Judges 16
1 And Sampson went to Gaza, and saw there a harlot, and went in to her.
One day Samson went to Gaza, where he saw a prostitute and went in to spend the night with her.
2 And it was reported to the Gazites, saying, Sampson is come here: and they compassed him and laid wait for him all night in the gate of the city, and they were quiet all the night, saying, Let us wait till the dawn appear, and we will kill him.
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 And Sampson slept till midnight, and rose up at midnight, and took hold of the doors of the gate of the city with the two posts, and lifted them up with the bar, and laid them on his shoulders, and he went up to the top of the mountain that is before Chebron, and laid them there.
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 And it came to pass after this that he loved a woman in Alsorech, and her name [was] Dalida.
Some time later, Samson fell in love with a woman in the Valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah.
5 And the princess of the Philistines came up to her, and said to her, Beguile him, and see wherein his great strength [is], and wherewith we shall prevail against him, and bind him to humble him; and we will give you each eleven hundred [pieces] of silver.
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 And Dalida said to Sampson, Tell me, I pray you, wherein [is] your great strength, and wherewith you shall be bound that you may be humbled.
So Delilah said to Samson, “Please tell me the source of your great strength and how you can be tied up and subdued.”
7 And Sampson said to her, If they bind me with seven moist cords that have not been spoiled, then shall I be weak and be as one of ordinary men.
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 And the princess of the Philistines brought to her seven moist cords that had not been spoiled, and she bound him with them.
So the lords of the Philistines brought her seven fresh bowstrings that had not been dried, and she tied him up with them.
9 And the liers in wait remained with her in the chamber; and she said to him, the Philistines [are] upon you, Sampson: and he broke the cords as if any one should break a thread of tow when it has touched the fire, and his strength was not known.
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 And Dalida said to Sampson, Behold, you have cheated me, and told me lies; now then tell me wherewith you shall be bound.
Then Delilah said to Samson, “You have mocked me and lied to me! Now please tell me how you can be tied up.”
11 And he said to her, If they should bind me fast with new ropes with which work has not been done, then shall I be weak, and shall be as another man.
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 And Dalida took new ropes, and bound him with them, and the liers in wait came out of the chamber, and she said, The Philistines [are] upon you, Sampson: and he broke them off his arms like a thread.
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 And Dalida said to Sampson, Behold, you have deceived me, and told me lies; tell me, I entreat you, wherewith you may be bound: and he said to her, If you should weave the seven locks of my head with the web, and should fasten them with the pin into the wall, then shall I be weak as another man.
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 And it came to pass when he was asleep, that Dalida took the seven locks of his head, and wove them with the web, and fastened them with the pin into the wall, and she said, The Philistines [are] upon you, Sampson: and he awoke out of his sleep, and carried away the pin of the web out of the wall.
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 And Dalida said to Sampson, How say you, I love you, when your heart is not with me? this third time you have deceived me, and have not told me wherein [is] your great strength.
“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 And it came to pass as she pressed him sore with her words continually, and straitened him, that his spirit failed almost to death.
Finally, after she had pressed him daily with her words and pleaded until he was sick to death,
17 Then he told her all his heart, and said to her, A razor has not come upon my head, because I have been a holy [one] of God from my mother's womb; if then I should be shaven, my strength will depart from me, and I shall be weak, and I shall be as all [other] men.
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 And Dalida saw that he told her all his heart, and she sent and called the princess of the Philistines, saying, Come up yet this once; for he has told me all his heart. And the chiefs of the Philistines went up to her, and brought the money in their hands.
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 Dalida made Sampson sleep upon her knees; and she called a man, and he shaved the seven locks of his head, and she began to humble him, and his strength departed from him.
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 And Dalida said, The Philistines [are] upon you, Sampson: and he awoke out of his sleep and said, I will go out as at former times, and shake myself; and he knew not that the Lord was departed from him.
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 And the Philistines took him, and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he ground in the prison-house.
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 And the hair of his head began to grow as before it was shaven.
However, the hair of his head began to grow back after it had been shaved.
23 And the chiefs of the Philistines met to offer a great sacrifice to their god Dagon, and to make merry; and they said, God has given into our hand our enemy Sampson.
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 the people saw him, and sang praises to their god; for our god, [said they], has delivered into our hand our enemy, who wasted our land, and who multiplied our slain.
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 when their heart was merry, then they said, Call Sampson out of the prison-house, and let him play before us: and they called Sampson out of the prison-house, and he played before them; and they struck him with the palms of their hands, and set him between the pillars.
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 And Sampson said to the young man that held his hand, Suffer me to feel the pillars on which the house [rests], and I will stay myself upon them.
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 And the house [was] full of men and woman, and there were all the chiefs of the Philistines, and on the roof [were] about three thousand men and woman looking at the sports of Sampson.
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 And Sampson wept before the Lord, and said, O Lord, my lord, remember me, I pray you, and strengthen me, O God, yet this once, and I will requite one recompense to the Philistines for my two eyes.
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 Sampson took hold of the two pillars of the house on which the house stood, and leaned on them, and laid hold of one with his right hand, and the other with his left.
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 And Sampson said, Let my wife perish with the Philistines: and he bowed himself mightily; and the house fell upon the princes, and upon all the people that were in it: and the dead whom Sampson killed in his death were more than those whom he killed in his life.
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 And his brethren and his father's house went down, and they took him; and they went up and buried him between Saraa and Esthaol in the sepulchre of his father Manoe; and he judged Israel twenty years.
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.
