Judges 15
1 `Forsothe aftir sum del of tyme, whanne the daies of wheete heruest neiyiden, Sampson cam, and wolde visite his wijf, and he brouyte to hir a `kide of geet; and when he wolde entre in to hir bed bi custom, `the fadir of hir forbeed hym, and seide,
But it came to pass after a while, in the time of wheat harvest, that Samson visited his wife with a kid; and he said, I will go in to my wife into the chamber. But her father would not suffer him to go in.
2 Y gesside that thou haddist hatid hir, and therfor Y yaf hir to thi freend; but sche hath a sistir, which is yongere and fairere than sche, be sche `wijf to thee for hir.
And her father said, I verily thought that thou hadst utterly hated her; therefore I gave her to thy companion: is not her younger sister fairer than she? take her, I pray thee, instead of her.
3 To whom Sampson answeride, Fro this day no blame schal be in me ayens Filistees, for Y schal do yuels to you.
And Samson said unto them, This time shall I be blameless in regard of the Philistines, when I do them a mischief.
4 And he yede, and took thre hundrid foxis, and ioynede `the tailis of hem to tailis, and boond brondis in the myddis,
And Samson went and caught three hundred foxes, and took firebrands, and turned tail to tail, and put a firebrand in the midst between every two tails.
5 whiche he kyndlid with fier, and leet hem, that thei schulden renne aboute hidur and thidur; `which yeden anoon in to the cornes of Filisteis, bi whiche kyndlid, bothe cornes `borun now to gidere, and yit stondynge in the stobil, weren brent, in so myche that the flawme wastide vyneris, and `places of olyue trees.
And when he had set the brands on fire, he let them go into the standing corn of the Philistines, and burnt up both the shocks and the standing corn, and also the oliveyards.
6 And Filisteis seiden, Who dide this thing? To whiche it was seid, Sampson, hosebonde of the `douytir of Thannathei, for he took awey Sampsones wijf, and yaf to another man, `wrouyte this thing. And Filisteis stieden, and brenten bothe the womman and hir fadir.
Then the Philistines said, Who hath done this? And they said, Samson, the son in law of the Timnite, because he hath taken his wife, and given her to his companion. And the Philistines came up, and burnt her and her father with fire.
7 To whiche Sampson seide, Thouy ye han do this, netheles yit Y schal axe veniaunce of you, and than Y schal reste.
And Samson said unto them, If ye do after this manner, surely I will be avenged of you, and after that I will cease.
8 And he smoot hem with greet wounde, so that thei wondriden, and `puttiden the hyndrere part of the hipe on the thiy; and he yede doun, and dwellide in the denne of the stoon of Ethan.
And he smote them hip and thigh with a great slaughter: and he went down and dwelt in the cleft of the rock of Etam.
9 Therfor Filisteis stieden in to the lond of Juda, and settiden tentis in the place, that was clepid aftirward Lethi, that is, a cheke, wher `the oost of hem was spred a brood.
Then the Philistines went up, and pitched in Judah, and spread themselves in Lehi.
10 And men of the lynage of Juda seiden to hem, Whi `stieden ye ayens vs? Whiche answeriden, We comen that we bynde Sampson, and yelde to hym tho thingis whiche he wrouyte in vs.
And the men of Judah said, Why are ye come up against us? And they said, To bind Samson are we come up, to do to him as he hath done to us.
11 Therfor thre thousynde of men of Juda yeden doun to the denne of the flynt of Ethan; and thei seiden to Sampson, Woost thou not, that Filisteis comaunden to vs? Why woldist thou do this thing? To whiche he seide.
Then three thousand men of Judah went down to the cleft of the rock of Etam, and said to Samson, Knowest thou not that the Philistines are rulers over us? what then 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 As thei diden to me, Y dide to hem. Thei seien, We comen to bynde thee, and to bitake thee in to the `hondis of Filisteis. To whiche Sampson answeride, Swere ye, and `biheete ye to me, that ye sle not me.
And they said unto him, We are come down to bind thee, that we may deliver thee into the hand of the Philistines. And Samson said unto them, Swear unto me, that ye will not fall upon me yourselves.
13 And thei seiden, We schulen not sle thee, but we schulen bitake thee boundun. And thei bounden him with twei newe cordis, and token fro the stoon of Ethan.
And they spake unto him, saying, No; but we will bind thee fast, and deliver thee into their hand: but surely we will not kill thee. And they bound him with two new ropes, and brought him up from the rock.
14 And whanne thei hadden come to the place of cheke, and Filisteis criynge hadden runne to hym, the spirit of the Lord felde in to hym, and as stikis ben wont to be wastid at the odour of fier, so and the bondis, with whiche he was boundun, weren scaterid and vnboundun.
When he came unto Lehi, the Philistines shouted as they met him: and the spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and the ropes that were upon his arms became as flax that was burnt with fire, and his bands dropped from off his hands.
15 And he took a cheke foundun, that is, the lowere cheke boon of an asse, that lay, `and he killyde `with it a thousinde men; and seide,
And he found a new jawbone of an ass, and put forth his hand, and took it, and smote a thousand men therewith.
16 With the cheke of an asse, that is, with the lowere cheke of a colt of femal assis, Y dide hem awey, and Y killide a thousynde men.
And Samson said, With the jawbone of an ass, heaps upon heaps, with the jawbone of an ass have I smitten a thousand men.
17 And whanne he songe these wordis, and `hadde fillid, he castide forth fro the hond the lowere cheke; and he clepide the name of that place Ramath Lethi, `which is interpretid, the reisyng of a cheke.
And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking, that he cast away the jawbone out of his hand; and that place was called Ramath-lehi.
18 And he thristide greetly, and criede to the Lord, and seide, Thou hast youe in the hond of thi seruaunt this grettest helthe and victory; and lo! Y die for thyrst, and Y schal falle in to the hondis of vncircumcidid men.
And he was sore athirst, and called on the LORD, and said, Thou hast given this great deliverance by the hand of thy servant: and now shall I die for thirst, and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised.
19 Therfor the Lord openyde a wang tooth in the cheke boon of the asse, and watris yeden out therof, `bi whiche drunkun he refreischide the spirit, and resseuede strengthis; therfor the name of that place was clepid the Welle of the clepere of the cheke `til to present dai.
But God clave the hollow place that is in Lehi, and there came water thereout; and when he had drunk, his spirit came again, and he revived: wherefore the name thereof was called En-hakkore, which is in Lehi, unto this day.
20 And he demyde Israel in the daies of Filistiym twenti yeer.
And he judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years.
