Iudicum 16
1 Abiit quoque in Gazam, et vidit ibi mulierem meretricem, ingressusque est ad eam.
And Samson went to Gaza, and saw there a harlot, and went in unto her.
2 Quod cum audissent Philisthiim, et percrebruisset apud eos, intrasse urbem Samson, circumdederunt eum, positis in porta civitatis custodibus: et ibi tota nocte cum silentio praestolantes, ut facto mane exeuntem occiderent.
And it was told the Gazites, saying: 'Samson is come hither.' And they compassed him in, and lay in wait for him all night in the gate of the city, and were quiet all the night, saying: 'Let be till morning light, then we will kill him.'
3 Dormivit autem Samson usque ad medium noctem: et inde consurgens apprehendit ambas portae fores cum postibus suis, et sera, impositasque humeris suis portavit ad verticem montis, qui respicit Hebron.
And Samson lay till midnight, and arose at midnight, and laid hold of the doors of the gate of the city, and the two posts, and plucked them up, bar and all, and put them upon his shoulders, and carried them up to the top of the mountain that is before Hebron.
4 Post haec amavit mulierem, quae habitabat in Valle Sorec, et vocabatur Dalila.
And it came to pass afterward, that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah.
5 Veneruntque ad eam principes Philisthinorum, atque dixerunt: Decipe eum, et disce ab illo, in quo habeat tantam fortitudinem, et quo modo eum superare valeamus, et vinctum affligere. quod si feceris, dabimus tibi singuli mille et centum argenteos.
And the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and said unto her: 'Entice him, and see wherein his great strength lieth, and by what means we may prevail against him, that we may bind him to afflict him; and we will give thee every one of us eleven hundred pieces of silver.'
6 Locuta est ergo Dalila ad Samson: Dic mihi, obsecro, in quo sit tua maxima fortitudo, et quid sit quo ligatus erumpere nequeas?
And Delilah said to Samson: 'Tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength lieth, and wherewith thou mightest be bound to afflict thee.'
7 Cui respondit Samson: Si septem nerviceis funibus necdum siccis, et adhuc humentibus ligatus fuero, infirmus ero ut ceteri homines.
And Samson said unto her: 'If they bind me with seven fresh bowstrings that were never dried, then shall I become weak, and be as any other man.'
8 Attuleruntque ad eam satrapae Philisthinorum septem funes, ut dixerat: quibus vinxit eam,
Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven fresh bowstrings which had not been dried, and she bound him with them.
9 latentibus apud se insidiis, et in cubiculo finem rei expectantibus, clamavitque ad eum: Philisthiim super te Samson. Qui rupit vincula, quo modo si rumpat quis filum de stupa tortum sputamine, cum odorem ignis acceperit: et non est cognitum in quo esset fortitudo eius.
Now she had liers-in-wait abiding in the inner chamber. And she said unto him: 'The Philistines are upon thee, Samson.' And he broke the bowstrings as a string of tow is broken when it toucheth the fire. So his strength was not known.
10 Dixitque ad eum Dalila: Ecce illusisti mihi, et falsum locutus es: saltem nunc indica mihi quo ligari debeas.
And Delilah said unto Samson: 'Behold, thou hast mocked me, and told me lies; now tell me, I pray thee, wherewith thou mightest be bound.'
11 Cui ille respondit: Si ligatus fuero novis funibus, qui numquam fuerunt in opere, infirmus ero, et aliorum hominum similis.
And he said unto her: 'If they only bind me with new ropes wherewith no work hath been done, then shall I become weak, and be as any other man.'
12 Quibus rursum Dalila vinxit eum, et clamavit: Philisthiim super te Samson, in cubiculo insidiis praeparatis. Qui ita rupit vincula quasi fila telarum.
So Delilah took new ropes, and bound him therewith, and said unto him: 'The Philistines are upon thee, Samson.' And the liers-in-wait were abiding in the inner chamber. And he broke them from off his arms like a thread.
13 Dixitque Dalila rursum ad eum: Usquequo decipis me, et falsum loqueris? ostende quo vinciri debeas. Cui respondit Samson: Si septem crines capitis mei cum licio plexueris, et clavum his circumligatum terrae fixeris, infirmus ero.
And Delilah said unto Samson: 'Hitherto thou hast mocked me, and told me lies; tell me wherewith thou mightest be bound.' And he said unto her: 'If thou weavest the seven locks of my head with the web.'
14 Quod cum fecisset Dalila, dixit ad eum: Philisthiim super te Samson. Qui consurgens de somno extraxit clavum cum crinibus et licio.
And she fastened it with the pin, and said unto him: 'The Philistines are upon thee, Samson.' And he awoke out of his sleep, and plucked away the pin of the beam, and the web.
15 Dixitque ad eum Dalila: Quo modo dicis quod amas me, cum animus tuus non sit mecum? Per tres vices mentitus es mihi, et noluisti dicere in quo sit maxima fortitudo tua.
And she said unto him: 'How canst thou say: I love thee, when thy heart is not with me? thou hast mocked me these three times, and hast not told me wherein thy great strength lieth.'
16 Cumque molesta esset ei, et per multos dies iugiter adhaereret, spatium ad quietem non tribuens, defecit anima eius, et ad mortem usque lassata est.
And it came to pass, when she pressed him daily with her words, and urged him, that his soul was vexed unto death.
17 Tunc aperiens veritatem rei, dixit ad eam: Ferrum numquam ascendit super caput meum, quia nazaraeus, id est, consecratus Deo sum de utero matris meae: si rasum fuerit caput meum, recedet a me fortitudo mea, et deficiam, eroque sicut ceteri homines.
And he told her all his heart, and said unto her: 'There hath not come a razor upon my head; for I have been a Nazirite unto God from my mother's womb; if I be shaven, then my strength will go from me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man.'
18 Vidensque illa quod confessus ei esset omnem animum suum, misit ad principes Philisthinorum ac mandavit: Ascende adhuc semel, quia nunc mihi aperuit cor suum. Qui ascenderunt assumpta pecunia, quam promiserant.
And when Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called for the lords of the Philistines, saying: 'Come up this once, for he hath told me all his heart.' Then the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and brought the money in their hand.
19 At illa dormire eum fecit super genua sua, et in sinu suo reclinare caput. Vocavitque tonsorem, et rasit septem crines eius, et coepit abigere eum, et a se repellere: statim enim ab eo fortitudo discessit:
And she made him sleep upon her knees; and she called for a man, and had the seven locks of his head shaven off; and she began to afflict him, and his strength went from him.
20 dixitque: Philisthiim super te Samson. Qui de somno consurgens, dixit in animo suo: Egrediar sicut ante feci, et me excutiam, nesciens quod recessisset ab eo Dominus.
And she said: 'The Philistines are upon thee, Samson.' And he awoke out of his sleep, and said: 'I will go out as at other times, and shake myself.' But he knew not that the LORD was departed from him.
21 Quem cum apprehendissent Philisthiim, statim eruerunt oculos eius, et duxerunt Gazam vinctum catenis, et clausum in carcere molere fecerunt.
And the Philistines laid hold on him, and put out his eyes; and they brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he did grind in the prison-house.
22 Iamque capilli eius renasci coeperunt,
Howbeit the hair of his head began to grow again after he was shaven.
23 et principes Philisthinorum convenerunt in unum ut immolarent hostias magnificas Dagon deo suo, et epularentur, dicentes: Tradidit Deus noster inimicum nostrum Samson in manus nostras.
And the lords of the Philistines gathered them together to offer a great sacrifice unto Dagon their god, and to rejoice; for they said: 'Our god hath delivered Samson our enemy into our hand.'
24 Quod etiam populus videns, laudabat deum suum, eademque dicebat: Tradidit Deus noster adversarium nostrum in manus nostras, qui delevit terram nostram, et occidit plurimos.
And when the people saw him, they praised their god; for they said: 'Our god hath delivered into our hand our enemy, and the destroyer of our country, who hath slain many of us.'
25 Laetantesque per convivia, sumptis iam epulis, praeceperunt ut vocaretur Samson, et ante eos luderet. Qui adductus de carcere ludebat ante eos, feceruntque eum stare inter duas columnas.
And it came to pass, when their hearts were merry, that they said: 'Call for Samson, that he may make us sport.' And they called for Samson out of the prison-house; and he made sport before them; and they set him between the pillars.
26 Qui dixit puero regenti gressus suos: Dimitte me, ut tangam columnas, quibus omnis imminet domus, et recliner super eas, et paululum requiescam.
And Samson said unto the lad that held him by the hand: 'Suffer me that I may feel the pillars whereupon the house resteth, that I may lean upon them.'
27 Domus autem erat plena virorum ac mulierum, et erant ibi omnes principes Philisthinorum, ac de tecto et solario circiter tria millia utriusque sexus spectantes ludentem Samson.
Now the house was full of men and women; and all the lords of the Philistines were there; and there were upon the roof about three thousand men and women, that beheld while Samson made sport.
28 At ille invocato Domino ait: Domine Deus, memento mei, et redde mihi nunc fortitudinem pristinam Deus meus, ut ulciscar me de hostibus meis, et pro amissione duorum luminum unam ultionem recipiam.
And Samson called unto the LORD, and said: 'O Lord GOD, remember me, I pray Thee, and strengthen me, I pray Thee, only this once, O God, that I may be this once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes.'
29 Et apprehendens ambas columnas, quibus innitebatur domus, alteramque earum dextera, et alteram laeva tenens,
And Samson took fast hold of the two middle pillars upon which the house rested, and leaned upon them, the one with his right hand, and the other with his left.
30 ait: Moriatur anima mea cum Philisthiim. concussisque fortiter columnis, cecidit domus super omnes principes, et ceteram multitudinem, quae ibi erat: multoque plures interfecit moriens, quam ante vivus occiderat.
And Samson said: 'Let me die with the Philistines.' And he bent with all his might; and the house fell upon the lords, and upon all the people that were therein. So the dead that he slew at his death were more than they that he slew in his life.
31 Descendentes autem fratres eius et universa cognatio tulerunt corpus eius, et sepelierunt inter Saraa et Esthaol in sepulchro patris sui Manue: iudicavitque Israel viginti annis.
Then his brethren and all the house of his father came down, and took him, and brought him up, and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the burying-place of Manoah his father. And he judged Israel twenty years.
