Judges 16
1 Samson went to Gaza and saw a prostitute there, and he went to bed with her.
One day Samson went to Gaza, where he saw a prostitute and went in to spend the night with her.
2 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.”
When the Gazites heard that Samson was there, they surrounded that place and lay in wait for him all night at the city gate. They were quiet throughout the night, saying, “Let us wait until dawn; then we will kill him.”
3 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.
But Samson lay there only until midnight, when he got up, took hold of the doors of the city gate and both gateposts, and pulled them out, bar and all. Then he put them on his shoulders and took them to the top of the mountain overlooking Hebron.
4 After this, Samson came to love a woman who lived in the Valley of Sorek. Her name was Delilah.
Some time later, Samson fell in love with a woman in the Valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah.
5 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.”
The lords of the Philistines went to her and said, “Entice him and find out the source of his great strength and how we can overpower him to tie him up and subdue him. Then each one of us will give you eleven hundred shekels of silver.”
6 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?”
So Delilah said to Samson, “Please tell me the source of your great strength and how you can be tied up and subdued.”
7 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.”
Samson told her, “If they tie me up with seven fresh bowstrings that have not been dried, I will become as weak as any other man.”
8 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.
So the lords of the Philistines brought her seven fresh bowstrings that had not been dried, and she tied him up with them.
9 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.
While the men were hidden in her room, she called out, “Samson, the Philistines are here!” But he snapped the bowstrings like a strand of yarn seared by a flame. So the source of his strength remained unknown.
10 Then Delilah said to Samson, “This is how you have deceived me and told me lies. Please, tell me how you can be overpowered.”
Then Delilah said to Samson, “You have mocked me and lied to me! Now please tell me how you can be tied up.”
11 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.”
He replied, “If they tie me up with new ropes that have never been used, I will become as weak as any other man.”
12 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.
So Delilah took new ropes, tied him up with them, and called out, “Samson, the Philistines are here!” But while the men were hidden in her room, he snapped the ropes off his arms like they were threads.
13 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.”
Then Delilah said to Samson, “You have mocked me and lied to me all along! Tell me how you can be tied up.” He told her, “If you weave the seven braids of my head into the web of a loom and tighten it with a pin, I will become as weak as any other man.”
14 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.
So while he slept, Delilah took the seven braids of his hair and wove them into the web. Then she tightened it with a pin and called to him, “Samson, the Philistines are here!” But he awoke from his sleep and pulled out the pin with the loom and the web.
15 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.”
“How can you say, ‘I love you,’” she asked, “when your heart is not with me? This is the third time you have mocked me and failed to reveal to me the source of your great strength!”
16 Every day she pressed him hard with her words, and she pressured him so much that he wished he would die.
Finally, after she had pressed him daily with her words and pleaded until he was sick to death,
17 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.”
Samson told her all that was in his heart: “My hair has never been cut, because I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother’s womb. If I am shaved, my strength will leave me, and I will become as weak as any other man.”
18 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.
When Delilah realized that he had revealed to her all that was in his heart, she sent this message to the lords of the Philistines: “Come up once more, for he has revealed to me all that is in his heart.” Then the lords of the Philistines came to her, bringing the money in their hands.
19 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.
And having lulled him to sleep on her lap, she called a man to shave off the seven braids of his head. In this way she began to subdue him, and his strength left him.
20 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.
Then she called out, “Samson, the Philistines are here!” When Samson awoke from his sleep, he thought, “I will escape as I did before and shake myself free.” But he did not know that the LORD had departed from him.
21 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.
Then the Philistines seized him, gouged out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, where he was bound with bronze shackles and forced to grind grain in the prison.
22 But the hair on his head began to grow again after it had been shaved.
However, the hair of his head began to grow back after it had been shaved.
23 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.”
Now the lords of the Philistines gathered together to offer a great sacrifice to their god Dagon. They rejoiced and said, “Our god has delivered Samson our enemy into our hands.”
24 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.”
And when the people saw him, they praised their god, saying: “Our god has delivered into our hands our enemy who destroyed our land and multiplied our dead.”
25 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.
And while their hearts were merry, they said, “Call for Samson to entertain us.” So they called Samson out of the prison to entertain them. And they stationed him between the pillars.
26 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.”
Samson said to the servant who held his hand, “Lead me where I can feel the pillars supporting the temple, so I can lean against them.”
27 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.
Now the temple was full of men and women; all the lords of the Philistines were there, and about three thousand men and women were on the roof watching Samson entertain them.
28 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.”
Then Samson called out to the LORD: “O Lord GOD, please remember me. Strengthen me, O God, just once more, so that with one vengeful blow I may pay back the Philistines for my two eyes.”
29 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.
And Samson reached out for the two central pillars supporting the temple. Bracing himself against them with his right hand on one pillar and his left hand on the other,
30 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.
Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines.” Then he pushed with all his might, and the temple fell on the lords and all the people in it. So in his death he killed more than he had killed in his life.
31 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.
Then Samson’s brothers and his father’s family came down, carried him back, and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of his father Manoah. And he had judged Israel twenty years.
