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16:1 And Samson went to Gaza, and there saw a prostitute, and went in to her.
16:2 The Gazites [were told], saying, Samson has come here. 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, [Wait] until morning light, then we will kill him. 16:3 And Samson lay until 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 on his shoulders, and carried them up to the top of the mountain that is before Hebron. 16:4 And it came to pass afterward, that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah. 16:5 And the lords of the Philistines came up to her, and said to her, Entice him, and see in what his great strength lies, and how we may prevail against him, that we may bind him to afflict him: and we will each give you eleven hundred [shekels] of silver. 16:6 And Delilah said to Samson, Tell me, I pray you, in what your great strength lies, and with which you might be bound to afflict you. 16:7 And Samson said to her, If they bind me with seven fresh cords that were never dried, then I will become weak, and be as one of man. 16:8 Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven fresh cords which had not been dried, and she bound him with them. 16:9 Now she had ambushers waiting in the inner chamber. And she said to him, The Philistines are on you, Samson. And he broke the cords, as a string of flax is broken when it touches the fire. So his strength wasn't known. 16:10 And Delilah said to Samson, Look, you have mocked me, and told me lies: now tell me, I pray you, with which you might be bound. 16:11 And he said to her, If they only bind me with new ropes with which no work has been done, then I will become weak, and be as one of man. 16:12 So Delilah took new ropes, and bound him with them, and said to him, The Philistines are on you, Samson. And the ambushers were waiting in the inner chamber. And he broke them from off his arms like a thread. 16:13 And Delilah said to Samson, Until now you have mocked me, and told me lies: tell me with which you might be bound. And he said to her, If you weave the seven locks of my head with the web, and fasten them with the pin on the loom, I will become weak as any man. 16:14 And as he slept, Delilah took the seven locks of his head and wove them with the web and she fastened them with the pin, and said to him, The Philistines are on you, Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep, and plucked away the pin, the loom, and the web. 16:15 And 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 haven't told me in what your great strength lies. 16:16 And it came to pass, when she pressed him daily with her words, and urged him, that his soul was vexed to death. 16:17 And he told her all his heart, and said to her, A razor has not come upon my head; for I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother's womb: if I were shaved, then my strength will go from me, and I will become weak, and be like one of man. 16:18 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 has told me all his heart. Then the lords of the Philistines came up to her, and brought the silver in their hand. 16:19 And 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. 16:20 And she said, The Philistines are on you, Samson. And 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 Yahweh had departed from him. 16:21 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 bronze; and he ground in the prison-house. 16:22 Nevertheless the hair of his head began to grow again after he was shaved. 16:23 And 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. 16:24 And when the people saw him, they praised their god; for they said, Our god has delivered into our hand our enemy, and the destroyer of our country, who has slain many of us. 16:25 And it came to pass, when their hearts were merry, that they said, Call for Samson, that he may entertain us. And they called for Samson out of the prison-house; and he entertained them. And they set him between the pillars: 16:26 and Samson said to the lad that held him by the hand, Allow me that I may feel the pillars on which the house rests, that I may lean on them. 16:27 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, watching Samson amuse [them]. 16:28 And Samson called to Yahweh, and said, O Sovereign Yahweh, remember me, I pray you, and strengthen me, I pray you, only this once, O God, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes. 16:29 And 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. 16:30 And Samson said, Let my soul die with the Philistines. And 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 slew at his death were more than those who he slew in his life. 16:31 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 burying-place of Manoah his father. And he judged Israel twenty years. |
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