Judges
Chapter 16
1 Samson went to Gaza, saw a prostitute there, and slept with her.
2 The people of Gaza were told, “Samson has come here.” So they surrounded him and set a trap at the city gate all night, staying silent, thinking, “In the morning, when it’s light, we will kill him.”
3 Samson stayed there until midnight, then at midnight he got up, took the city gate doors and the two posts, carrying them, with the crossbar, on his shoulders, and brought them to the top of a hill facing Hebron.
4 Later, he fell in love with a woman named Delilah who lived in the Sorek Valley.
5 The leaders of the Philistines went to her and said, “Trick him, find out where his great strength comes from and how we can beat him. Then we can tie him up and make him suffer. Each of us will give you eleven hundred silver coins.”
6 Delilah said to Samson, “Please tell me, where does your great strength come from, and how can you be tied up to subdue you?”
7 Samson told her, “If they tie me up with seven fresh ropes that have not been dried, I will become weak and be just like any other man.”
8 The leaders of the Philistines gave her seven fresh ropes that were not dry, and she tied him up with them.
9 Men were hiding, waiting in her room. She said to him, “The Philistines are here, Samson.” He snapped the ropes as easily as a string snaps when it burns. So no one discovered his strength.
10 Delilah said to Samson, “Look, you have made fun of me and lied to me. Now please tell me how you can be tied up.”
11 He told her, “If they tie me up with brand new ropes that have never been used, I will become weak and be like any other man.”
12 Delilah took new ropes, tied Samson with them, and said, “The Philistines are attacking you, Samson.” Men hiding in the room waited. He snapped the ropes off his arms easily, like a thread.
13 Delilah said to Samson, “You have made fun of me and lied to me. Tell me, how can you be tied up?” And he told her, “If you weave the seven braids of my hair into the cloth.”
14 She secured it with the pin and told him, “The Philistines are attacking you, Samson.” He woke up, pulled out the beam’s pin and the woven fabric, and left.
15 She said to him, “How can you say ‘I love you’ when your heart isn’t with me? You’ve made fun of me three times and still haven’t told me where your great strength comes from.”
16 Every day she nagged Samson with her words and kept pressing him until he was so tired that he felt like dying.
17 He shared all his feelings with her and told her, “I’ve never cut my hair because I’ve been dedicated to God since birth. If my hair is cut, I’ll lose my strength, become weak, and be just like any other man.”
18 When Delilah realized that Samson had shared his deepest secret with her, she summoned the Philistine rulers, telling them, “Come here this time because he has revealed his deepest secret to me.” So the Philistine rulers went to her, bringing money with them.
19 She made him sleep on her lap, called a man, and had him shave off the seven braids of his hair. She began to weaken him, and his strength left him.
20 She said, “The Philistines are attacking you, Samson!” He woke up and thought, “I’ll get up like before and free myself.” But he didn’t know that God had left him.
21 But the Philistines captured him, blinded him, took him to Gaza, chained him with bronze shackles, and he worked grinding grain in the prison.
22 However, his hair started to grow back after it was cut.
23 The leaders of the Philistines came together to make a big sacrifice to Dagon, their god, and to celebrate. They said, “Our god has given us Samson, our enemy, into our hands.”
24 When the people saw him, they praised their god, saying, “Our god has given us our enemy, the one who destroyed our land and killed many of us.”
25 When they were happy, they said, “Bring out Samson to entertain us.” So they brought Samson from the prison, and he entertained them. They placed him between the columns.
26 Samson told the boy guiding him, “Let me touch the pillars that support the house so I can lean on them.”
27 The house was filled with men and women; all the Philistine leaders were there; and about three thousand men and women were on the roof watching Samson entertain them.
28 Samson cried out to God, “Please remember me and give me strength just this one time, God, so I can get revenge on the Philistines for my eyes.”
29 Samson grabbed the two central pillars supporting the house, one in his right hand and the other in his left.
30 Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines.” He pushed with all his strength, and the building collapsed on the rulers and everyone inside. So he killed more people when he died than while he was alive.
31 His brothers and his father’s family went down, took him, and brought him back, burying him between Zorah and Eshtaol in his father Manoah’s tomb. He had led Israel for twenty years.