Judges 16

1 One day Samson went to Gaza, where he saw a prostitute and went in to spend the night with her.

2 When the Gazites heard that Samson was there, they surrounded that place and lay in wait for him all night at the city gate. They were quiet throughout the night, saying, “Let us wait until dawn; then we will kill him.”

3 But Samson lay there only until midnight, when he got up, took hold of the doors of the city gate and both gateposts, and pulled them out, bar and all. Then he put them on his shoulders and took them to the top of the mountain overlooking Hebron.

4 Some time later, Samson fell in love with a woman in the Valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah.

5 The lords of the Philistines went to her and said, “Entice him and find out the source of his great strength and how we can overpower him to tie him up and subdue him. Then each one of us will give you eleven hundred shekels of silver.”

6 So Delilah said to Samson, “Please tell me the source of your great strength and how you can be tied up and subdued.”

7 Samson told her, “If they tie me up with seven fresh bowstrings that have not been dried, I will become as weak as any other man.”

8 So the lords of the Philistines brought her seven fresh bowstrings that had not been dried, and she tied him up with them.

9 While the men were hidden in her room, she called out, “Samson, the Philistines are here!” But he snapped the bowstrings like a strand of yarn seared by a flame. So the source of his strength remained unknown.

10 Then Delilah said to Samson, “You have mocked me and lied to me! Now please tell me how you can be tied up.”

11 He replied, “If they tie me up with new ropes that have never been used, I will become as weak as any other man.”

12 So Delilah took new ropes, tied him up with them, and called out, “Samson, the Philistines are here!” But while the men were hidden in her room, he snapped the ropes off his arms like they were threads.

13 Then Delilah said to Samson, “You have mocked me and lied to me all along! Tell me how you can be tied up.” He told her, “If you weave the seven braids of my head into the web of a loom and tighten it with a pin, I will become as weak as any other man.”

14 So while he slept, Delilah took the seven braids of his hair and wove them into the web. Then she tightened it with a pin and called to him, “Samson, the Philistines are here!” But he awoke from his sleep and pulled out the pin with the loom and the web.

15 “How can you say, ‘I love you,’” she asked, “when your heart is not with me? This is the third time you have mocked me and failed to reveal to me the source of your great strength!”

16 Finally, after she had pressed him daily with her words and pleaded until he was sick to death,

17 Samson told her all that was in his heart: “My hair has never been cut, because I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother’s womb. If I am shaved, my strength will leave me, and I will become as weak as any other man.”

18 When Delilah realized that he had revealed to her all that was in his heart, she sent this message to the lords of the Philistines: “Come up once more, for he has revealed to me all that is in his heart.” Then the lords of the Philistines came to her, bringing the money in their hands.

19 And having lulled him to sleep on her lap, she called a man to shave off the seven braids of his head. In this way she began to subdue him, and his strength left him.

20 Then she called out, “Samson, the Philistines are here!” When Samson awoke from his sleep, he thought, “I will escape as I did before and shake myself free.” But he did not know that the LORD had departed from him.

21 Then the Philistines seized him, gouged out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, where he was bound with bronze shackles and forced to grind grain in the prison.

22 However, the hair of his head began to grow back after it had been shaved.

23 Now the lords of the Philistines gathered together to offer a great sacrifice to their god Dagon. They rejoiced and said, “Our god has delivered Samson our enemy into our hands.”

24 And when the people saw him, they praised their god, saying: “Our god has delivered into our hands our enemy who destroyed our land and multiplied our dead.”

25 And while their hearts were merry, they said, “Call for Samson to entertain us.” So they called Samson out of the prison to entertain them. And they stationed him between the pillars.

26 Samson said to the servant who held his hand, “Lead me where I can feel the pillars supporting the temple, so I can lean against them.”

27 Now the temple was full of men and women; all the lords of the Philistines were there, and about three thousand men and women were on the roof watching Samson entertain them.

28 Then Samson called out to the LORD: “O Lord GOD, please remember me. Strengthen me, O God, just once more, so that with one vengeful blow I may pay back the Philistines for my two eyes.”

29 And Samson reached out for the two central pillars supporting the temple. Bracing himself against them with his right hand on one pillar and his left hand on the other,

30 Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines.” Then he pushed with all his might, and the temple fell on the lords and all the people in it. So in his death he killed more than he had killed in his life.

31 Then Samson’s brothers and his father’s family came down, carried him back, and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of his father Manoah. And he had judged Israel twenty years.

1 ¶ Then went Samson to Gaza, and saw there an harlot, and went in unto her.

2 [And it was told] the Gazites, saying, Samson is come hither. And they compassed [him] in, and laid wait for him all night in the gate of the city, and were quiet all the night, saying, In the morning, when it is day, we shall kill him.

3 And Samson lay till midnight, and arose at midnight, and took the doors of the gate of the city, and the two posts, and went away with them, bar and all, and put [them] upon his shoulders, and carried them up to the top of an hill that [is] before Hebron.

4 ¶ And it came to pass afterward, that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name [was] Delilah.

5 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 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 And Samson said unto her, If they bind me with seven green withs that were never dried, then shall I be weak, and be as another man.

8 Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven green withs which had not been dried, and she bound him with them.

9 Now [there were] men lying in wait, abiding with her in the chamber. And she said unto him, The Philistines [be] upon thee, Samson. And he brake the withs, as a thread of tow is broken when it toucheth the fire. So his strength was not known.

10 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 And he said unto her, If they bind me fast with new ropes that never were occupied, then shall I be weak, and be as another man.

12 Delilah therefore took new ropes, and bound him therewith, and said unto him, The Philistines [be] upon thee, Samson. And [there were] liers in wait abiding in the chamber. And he brake them from off his arms like a thread.

13 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 And she fastened [it] with the pin, and said unto him, The Philistines [be] upon thee, Samson. And he awaked out of his sleep, and went away with the pin of the beam, and with the web.

15 And she said unto him, How canst thou say, I love thee, when thine heart [is] not with me? thou hast mocked me these three times, and hast not told me wherein thy great strength [lieth].

16 And it came to pass, when she pressed him daily with her words, and urged him, [so] that his soul was vexed unto death;

17 That he told her all his heart, and said unto her, There hath not come a razor upon mine head; for I [have been] a Nazarite 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 ¶ 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 shewed me all his heart. Then the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and brought money in their hand.

19 And she made him sleep upon her knees; and she called for a man, and she caused him to shave off the seven locks of his head; and she began to afflict him, and his strength went from him.

20 And she said, The Philistines [be] upon thee, Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep, and said, I will go out as at other times before, and shake myself. And he wist not that the LORD was departed from him.

21 But the Philistines took him, and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he did grind in the prison house.

22 ¶ Howbeit the hair of his head began to grow again after he was shaven.

23 Then the lords of the Philistines gathered them together for 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 And when the people saw him, they praised their god: for they said, Our god hath delivered into our hands our enemy, and the destroyer of our country, which slew many of us.

25 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 them sport: and they set him between the pillars.

26 And Samson said unto the lad that held him by the hand, Suffer me that I may feel the pillars whereupon the house standeth, that I may lean upon them.

27 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 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 at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes.

29 And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars upon which the house stood, and on which it was borne up, of the one with his right hand, and of the other with his left.

30 And Samson said, Let me die with the Philistines. And he bowed himself with [all his] might; and the house fell upon the lords, and upon all the people that [were] therein. So the dead which he slew at his death were more than [they] which he slew in his life.

31 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 buryingplace of Manoah his father. And he judged Israel twenty years.

1 Samson went to Gasa, and there he saw a harlot, and lay with her.

2 And it was told the Gasites, saying, Samson is come in. And they compassed him about, and lay wait for him all night in the gate of the city: and they were silent all night, and said: Wait! And it shall come to pass in the morning, when it is light, that we will slay him.

3 And Samson lay till midnight. And he arose on the north side, and took both the doors of the gate of the city, and the two posts thereof, and lifted them up with the bars thereof, and put them upon his shoulders, and carried them up to the top of the hill that is before Hebron.

4 And afterward he loved a woman by the brook Sorek, whose name was Delilah.

5 And the lords of the Philistines came up, and said unto her, Persuade him, and see wherein he hath great power, and wherewith we prevail against him, to bind him, and to compel him; and we will give thee every one a thousand and an hundred shekels of silver.

6 And Delilah said unto Samson, Tell me, my son, wherein is thy great strength, and wherewith thou mayest be bound to be compelled.

7 And Samson said unto her, If they would bind me with seven ropes of fresh bast, which are not yet withered, I should be weak, and be as another man.

8 And the princes of the Philistines brought up unto her seven ropes of fresh bast, which were not yet withered: and she bound him therewith.

9 And they waited for him with her in the chamber: and she said unto him, The Philistines are upon thee, Samson. And he rent the ropes, as a cord of brass is rent when it toucheth the fire: and he knew not where his strength was.

10 And Delilah said unto Samson, Behold, thou hast deceived me, and lied unto me: now therefore tell me, wherewith can thou be bound?

11 And he said unto her, If they bind me with new cords, lest any work be done, I shall be weak, and like another man.

12 And Delilah took new cords, and bound him therewith, and said, Philistines upon thee, Samson. (And they were kept upon him in the chamber.) - And he rent them from his arms like a thread.

13 And Delilah said unto him, Thou hast yet deceived me, and told me a lie. Tell me, my lord, wherewith can I bind thee? And he said unto her, If thou shalt braid seven locks of my head with a plaited band, and fasten them with a nail.

14 And she said unto him, Philistines upon thee, Samson. And he awoke from his sleep, and drew out his braided locks with nail and braid.

15 And she said unto him, How canst thou say that thou lovest me, when thine heart is not with me? Thrice hast thou deceived me, and hast not told me wherein is thy great strength.

16 And when she had driven him with her words all the days, and afflicted him, his soul was weary unto death.

17 And he told her his whole heart, and said unto her, There never came a razor upon my head: for I am the betrothed of God from my mother's womb. When thou shalt adjure me, let my strength depart from me, and I shall be weak, and like all men.

18 And when Delilah saw that he had revealed all his heart unto her, she sent and called the lords of the Philistines, saying, Come up again; for he hath revealed all his heart unto me. So the lords of the Philistines came up to her and brought the money in their hands.

19 And she left him asleep in her bosom, and called for one that should cut off the seven locks of his head. And she began to compel him. And his strength was gone out of him.

20 And she said unto him, Philistines upon thee, Samson. And when he was awake from his sleep, he said, I will go forth, as I have done many times, I will depart: and he knew not that the LORD was departed from him.

21 And the Philistines took him, and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with two fetters of brass; and he was mangled in prison.

22 But the hair of his head began to grow again where it was shorn.

23 And when the princes of the Philistines were gathered together to offer a great sacrifice unto Dagon their god, and to rejoice, they said, Our god hath delivered Samson our enemy into our hand.

24 Likewise when the people saw him, they praised their God: for they said: Our God hath delivered into our hand our enemy, which destroyed our land, and slew our many.

25 And when their hearts were in good cheer, they said, Send for Samson, that he may play before us. So they fetched Samson out of prison, and he played before them: and they set him between two pillars.

26 And Samson said unto the lad that led him by the hand, Let me feel the pillars, and let the house stand, that I may lean upon it.

27 And the house was full of men and women. And the princes of the Philistines were all there, and upon the housetop about three thousand, both men and women, watching Samson play.

28 And Samson called upon the LORD, and said, O LORD, remember me, and strengthen me, O GOD, this time, that I may avenge myself on the Philistines for my two eyes.

29 And he took the two middle pillars, upon which the house was set, and upon which it stood, one in his right hand, and the other in his left hand,

30 And he said, My soul dieth with the Philistines: and he bowed it vigorously. And the house fell upon the princes, and upon all the people that were therein: and there were more dead in his death, than in his life.

31 And his brethren came down, and all his father's house, and took him up, and bare him, and buried him in Manoah his father's sepulchre, between Zareah and Esthaol. And he judged Israel twenty years.