Judges 14
1 Samson went down to Timnah, and saw a woman in Timnah of the daughters of the Philistines.
And Sampson went down to Thamnatha, and saw a woman in Thamnatha of the daughters of the Philistines.
2 He came up, and told his father and his mother, saying, “I have seen a woman in Timnah of the daughters of the Philistines. Now therefore get her for me as my wife.”
And he went up and told his father and his mother, and said, I have seen a woman in Thamnatha of the daughters of the Phylistines; and now take her to me for a wife.
3 Then his father and his mother said to him, “Isn’t there a woman among your brothers’ daughters, or among all my people, that you go to take a wife of the uncircumcised Philistines?” Samson said to his father, “Get her for me, for she pleases me well.”
And his father and his mother said to him, Are there no daughters of thy brethren, and [is there not] a woman of all my people, that thou goest to take a wife of the uncircumcised Philistines? And Sampson said to his father, Take her for me, for she [is] right in my eyes.
4 But his father and his mother didn’t know that it was of Yahweh; for he sought an occasion against the Philistines. Now at that time the Philistines ruled over Israel.
And his father and his mother knew not that it was of the Lord, that he sought to be revenged on the Philistines: and at that time the Philistines lorded it over Israel.
5 Then Samson went down to Timnah with his father and his mother, and came to the vineyards of Timnah; and behold, a young lion roared at him.
And Sampson and his father and his mother went down to Thamnatha, and he came to the vineyard of Thamnatha; and behold, a young lion roared in meeting him.
6 Yahweh’s Spirit came mightily on him, and he tore him as he would have torn a young goat with his bare hands, but he didn’t tell his father or his mother what he had done.
And the spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon him, and he crushed him as he would have crushed a kid of the goats, and there was nothing in his hands: and he told not his father and his mother what he had done.
7 He went down and talked with the woman, and she pleased Samson well.
And they went down and spoke to the woman, and she was pleasing in the eyes of Sampson.
8 After a while he returned to take her, and he went over to see the carcass of the lion; and behold, there was a swarm of bees in the body of the lion, and honey.
And after some time he returned to take her, and he turned aside to see the carcase of the lion; and behold, a swarm of bees, and honey [were] in the mouth of the lion.
9 He took it into his hands, and went on, eating as he went. He came to his father and mother and gave to them, and they ate, but he didn’t tell them that he had taken the honey out of the lion’s body.
And he took it into his hands, and went on eating, and he went to his father and his mother, and gave to them, and they did eat; but he told them not that he took the honey out of the mouth of the lion.
10 His father went down to the woman; and Samson made a feast there, for the young men used to do so.
And his father went down to the woman, and Sampson made there a banquet for seven days, for so the young men are used to do.
11 When they saw him, they brought thirty companions to be with him.
And it came to pass when they saw him, that they took thirty guests, and they were with him.
12 Samson said to them, “Let me tell you a riddle now. If you can tell me the answer within the seven days of the feast, and find it out, then I will give you thirty linen garments and thirty changes of clothing;
And Sampson said to them, I propound you a riddle: if ye will indeed tell it me, and discover it within the seven days of the feast, I will you give thirty sheets and thirty changes of raiment.
13 but if you can’t tell me the answer, then you shall give me thirty linen garments and thirty changes of clothing.” They said to him, “Tell us your riddle, that we may hear it.”
And if ye cannot tell it me, ye shall give me thirty napkins and thirty changes of apparel: and they said to him, Propound thy riddle, and we will hear it.
14 He said to them, “Out of the eater came out food. Out of the strong came out sweetness.” They couldn’t in three days declare the riddle.
And he said to them, Meat came forth of the eater, and sweetness out of the strong: and they could not tell the riddle for three days.
15 On the seventh day, they said to Samson’s wife, “Entice your husband, that he may declare to us the riddle, lest we burn you and your father’s house with fire. Have you called us to impoverish us? Isn’t that so?”
And it came to pass on the fourth day, that they said to the wife of Sampson, Deceive now thy husband, and let him tell thee the riddle, lest we burn thee and thy father's house with fire: did ye invite us to do us violence?
16 Samson’s wife wept before him, and said, “You just hate me, and don’t love me. You’ve told a riddle to the children of my people, and haven’t told it to me.” He said to her, “Behold, I haven’t told my father or my mother, so why should I tell you?”
And Sampson's wife wept before him, and said, Thou dost but hate me, and lovest me not; for the riddle which thou hast propounded to the children of my people thou hast not told me: and Sampson said to her, If I have not told it to my father and my mother, shall I tell it to thee?
17 She wept before him the seven days, while their feast lasted; and on the seventh day, he told her, because she pressed him severely; and she told the riddle to the children of her people.
And she wept before him the seven days, during which their banquet lasted: and it came to pass on the seventh day, that he told her, because she troubled him; and she told it to the children of her people.
18 The men of the city said to him on the seventh day before the sun went down, “What is sweeter than honey? What is stronger than a lion?” He said to them, “If you hadn’t plowed with my heifer, you wouldn’t have found out my riddle.”
And the men of the city said to him on the seventh day, before sunrise, What [is] sweeter than honey? and what [is] stronger than a lion? and Sampson said to them, If ye had not ploughed with my heifer, ye would not have known my riddle.
19 Yahweh’s Spirit came mightily on him, and he went down to Ashkelon and struck thirty men of them. He took their plunder, then gave the changes of clothing to those who declared the riddle. His anger burned, and he went up to his father’s house.
And the Spirit of the Lord came upon him powerfully, and he went down to Ascalon, and destroyed of the inhabitants thirty men, and took their garments, and gave the changes of raiment to them that told the riddle; and Sampson was very angry, and went up to the house of his father.
20 But Samson’s wife was given to his companion, who had been his friend.
And the wife of Sampson was [given] to one of his friends, with whom he was on terms of friendship.
