bronze shackles. He turned the millstone at the prison house.
22 And the hair of his head begins to shoot up when he has been shaven,
But the hair on his head began to grow again after it had been shaved.
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.”
The rulers of the Philistines gathered together to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god, and to rejoice. They said, “Our god has conquered Samson, our enemy, and put him in our grasp.”
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.”
When the people saw him, they praised their god, for they said, “Our god has conquered our enemy and given him to us—the destroyer of our country, who killed many of us.”
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.
When they were celebrating, they said, “Call for Samson, that he may make us laugh.” They called for Samson out of the prison and he made them laugh. They made him stand 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.”
Samson said to the boy who held his hand, “Permit me to touch the pillars on which the building rests, so that I can lean against 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.
Now the house was full of men and women. All the rulers of the Philistines were there. There were on the roof about three thousand men and women, who were looking on while Samson was entertaining them.
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.”
Samson called to Yahweh and said, “Lord Yahweh, call me to mind! Please strengthen me only this once, God, so that I may have revenge in one blow on the Philistines for taking 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;
Samson held on to the two middle pillars on which the building rested, and he leaned against them, one pillar 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.
Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines!” He stretched out with his strength and the building fell on the rulers and on all the people who were in it. So the dead that he killed when he died were more than those he killed during 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.
Then his brothers and all the house of his father came down. They took him, brought him back and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the burial place of Manoah, his father. Samson had judged Israel for twenty years.
