Judges 14
1 Now 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 And when he came back he said to his father and mother, I have seen a woman in Timnah, of the daughters of the Philistines: get her now for me for 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 mother said to him, Is there no woman among the daughters of your relations or among all my people, that you have to go for your wife to the Philistines, who are without circumcision? But Samson said to his father, Get her for me, for she is pleasing to me.
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 Now his father and mother had no knowledge that this was the purpose of the Lord, who had the destruction of the Philistines in mind. Now the Philistines at that time were ruling 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 (and his father and his mother, ) and came to the vine-gardens of Timnah; and a young lion came rushing out 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 And the spirit of the Lord came on him with power, and, unarmed as he was, pulling the lion in two as one might do to a young goat, he put him to death; (but he said nothing to his father and mother of 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 So he went down and had talk with the woman; and she was pleasing to Samson.
And they went down and spoke to the woman, and she was pleasing in the eyes of Sampson.
8 Then after a time he went back to take her; and turning from the road to see the dead body of the lion, he saw a mass of bees in the body of the lion, and honey there.
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 And he took the honey in his hand, and went on, tasting it on the way; and when he came to his father and mother he gave some to them; but did not say that he had taken the honey from the body of the lion.
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 Then Samson went down to the woman, and made a feast there, as was the way among young men.
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 And he took thirty friends, and they were with him.
And it came to pass when they saw him, that they took thirty guests, and they were with him.
12 And Samson said, Now I have a hard question for you: if you are able to give me the answer before the seven days of the feast are over, I will give you thirty linen robes 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 are not able to give me the answer, then you will have to give me thirty linen robes and thirty changes of clothing. And they said to him, Put your hard question and let us see what it is.
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 And he said, Out of the taker of food came food, and out of the strong came the sweet. And at the end of three days they were still not able to give the answer.
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 So on the fourth day they said to Samson's wife, Get from your husband the answer to his question by some trick or other, or we will have you and your father's house burned with fire; did you get us here to take all we have?
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 Then Samson's wife, weeping over him, said, Truly you have no love for me but only hate; you have put a hard question to the children of my people and have not given me the answer. And he said to her, See, I have not given the answer even to my father or my mother; am I to give it to 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 And all the seven days of the feast she went on weeping over him; and on the seventh day he gave her the answer, because she gave him no peace; and she sent word of it 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 Then on the seventh day, before he went into the bride's room, the men of the town said to him, What is sweeter than honey? and what is stronger than a lion? And he said to them, If you had not been ploughing with my cow you would not have got the answer to my question.
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 And the spirit of the Lord came rushing on him, and he went down to Ashkelon and, attacking thirty men there, took their clothing from them, and gave it to the men who had given the answer to his hard question. Then, full of wrath, he went back 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 the friend who had been his best man.
And the wife of Sampson was [given] to one of his friends, with whom he was on terms of friendship.
