Judges
16:1 Then went Samson to Gaza, and saw there an harlot, and went in unto her.
16:2 And it was told the Gazites, saying, Samson is come hither. And they
compassed him in, and laid wait for him all night in the gate of the
city, and were quiet all the night, saying, In the morning, when it is
day, we shall kill him.
16:3 And Samson lay till midnight, and arose at midnight, and took the doors
of the gate of the city, and the two posts, and went away with them, bar
and all, and put them upon his shoulders, and carried them up to the top
of an hill that is before Hebron.
16:4 And it came to pass afterward, that he loved a woman in the valley of
Sorek, whose name was Delilah.
16:5 And the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and said unto her,
Entice him, and see wherein his great strength lieth, and by what means
we may prevail against him, that we may bind him to afflict him: and we
will give thee every one of us eleven hundred pieces of silver.
16:6 And Delilah said to Samson, Tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great
strength lieth, and wherewith thou mightest be bound to afflict thee.
16:7 And Samson said unto her, If they bind me with seven green withs that
were never dried, then shall I be weak, and be as another man.
16:8 Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven green withs
which had not been dried, and she bound him with them.
16:9 Now there were men lying in wait, abiding with her in the chamber. And
she said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he brake
the withs, as a thread of tow is broken when it toucheth the fire. So
his strength was not known.
16:10 And Delilah said unto Samson, Behold, thou hast mocked me, and told me
lies: now tell me, I pray thee, wherewith thou mightest be bound.
16:11 And he said unto her, If they bind me fast with new ropes that never
were occupied, then shall I be weak, and be as another man.
16:12 Delilah therefore took new ropes, and bound him therewith, and said unto
him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And there were liers in wait
abiding in the chamber. And he brake them from off his arms like a
thread.
16:13 And Delilah said unto Samson, Hitherto thou hast mocked me, and told me
lies: tell me wherewith thou mightest be bound. And he said unto her, If
thou weavest the seven locks of my head with the web.
16:14 And she fastened it with the pin, and said unto him, The Philistines be
upon thee, Samson. And he awaked out of his sleep, and went away with
the pin of the beam, and with the web.
16:15 And she said unto him, How canst thou say, I love thee, when thine heart
is not with me? thou hast mocked me these three times, and hast not told
me wherein thy great strength lieth.
16:16 And it came to pass, when she pressed him daily with her words, and
urged him, so that his soul was vexed unto death;
16:17 That he told her all his heart, and said unto her, There hath not come a
razor upon mine head; for I have been a Nazarite unto God from my
mother's womb: if I be shaven, then my strength will go from me, and I
shall become weak, and be like any other man.
16:18 And 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 hath shewed me all his heart. Then the lords of the Philistines came
up unto her, and brought money in their hand.
16:19 And she made him sleep upon her knees; and she called for a man, and she
caused him to shave off the seven locks of his head; and she began to
afflict him, and his strength went from him.
16:20 And she said, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awoke out of
his sleep, and said, I will go out as at other times before, and shake
myself. And he wist not that the LORD was departed from him.
16:21 But the Philistines took him, and put out his eyes, and brought him down
to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he did grind in the
prison house.
16:22 Howbeit the hair of his head began to grow again after he was shaven.
16:23 Then the lords of the Philistines gathered them together for to offer a
great sacrifice unto Dagon their god, and to rejoice: for they said, Our
god hath delivered Samson our enemy into our hand.
16:24 And when the people saw him, they praised their god: for they said, Our
god hath delivered into our hands our enemy, and the destroyer of our
country, which slew many of us.
16:25 And it came to pass, when their hearts were merry, that they said, Call
for Samson, that he may make us sport. And they called for Samson out of
the prison house; and he made them sport: and they set him between the
pillars.
16:26 And Samson said unto the lad that held him by the hand, Suffer me that I
may feel the pillars whereupon the house standeth, that I may lean upon
them.
16:27 Now the house was full of men and women; and all the lords of the
Philistines were there; and there were upon the roof about three
thousand men and women, that beheld while Samson made sport.
16:28 And Samson called unto the LORD, and said, O Lord God, remember me, I
pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, O God, that I
may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes.
16:29 And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars upon which the house
stood, and on which it was borne up, of the one with his right hand, and
of the other with his left.
16:30 And Samson said, Let me die with the Philistines. And he bowed himself
with all his might; and the house fell upon the lords, and upon all the
people that were therein. So the dead which he slew at his death were
more than they which he slew in his life.
16:31 Then his brethren 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
buryingplace of Manoah his father. And he judged Israel twenty years.
