Judges 15
1 But after a while, in the time of wheat harvest, Samson visited his wife with a young goat. He said, “I will go in to my wife’s room.” But her father wouldn’t allow him to go in.
And it came to pass after some time, in the time of wheat-harvest, that Samson visited his wife with a kid; and he said, Let me go in to my wife into the chamber; but her father would not suffer him to go in.
2 Her father said, “I most certainly thought that you utterly hated her; therefore I gave her to your companion. Isn’t her younger sister more beautiful than she? Please, take her instead.”
And her father said, I verily thought that thou didst utterly hate her; therefore I gave her to thy companion: is not her younger sister fairer than she? Let her be thine, I pray thee, instead of her.
3 Samson said to them, “This time I will be blameless in the case of the Philistines when I harm them.”
And Samson said to them, Now shall I be more blameless than the Philistines, though I do them evil.
4 Samson went and caught three hundred foxes, and took torches, and turned tail to tail, and put a torch in the middle between every two tails.
And Samson went and caught three hundred foxes, and took torches, and turned tail to tail, and put one torch between two tails in the midst;
5 When he had set the torches on fire, he let them go into the standing grain of the Philistines, and burned up both the shocks and the standing grain, and also the olive groves.
And he set the torches on fire, and let them go into the standing corn of the Philistines, and burnt up both shocks and standing corn, as also olive-yards.
6 Then the Philistines said, “Who has done this?” They said, “Samson, the son-in-law of the Timnite, because he has taken his wife and given her to his companion.” The Philistines came up, and burned her and her father with fire.
Then said the Philistines, Who hath done this! And they answered, Samson, the son-in-law of the Thimnite, because he hath taken his wife, and given her to his companion. And the Philistines went up, and burnt her and her father with fire.
7 Samson said to them, “If you behave like this, surely I will take revenge on you, and after that I will cease.”
And Samson said unto them, Since ye will do the like of this, I will surely be avenged on you, and after that will I cease.
8 He struck them hip and thigh with a great slaughter; and he went down and lived in the cave in Etam’s rock.
And he smote them hip and thigh with a great slaughter; and he went down and tarried in the cleft of the rock 'Etam.
9 Then the Philistines went up, encamped in Judah, and spread themselves in Lehi.
And the Philistines went up, and encamped in Judah, and spread themselves in Lechi.
10 The men of Judah said, “Why have you come up against us?” They said, “We have come up to bind Samson, to do to him as he has done to us.”
And the men of Judah said, Why are ye come up against us? And they answered, To bind Samson are we come up, to do to him as he hath done to us.
11 Then three thousand men of Judah went down to the cave in Etam’s rock, and said to Samson, “Don’t you know that the Philistines are rulers over us? What then is this that you have done to us?” He said to them, “As they did to me, so I have done to them.”
Thereupon went three thousand men of Judah down to the cleft of the rock 'Etam, and said to Samson, Knowest thou not that the Philistines rule over us? and what is this that thou hast done unto us? And he said unto them, As they did unto me, so have I done unto them.
12 They said to him, “We have come down to bind you, that we may deliver you into the hand of the Philistines.” Samson said to them, “Swear to me that you will not attack me yourselves.”
And they said unto him, To bind thee are we come down, to deliver thee into the hand of the Philistines. And Samson said unto them, Swear unto me, that ye will not assail me yourselves.
13 They spoke to him, saying, “No, but we will bind you securely and deliver you into their hands; but surely we will not kill you.” They bound him with two new ropes, and brought him up from the rock.
And they said unto him, thus, No; for we will [only] bind thee fast, and deliver thee into their hand; but we will in no-wise kill thee. And they bound him with two new cords, and brought him up from the rock.
14 When he came to Lehi, the Philistines shouted as they met him. Then the LORD’s Spirit came mightily on him, and the ropes that were on his arms became as flax that was burned with fire; and his bands dropped from off his hands.
When he was come unto Lechi, the Philistines shouted against him; but the Spirit of the Lord came suddenly over him, and the cords that were upon his arms became as flax threads that are burnt with fire, and his bands melted from off his hands.
15 He found a fresh jawbone of a donkey, put out his hand, took it, and struck a thousand men with it.
And he found a fresh jaw-bone of an ass, and put forth his hand, and took it, and smote therewith a thousand men.
16 Samson said, “With the jawbone of a donkey, heaps on heaps; with the jawbone of a donkey I have struck a thousand men.”
And Samson said, With a jaw-bone of an ass, heaps upon heaps, with the jaw-bone of an ass have I smitten a thousand men.
17 When he had finished speaking, he threw the jawbone out of his hand; and that place was called Ramath Lehi.
And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking, that he cast away the jaw-bone out of his hand, and called that place Ramath-lechi.
18 He was very thirsty, and called on the LORD and said, “You have given this great deliverance by the hand of your servant; and now shall I die of thirst, and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?”
And he became very thirsty, and he called on the Lord, and said, Thou hast granted through the hand of thy servant this great deliverance; and now shall I die for thirst, and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised?
19 But God split the hollow place that is in Lehi, and water came out of it. When he had drunk, his spirit came again, and he revived. Therefore its name was called En Hakkore, which is in Lehi, to this day.
But God clave a hollow place that was at Lechi, and there came forth water out of it; and he drank, and his spirit came again, and he revived; wherefore he called the name thereof 'En-hakkore, which is in Lechi unto this day.
20 He judged Israel twenty years in the days of the Philistines.
And he judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years.
