Iudicum 16
1 abiit quoque in Gazam et vidit ibi meretricem mulierem ingressusque est ad eam
Samson went to Gaza, and saw there a prostitute, and went in to her.
2 quod cum audissent Philisthim et percrebruisset apud eos intrasse urbem Samson circumdederunt eum positis in porta civitatis custodibus et ibi tota nocte cum silentio praestolantes ut facto mane exeuntem occiderent
The Gazites were told, “Samson is here!” They surrounded him 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.”
3 dormivit autem Samson usque ad noctis medium et inde consurgens adprehendit ambas portae fores cum postibus suis et sera inpositasque umeris portavit ad verticem montis qui respicit Hebron
Samson lay until midnight, then arose at midnight and took hold of the doors of the gate of the city, with 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.
4 post haec amavit mulierem quae habitabat in valle Sorech et vocabatur Dalila
It came to pass afterward that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah.
5 veneruntque ad eam principes Philisthinorum atque dixerunt decipe eum et disce ab illo in quo tantam habeat fortitudinem et quomodo eum superare valeamus et vinctum adfligere quod si feceris dabimus tibi singuli mille centum argenteos
The lords of the Philistines came up to her and said to her, “Entice him, and see in which his great strength lies, and by what means we may prevail against him, that we may bind him to afflict him; and we will each give you eleven hundred pieces of silver.”
6 locuta est ergo Dalila ad Samson dic mihi obsecro in quo sit tua maxima fortitudo et quid sit quo ligatus erumpere nequeas
Delilah said to Samson, “Please tell me where your great strength lies, and what you might be bound to afflict you.”
7 cui respondit Samson si septem nervicis funibus necdum siccis et adhuc humentibus ligatus fuero infirmus ero ut ceteri homines
Samson said to her, “If they bind me with seven green cords that were never dried, then shall I become weak, and be as another man.”
8 adtuleruntque ad eam satrapae Philisthinorum septem funes ut dixerat quibus vinxit eum
Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven green cords which had not been dried, and she bound him with them.
9 latentibus apud se insidiis et in cubiculo finem rei expectantibus clamavitque ad eum Philisthim super te Samson qui rupit vincula quomodo si rumpat quis filum de stuppae tortum putamine cum odorem ignis acceperit et non est cognitum in quo esset fortitudo eius
Now she had an ambush waiting in the inner room. She said to him, “The Philistines are on you, Samson!” He broke the cords as a flax thread is broken when it touches the fire. So his strength was not known.
10 dixitque ad eum Dalila ecce inlusisti mihi et falsum locutus es saltim nunc indica quo ligari debeas
Delilah said to Samson, “Behold, you have mocked me, and told me lies. Now please tell me how you might be bound.”
11 cui ille respondit si ligatus fuero novis funibus qui numquam fuerunt in opere infirmus ero et aliorum hominum similis
He said to her, “If they only bind me with new ropes with which no work has been done, then shall I become weak, and be as another man.”
12 quibus rursum Dalila vinxit eum et clamavit Philisthim super te Samson in cubiculo insidiis praeparatis qui ita rupit vincula quasi fila telarum
So Delilah took new ropes and bound him with them, then said to him, “The Philistines are on you, Samson!” The ambush was waiting in the inner room. He broke them off his arms like a thread.
13 dixitque Dalila rursum ad eum usquequo decipis me et falsum loqueris ostende quo vinciri debeas si inquit septem crines capitis mei cum licio plexueris et clavum his circumligatum terrae fixeris infirmus ero
Delilah said to Samson, “Until now, you have mocked me and told me lies. Tell me with what you might be bound.” He said to her, “If you weave the seven locks of my head with the fabric on the loom.”
14 quod cum fecisset Dalila dixit ad eum Philisthim super te Samson qui consurgens de somno extraxit clavum cum crinibus et licio
She fastened it with the pin, and said to him, “The Philistines are on you, Samson!” He awakened out of his sleep, and plucked away the pin of the beam and the fabric.
15 dixitque ad eum Dalila quomodo dicis quod ames me cum animus tuus non sit mecum per tres vices mentitus es mihi et noluisti dicere in quo sit tua maxima fortitudo
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 have not told me where your great strength lies.”
16 cumque molesta ei esset et per multos dies iugiter adhereret spatium ad quietem non tribuens defecit anima eius et ad mortem usque lassata est
When she pressed him daily with her words and urged him, his soul was troubled to death.
17 tunc aperiens veritatem rei dixit ad eam ferrum numquam ascendit super caput meum quia nazareus id est consecratus Deo sum de utero matris meae si rasum fuerit caput meum recedet a me fortitudo mea et deficiam eroque ut ceteri homines
He told her all his heart and said to her, “No razor has ever come on my head; for I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother’s womb. If I am shaved, then my strength will go from me and I will become weak, and be like any other man.”
18 videns illa quod confessus ei esset omnem animum suum misit ad principes Philisthinorum atque mandavit ascendite adhuc semel quia nunc mihi aperuit cor suum qui ascenderunt adsumpta pecunia quam promiserant
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 money in their hand.
19 at illa dormire eum fecit super genua sua et in sinu suo reclinare caput vocavitque tonsorem et rasit septem crines eius et coepit abicere eum et a se repellere statim enim ab eo fortitudo discessit
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.
20 dixitque Philisthim super te Samson qui de somno consurgens dixit in animo suo egrediar sicut ante feci et me excutiam nesciens quod Dominus recessisset ab eo
She said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” 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 the LORD had departed from him.
21 quem cum adprehendissent Philisthim statim eruerunt oculos eius et duxerunt Gazam vinctum catenis et clausum in carcere molere fecerunt
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 at the mill in the prison.
22 iamque capilli eius renasci coeperant
However, the hair of his head began to grow again after he was shaved.
23 et principes Philisthinorum convenerunt in unum ut immolarent hostias magnificas Dagon deo suo et epularentur dicentes tradidit deus noster inimicum nostrum Samson in manus nostras
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.”
24 quod etiam populus videns laudabat deum suum eademque dicebat tradidit deus noster in manus nostras adversarium qui delevit terram nostram et occidit plurimos
When the people saw him, they praised their god; for they said, “Our god has delivered our enemy and the destroyer of our country, who has slain many of us, into our hand.”
25 laetantesque per convivia sumptis iam epulis praeceperunt ut vocaretur Samson et ante eos luderet qui adductus de carcere ludebat ante eos feceruntque eum stare inter duas columnas
When their hearts were merry, they said, “Call for Samson, that he may entertain us.” They called for Samson out of the prison; and he performed before them. They set him between the pillars;
26 qui dixit puero regenti gressus suos dimitte me ut tangam columnas quibus omnis inminet domus ut recliner super eas et paululum requiescam
and Samson said to the boy who held him by the hand, “Allow me to feel the pillars on which the house rests, that I may lean on them.”
27 domus autem plena erat virorum ac mulierum et erant ibi omnes principes Philisthinorum ac de tecto et solario circiter tria milia utriusque sexus spectabant ludentem Samson
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, who saw while Samson performed.
28 at ille invocato Domino ait Domine Deus memento mei et redde nunc mihi pristinam fortitudinem Deus meus ut ulciscar me de hostibus meis et pro amissione duorum luminum unam ultionem recipiam
Samson called to the LORD, and said, “Lord GOD, remember me, please, and strengthen me, please, only this once, God, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes.”
29 et adprehendens ambas columnas quibus innitebatur domus alteramque earum dextera et alteram leva tenens
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.
30 ait moriatur anima mea cum Philisthim concussisque fortiter columnis cecidit domus super omnes principes et ceteram multitudinem quae ibi erat multoque plures interfecit moriens quam ante vivus occiderat
Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines!” 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 killed at his death were more than those who he killed in his life.
31 descendentes autem fratres eius et universa cognatio tulerunt corpus eius et sepelierunt inter Saraa et Esthaol in sepulchro patris Manue iudicavitque Israhel viginti annis
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 burial site of Manoah his father. He judged Israel twenty years.
