Iudicum 15
1 post aliquantum autem temporis cum dies triticeae messis instarent venit Samson invisere volens uxorem suam et adtulit ei hedum de capris cumque cubiculum eius solito vellet intrare prohibuit eum pater illius dicens
Later on, at the time of the wheat harvest, Samson took a young goat and went to visit his wife. “I want to go to my wife in her room,” he said. But her father would not let him enter.
2 putavi quod odisses eam et ideo tradidi illam amico tuo sed habet sororem quae iunior et pulchrior illa est sit tibi pro ea uxor
“I was sure that you thoroughly hated her,” said her father, “so I gave her to one of the men who accompanied you. Is not her younger sister more beautiful than she? Please take her instead.”
3 cui respondit Samson ab hac die non erit culpa in me contra Philistheos faciam enim vobis mala
Samson said to them, “This time I will be blameless in doing harm to the Philistines.”
4 perrexitque et cepit trecentas vulpes caudasque earum iunxit ad caudas et faces ligavit in medio
Then Samson went out and caught three hundred foxes. And he took torches, turned the foxes tail-to-tail, and fastened a torch between each pair of tails.
5 quas igne succendens dimisit ut huc illucque discurrerent quae statim perrexerunt in segetes Philisthinorum quibus succensis et conportatae iam fruges et adhuc stantes in stipula concrematae sunt in tantum ut vineas quoque et oliveta flamma consumeret
Then he lit the torches and released the foxes into the standing grain of the Philistines, burning up the piles of grain and the standing grain, as well as the vineyards and olive groves.
6 dixeruntque Philisthim quis fecit hanc rem quibus dictum est Samson gener Thamnathei quia tulit uxorem eius et alteri tradidit haec operatus est ascenderuntque Philisthim et conbuserunt tam mulierem quam patrem eius
“Who did this?” the Philistines demanded. “It was Samson, the son-in-law of the Timnite,” they were told. “For his wife was given to his companion.” So the Philistines went up and burned her and her father to death.
7 quibus ait Samson licet haec feceritis tamen adhuc ex vobis expetam ultionem et tunc quiescam
And Samson told them, “Because you have done this, I will not rest until I have taken vengeance upon you.”
8 percussitque eos ingenti plaga ita ut stupentes suram femori inponerent et descendens habitavit in spelunca petrae Aetham
And he struck them ruthlessly with a great slaughter, and then went down and stayed in the cave at the rock of Etam.
9 igitur ascendentes Philisthim in terra Iuda castrametati sunt et in loco qui postea vocatus est Lehi id est Maxilla eorum est fusus exercitus
Then the Philistines went up, camped in Judah, and deployed themselves near the town of Lehi.
10 dixeruntque ad eos de tribu Iuda cur ascendistis adversum nos qui responderunt ut ligemus Samson venimus et reddamus ei quae in nos operatus est
“Why have you attacked us?” said the men of Judah. The Philistines replied, “We have come to arrest Samson and pay him back for what he has done to us.”
11 descenderunt ergo tria milia virorum de Iuda ad specum silicis Aetham dixeruntque ad Samson nescis quod Philisthim imperent nobis quare hoc facere voluisti quibus ille ait sicut fecerunt mihi feci eis
In response, three thousand men of Judah went to the cave at the rock of Etam, and they asked Samson, “Do you not realize that the Philistines rule over us? What have you done to us?” “I have done to them what they did to me,” he replied.
12 ligare inquiunt te venimus et tradere in manus Philisthinorum iurate respondit mihi quod non me occidatis
But they said to him, “We have come down to arrest you and hand you over to the Philistines.” Samson replied, “Swear to me that you will not kill me yourselves.”
13 dixerunt non te occidimus sed vinctum tradimus ligaveruntque eum duobus novis funibus et tulerunt de petra Aetham
“No,” they answered, “we will not kill you, but we will tie you up securely and hand you over to them.” So they bound him with two new ropes and led him up from the rock.
14 qui cum venisset ad locum Maxillae et Philisthim vociferantes occurrissent ei inruit spiritus Domini in eum et sicut solent ad odorem ignis lina consumi ita vincula quibus ligatus erat dissipata sunt et soluta
When Samson arrived in Lehi, the Philistines came out shouting against him. And the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him. The ropes on his arms became like burnt flax, and the bonds broke loose from his hands.
15 inventamque maxillam id est mandibulam asini quae iacebat arripiens interfecit in ea mille viros
He found the fresh jawbone of a donkey, reached out his hand and took it, and struck down a thousand men.
16 et ait in maxilla asini in mandibula pulli asinarum delevi eos et percussi mille viros
Then Samson said: “With the jawbone of a donkey I have piled them into heaps. With the jawbone of a donkey I have slain a thousand men.”
17 cumque haec canens verba conplesset proiecit mandibulam de manu et vocavit nomen loci illius Ramathlehi quod interpretatur elevatio Maxillae
And when Samson had finished speaking, he cast the jawbone from his hand; and he named that place Ramath-lehi.
18 sitiensque valde clamavit ad Dominum et ait tu dedisti in manu servi tui salutem hanc maximam atque victoriam et en siti morior incidamque in manus incircumcisorum
And being very thirsty, Samson cried out to the LORD, “You have accomplished this great deliverance through Your servant. Must I now die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?”
19 aperuit itaque Dominus molarem dentem in maxilla asini et egressae sunt ex eo aquae quibus haustis refocilavit spiritum et vires recepit idcirco appellatum est nomen loci illius Fons invocantis de maxilla usque in praesentem diem
So God opened up the hollow place in Lehi, and water came out of it. When Samson drank, his strength returned, and he was revived. That is why he named it En-hakkore, and it remains in Lehi to this day.
20 iudicavitque Israhel in diebus Philisthim viginti annis
And Samson judged Israel for twenty years in the days of the Philistines.
