16
1 Samson
went to Gaza,
and saw there
a prostitute, and
went in to
her.
2 The
Gazites were told, “Samson
is here!” They
surrounded him
and laid wait for
him all night
in the gate
of the city,
and were quiet
all the night,
saying, “Wait until morning light;
then we will
kill him.”
3 Samson
lay until midnight,
then arose at
midnight and took
hold of the
doors of the
gate of the
city, with the
two posts, and
plucked them up,
bar and all,
and put them
on his shoulders
and carried them
up to the
top of the
mountain that is
before Hebron.
4 It
came to
pass afterward that
he loved a woman
in the valley
of Sorek, whose
name was Delilah.
5 The
lords of the
Philistines came
up to her
and said to her,
“Entice him, and
see in which
his great strength
lies, and by
what means we
may prevail
against him, that
we may bind him
to afflict him;
and we will
each give
you eleven hundred pieces
of silver.”
6 Delilah said
to Samson, “Please
tell me where
your great
strength lies, and
what you might
be bound to
afflict you.”
7 Samson said
to her, “If
they bind me with
seven green cords
that were never
dried, then shall
I become weak,
and be as
another man.”
8 Then
the lords of
the Philistines
brought up to
her seven green
cords which had
not been dried,
and she bound him
with them.
9 Now
she had an ambush
waiting in the
inner room.
She said to him,
“The Philistines
are on you,
Samson!” He broke
the cords as
a flax thread is
broken when
it touches the fire.
So his strength
was not known.
10 Delilah
said to Samson, “Behold, you have mocked
me, and told
me lies. Now
please tell me
how you might
be bound.”
11 He said
to her, “If
they only bind me
with new ropes
with which no
work has been
done, then shall
I become weak,
and be as
another man.”
12 So
Delilah took new
ropes and bound
him with them,
then said to him,
“The Philistines
are on you,
Samson!” The ambush
was waiting in the
inner room. He
broke them off
his arms like
a thread.
13 Delilah
said to Samson, “Until
now, you have
mocked me and
told me lies.
Tell me with
what you might be bound.”
He said to
her, “If you weave
the seven locks
of my head
with the fabric
on the loom.”
14 She
fastened it with
the pin, and said
to him, “The
Philistines are on
you, Samson!” He
awakened out of
his sleep, and
plucked away the
pin of the beam
and the fabric.
15 She said
to him, “How
can you say, ‘I
love you,’ when your
heart is not
with me? You
have mocked me
these three times,
and have not
told me where
your great
strength lies.”
16 When
she pressed him
daily with her
words and urged
him, his soul
was troubled to
death.
17 He
told her all
his heart and said
to her, “No
razor has ever
come on my
head; for I
have been a
Nazirite to God
from my mother’s womb.
If I am
shaved, then my
strength will go
from me and
I will become
weak, and be
like any other
man.”
18 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 has
told me all
his heart.” Then
the lords of
the Philistines
came up to
her and brought
the money in
their hand.
19 She
made him sleep
on her knees;
and she called
for a man
and shaved off
the seven locks
of his head;
and she began
to afflict him,
and his strength
went from him.
20 She
said, “The
Philistines are
upon you, Samson!”
He awoke out
of his sleep,
and said, “I
will go out
as at other
times, and shake
myself free.” But
he didn’t know
that the LORD
had departed from
him.
21 The
Philistines laid hold
on him and
put out his
eyes; and they
brought him down
to Gaza and bound
him with fetters
of bronze; and
he ground at
the mill in the
prison.
22 However,
the hair of
his head began
to grow again
after he was
shaved.
23 The
lords of the
Philistines gathered together
to offer a
great sacrifice to
Dagon their god,
and to rejoice;
for they said, “Our
god has delivered
Samson our enemy
into our hand.”
24 When
the people saw
him, they praised
their god; for
they said, “Our
god has delivered
our enemy and the
destroyer of
our country, who
has slain many
of us, into
our hand.”
25 When
their hearts were
merry, they said,
“Call for Samson,
that he may
entertain us.”
They called for
Samson out of
the prison; and
he performed before
them. They set
him between the
pillars;
26 and
Samson said to the
boy who held
him by the
hand, “Allow me
to feel the
pillars on which
the house rests,
that I may
lean on them.”
27 Now
the house was
full of men
and women; and all
the lords of
the Philistines
were there; and
there were on
the roof about
three thousand men
and women, who saw
while Samson performed.
28 Samson
called to the
LORD, and said, “Lord
GOD, remember me,
please, and
strengthen me,
please, only this
once, God, that
I may be
at once avenged
of the Philistines
for my two
eyes.”
29 Samson
took hold of
the two middle
pillars on which
the house rested
and leaned on
them, the one
with his right
hand and the
other with his
left.
30 Samson said,
“Let me die
with the
Philistines!” He
bowed himself with
all his might;
and the house
fell on the
lords, and on
all the people
who were in
it. So the
dead that he
killed at his
death were more
than those who
he killed in
his life.
31 Then
his brothers 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 burial site
of Manoah
his father. He
judged Israel
twenty years.