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Judges 13-16
New American Standard Bible

Philistines Oppress Again

13 Now the sons of Israel (A)again did evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord handed them over to the Philistines for forty years.

2 And there was a man of (B)Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was infertile and had not given birth to any children. 3 (C)Then the angel of the Lord appeared to the woman and said to her, “Behold now, you are infertile and have not given birth; but you will conceive and give birth to a son. 4 And now, be careful (D)not to drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any [a]unclean thing. 5 (E)For behold, you will conceive and give birth to a son, and no razor shall come upon his head, for the boy shall be a (F)Nazirite to God from the womb; and he will begin to save Israel from the hands of the Philistines.” 6 Then the woman came and told her husband, saying, “(G)A man of God came to me, and his appearance was like the appearance of the angel of God, very awesome. So I did not ask him where he came from, nor did he tell me his name. 7 But he said to me, ‘Behold, you shall conceive and give birth to a son, and now you shall not drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any [b]unclean thing, for the boy shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb to the day of his death.’”

8 Then Manoah pleaded with the Lord and said, “Lord, please let (H)the man of God whom You have sent come to us again so that he may teach us what we are to do for the boy who is to be born.” 9 And God listened to the voice of Manoah; and (I)the angel of God came again to the woman as she was sitting in the field, but Manoah her husband was not with her. 10 So the woman hurried and ran, and told her [c]husband, “Behold, (J)the man who [d]came the other day has appeared to me!” 11 So Manoah got up and followed his wife, and when he came to the man he said to him, “Are you (K)the man who spoke to the woman?” And he said, “I am.” 12 Then Manoah said, “Now when your words [e]are fulfilled, what shall be the boy’s way of life and his vocation?” 13 And (L)the angel of the Lord said to Manoah, “(M)The woman shall pay attention [f]to all that I said. 14 She shall not eat anything that comes from the (N)vine nor drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing; she shall keep all that I commanded.”

15 Then Manoah said to (O)the angel of the Lord, “Please let us detain you so that we may prepare a young goat for you.” 16 But the angel of the Lord said to Manoah, “Though you detain me, (P)I will not eat your [g]food, but if you prepare a burnt offering, offer it to the Lord.” For Manoah did not know that he was the angel of the Lord. 17 And Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, “(Q)What is your name, so that when your words [h]are fulfilled, we may honor you?” 18 But the angel of the Lord said to him, “Why do you ask my name, for it is [i](R)wonderful?” 19 So (S)Manoah took the young goat along with the grain offering and offered it on the rock to the Lord; and He performed wonders while Manoah and his wife looked on. 20 For it came about when the flame went up from the altar toward heaven, that the angel of the Lord ascended in the flame of the altar. When Manoah and his wife saw this, they (T)fell on their faces to the ground.

21 Now the angel of the Lord did not appear to Manoah or his wife again. (U)Then Manoah knew that he was the angel of the Lord. 22 So Manoah said to his wife, “(V)We will certainly die, for we have seen God.” 23 But his wife said to him, “If the Lord had desired to kill us, He would not have accepted a burnt offering and a grain offering from our hands, nor would He have (W)shown us all these things, nor would He have let us hear things like this at this time.”

24 So the woman gave birth to a son, and named him Samson; and the (X)child grew up and the Lord blessed him. 25 And (Y)the Spirit of the Lord began to stir him when he was in [j](Z)Mahaneh-dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.

Samson’s Marriage

14 Then Samson went down to Timnah, and he saw a woman in Timnah, one of the daughters of the Philistines. 2 So he came [k]back and told his father and [l]mother, “I saw a woman in Timnah, one of the daughters of the Philistines; so now, get her for me as a wife.” 3 But his father and his mother said to him, “Is there no woman among the daughters of your (AA)relatives, or among all [m]our people, that you go to (AB)take a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines?” Yet Samson said to his father, “Get her for me, because she is right [n]for me.” 4 However, his father and mother did not know that (AC)this was of the Lord, for He was seeking an occasion against the Philistines. And at that time the Philistines were ruling over Israel.

5 Then Samson went down to Timnah with his father and mother, and came as far as the vineyards of Timnah; and behold, a young lion came roaring toward him. 6 And (AD)the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon him, so that (AE)he tore it apart as one tears apart a young goat, though he had nothing in his hand; but he did not tell his father or mother what he had done. 7 So he went down and talked to the woman; and she [o]looked pleasing to Samson. 8 When he returned later to take her, he turned aside to look at the carcass of the lion; and behold, a swarm of bees and honey were in the body of the lion. 9 So he took out [p]the honey on his [q]hands and went on, eating as he went. When he came to his father and mother, he gave some to them and they ate it; but he did not tell them that he had took the honey out of the body of the lion.

10 Then his father went down to the woman; and Samson held a feast there, for the young men customarily did this. 11 When they saw him, they brought thirty companions to be with him.

Samson’s Riddle

12 Then Samson said to them, “Let me now (AF)propose a riddle for you; if you actually tell me [r]the answer within the seven days of the feast, and solve it, then I will give you thirty linen wraps and thirty (AG)outfits of clothes. 13 But if you are unable to tell me, then you shall give me thirty linen wraps and thirty outfits of clothes.” And they said to him, “Propose your riddle, so that we may hear it.” 14 So he said to them,

“Out of the eater came something to eat,
And out of the strong came something sweet.”

But they could not tell the answer to the riddle in three days.

15 Then it came about on the [s]fourth day that they said to Samson’s wife, “(AH)Entice your husband, so that he will tell us the riddle, (AI)or we will burn you and your father’s house with fire. Have you invited us to impoverish us? Is this not so?” 16 So Samson’s wife wept in front of him and said, “(AJ)You only hate me, and you do not love me; you have proposed a riddle to the sons of my people, and have not told it to me.” And he said to her, “Behold, I have not told it to my father or mother; so should I tell you?” 17 However she wept before him for seven days while their feast lasted. And on the seventh day he told her because she pressed him so hard. She then told the riddle to the sons of her people. 18 So the men of the city said to him on the seventh day before the sun went down,

“What is sweeter than honey?
And what is stronger than a lion?”

And he said to them,

“If you had not plowed with my heifer,
You would not have found out my riddle.”

19 Then (AK)the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon him, and he went down to Ashkelon and killed thirty men of them and took what they were wearing and gave the outfits of clothes to those who told the riddle. And his anger burned, and he went up to his father’s house. 20 But Samson’s wife was (AL)given to his companion who had been his [t]friend.

Samson Burns Philistine Crops

15 But after a while, in the time of wheat harvest, Samson visited his wife (AM)with a young goat, and said, “I will go in to my wife in her room.” But her father did not let him enter. 2 Her father said, “I really thought that you hated her intensely; so I (AN)gave her to your companion. Is her younger sister not [u]more beautiful than she? Please let her be yours [v]instead.” 3 Samson then said to them, “This time I will have been blameless regarding the Philistines when I do them harm.” 4 And Samson went and caught three hundred jackals, and took torches, and turned the jackals tail to tail and put one torch in the middle between two tails. 5 When he had set fire to the torches, he released the jackals into the standing grain of the Philistines and set fire to both the bundled heaps and the standing grain, along with the vineyards and olive groves. 6 Then the Philistines said, “Who did this?” And some said, “Samson, the son-in-law of the Timnite, because [w]he took his wife and gave her to his companion.” So the Philistines came up and (AO)burned her and her father to death with fire. 7 Then Samson said to them, “If this is how you act, I will certainly take revenge on you, and only after that will I stop.” 8 So he struck them [x]ruthlessly with a great slaughter; and afterward he went down and lived in the cleft of the rock of Etam.

9 Then the Philistines went up and camped in Judah, and spread out in Lehi. 10 So the men of Judah said, “Why have you come up against us?” And they said, “We have come up to bind Samson in order to do to him as he did to us.” 11 Then three thousand men of Judah went down to the cleft of the rock of Etam and said to Samson, “Do you not know (AP)that the Philistines are rulers over us? What then is this that you have done to us?” And he said to them, “Just as they did to me, so I have done to them.” 12 Then they said to him, “We have come down to bind you so that we may hand you over to the Philistines.” And Samson said to them, “Swear to me that you will not [y]kill me.” 13 So they said to [z]him, “No, but we will bind you tightly and give you into their hands; but we certainly will not kill you.” Then they bound him with two new ropes, and brought him up from the rock.

14 When he came to Lehi, the Philistines shouted as they met him. And (AQ)the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon him so that the ropes that were on his arms were like flax that has burned with fire, and his restraints [aa]dropped from his hands. 15 Then he found a fresh jawbone of a donkey, so he reached out with his hand and took it, and [ab]killed (AR)a thousand men with it. 16 And Samson said,

“With the jawbone of a donkey,
[ac]Heaps upon heaps,
With the jawbone of a donkey
I have [ad]killed a thousand men.”

17 When he had finished speaking, he threw the jawbone from his hand; and he named that place [ae]Ramath-lehi. 18 Then he became very thirsty, and he (AS)called to the Lord and said, “You have [af]handed this great [ag]victory over to Your servant, and now [ah]am I to die of thirst [ai]and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?” 19 But God split the hollow place that is in Lehi so that water came out of it. When he drank, (AT)his [aj]strength returned and he revived. Therefore he named it [ak]En-hakkore, which is in Lehi to this day. 20 So (AU)he judged Israel for twenty years in (AV)the days of the Philistines.

Samson’s Weakness

16 Now Samson went to (AW)Gaza and saw a prostitute there, and had relations with her. 2 When it was reported to the Gazites, saying, “Samson has come here,” they (AX)surrounded the place and lay in wait for him all night at the gate of the city. And they kept silent all night, saying, “Let’s wait until the morning light, then we will kill him.” 3 Now Samson lay asleep until midnight, and at midnight he got up and took hold of the doors of the city gate and the two doorposts, and pulled them up along with the bars; then he put them on his shoulders, and carried them up to the top of the mountain which is opposite Hebron.

4 After this it came about that he was in love with a woman in the Valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah. 5 So the (AY)governors of the Philistines came up to her and said to her, “(AZ)Entice him, and see where his great strength lies and [al]how we can overpower him so that we may bind him to humble him. Then we will each give you 1,100 pieces of silver.” 6 So Delilah said to Samson, “Please tell me where your great strength lies, and [am]how you can be bound to humble you.” 7 And Samson said to her, “If they bind me with seven fresh [an]animal tendons that have not been dried, then I will become weak and be like any other man.” 8 Then the governors of the Philistines brought up to her seven fresh [ao]animal tendons that had not been dried, and she bound him with them. 9 Now she had men prepared for an ambush in an inner room. And she said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” But he tore the tendons to pieces just like a thread of flax is torn apart when it [ap]comes too close to fire. So his strength was not discovered.

10 Then Delilah said to Samson, “Behold, you have toyed with me and told me lies; now please tell me [aq]how you may be bound.” 11 Then He said to her, “If they bind me tightly with new ropes [ar]which have not been used, then I will become weak and be like any other man.” 12 So Delilah took new ropes and bound him with them and said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” For the men in the ambush were waiting in the inner room. But he tore [as]the ropes from his arms like thread.

13 Then Delilah said to Samson, “Up to now you have toyed with me and told me lies; tell me [at]how you may be bound.” And he said to her, “If you weave the seven locks of my [au]hair with the [av]web [aw][and fasten it with the pin, then I will be weak like any other man.” 14 So while he slept, Delilah wove the seven locks of his [ax]hair with the web]. And she fastened it with the pin and said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” But he awoke from his sleep and pulled out the pin of the loom and the web.

Delilah Extracts His Secret

15 Then she said to him, “(BA)How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when your heart is not with me? You have toyed with me these three times and have not told me where your great strength is.” 16 And it came about, when she pressed him daily with her words and urged him, that his soul was [ay]annoyed to death. 17 So he told her all that was in his heart and said to her, “A razor has never come on my head, for I have been a (BB)Nazirite to God from my mother’s womb. If I am shaved, then my strength will leave me and I will become weak and be like any other man.”

18 When Delilah saw that he had told her all that was in his heart, she sent word and called the governors of the Philistines, saying, “Come up once more, for he has told me all that is in his heart.” Then the governors of the Philistines came up to her and brought up the money in their hands. 19 And she made him sleep on her knees, and called for a man and had him shave off the seven locks of his head. Then she began to humble him, and his strength left him. 20 She said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” And he awoke from his sleep and said, “I will go out as at other times and shake myself free.” But he did not know that (BC)the Lord had departed from him. 21 Then the Philistines seized him and gouged out his eyes; and they brought him down to Gaza and restrained him with bronze chains, and he became a grinder in the prison. 22 However, the hair of his head began to grow again after it was shaved off.

23 Now the governors of the Philistines assembled to offer a great sacrifice to (BD)Dagon their god, and to celebrate, for they said,

“Our god has handed Samson our enemy over to us.”

24 When the people saw him, (BE)they praised their god, for they said,

“Our god has handed our enemy over to us,
Even the destroyer of our country,
Who has killed many of us.”

25 It so happened when [az]they were in high spirits, that they said, “Call for Samson, that he may amuse us.” So they called for Samson from the prison, and he [ba]entertained them. And they made him stand between the pillars. 26 Then Samson said to the boy who was holding his hand, “[bb]Let me feel the pillars on which the house rests, so that I may lean against them.” 27 Now the house was full of men and women, and all the governors of the Philistines were there. And about three thousand men and women were on the roof looking on while Samson was entertaining them.

Samson Is Avenged

28 (BF)Then Samson called to the Lord and said, “Lord [bc]God, please remember me and please strengthen me just this time, O God, that I may at once (BG)take vengeance on the Philistines for my two eyes.” 29 Then Samson grasped the two middle pillars on which the house rested, and braced himself against them, the one with his right hand and the other with his left. 30 And Samson said, “Let [bd]me die with the Philistines!” And he pushed outwards powerfully, so that the house fell on the governors and all the people who were in it. And the dead whom he killed at his death were more than those whom he killed during his lifetime. 31 Then his brothers and all his father’s household came down and took him, and brought him up and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of his father Manoah. (BH)So he had judged Israel for twenty years.

Footnotes

  1. Judges 13:4 I.e., ritually unclean
  2. Judges 13:7 I.e., ritually unclean
  3. Judges 13:10 Lit husband, and said to him
  4. Judges 13:10 Lit came to me
  5. Judges 13:12 Lit come
  6. Judges 13:13 Lit from
  7. Judges 13:16 Lit bread
  8. Judges 13:17 Lit come
  9. Judges 13:18 I.e., incomprehensible
  10. Judges 13:25 I.e., the camp of Dan
  11. Judges 14:2 Lit up
  12. Judges 14:2 Lit mother, and said,
  13. Judges 14:3 Lit my
  14. Judges 14:3 Lit in my eyes
  15. Judges 14:7 Lit was right in Samson’s eyes
  16. Judges 14:9 Lit it
  17. Judges 14:9 Lit palms
  18. Judges 14:12 Lit it
  19. Judges 14:15 As in some ancient versions; MT seventh
  20. Judges 14:20 Or best man
  21. Judges 15:2 Lit better
  22. Judges 15:2 Lit instead of her
  23. Judges 15:6 I.e., the Timnite
  24. Judges 15:8 Lit thigh on loin
  25. Judges 15:12 Lit fall upon me yourselves
  26. Judges 15:13 Lit him, saying
  27. Judges 15:14 Lit melted
  28. Judges 15:15 Lit struck
  29. Judges 15:16 Lit Heap, two heaps; Heb is same root as donkey
  30. Judges 15:16 Lit struck
  31. Judges 15:17 I.e., the high place of the jawbone
  32. Judges 15:18 Or given...victory by the hand of Your
  33. Judges 15:18 Lit deliverance
  34. Judges 15:18 Or I shall...uncircumcised
  35. Judges 15:18 Or or
  36. Judges 15:19 Lit spirit
  37. Judges 15:19 I.e., the spring of him who called
  38. Judges 16:5 Lit by what
  39. Judges 16:6 Lit by what
  40. Judges 16:7 I.e., of a butchered animal, that shrink and hold when drying
  41. Judges 16:8 See note v 7
  42. Judges 16:9 Lit smells
  43. Judges 16:10 Lit by what
  44. Judges 16:11 Lit with which work has not been done
  45. Judges 16:12 Lit them
  46. Judges 16:13 Lit by what
  47. Judges 16:13 Lit head
  48. Judges 16:13 I.e., in weaving, the warp of a loom
  49. Judges 16:13 The passage in brackets is found in LXX but not in any Heb mss
  50. Judges 16:14 Lit head
  51. Judges 16:16 Lit impatient to the point of
  52. Judges 16:25 Lit their heart was pleasant
  53. Judges 16:25 Lit made sport before them
  54. Judges 16:26 Or Let go of me, and let me feel
  55. Judges 16:28 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord
  56. Judges 16:30 Lit my soul
Listen to Judges 13-16
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Judges 13-16
New International Version

The Birth of Samson

13 Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord, so the Lord delivered them into the hands of the Philistines(A) for forty years.(B)

2 A certain man of Zorah,(C) named Manoah,(D) from the clan of the Danites,(E) had a wife who was childless,(F) unable to give birth. 3 The angel of the Lord(G) appeared to her(H) and said, “You are barren and childless, but you are going to become pregnant and give birth to a son.(I) 4 Now see to it that you drink no wine or other fermented drink(J) and that you do not eat anything unclean.(K) 5 You will become pregnant and have a son(L) whose head is never to be touched by a razor(M) because the boy is to be a Nazirite,(N) dedicated to God from the womb. He will take the lead(O) in delivering Israel from the hands of the Philistines.”

6 Then the woman went to her husband and told him, “A man of God(P) came to me. He looked like an angel of God,(Q) very awesome.(R) I didn’t ask him where he came from, and he didn’t tell me his name. 7 But he said to me, ‘You will become pregnant and have a son. Now then, drink no wine(S) or other fermented drink(T) and do not eat anything unclean, because the boy will be a Nazirite of God from the womb until the day of his death.(U)’”

8 Then Manoah(V) prayed to the Lord: “Pardon your servant, Lord. I beg you to let the man of God(W) you sent to us come again to teach us how to bring up the boy who is to be born.”

9 God heard Manoah, and the angel of God came again to the woman while she was out in the field; but her husband Manoah was not with her. 10 The woman hurried to tell her husband, “He’s here! The man who appeared to me(X) the other day!”

11 Manoah got up and followed his wife. When he came to the man, he said, “Are you the man who talked to my wife?”

“I am,” he said.

12 So Manoah asked him, “When your words are fulfilled, what is to be the rule that governs the boy’s life and work?”

13 The angel of the Lord answered, “Your wife must do all that I have told her. 14 She must not eat anything that comes from the grapevine, nor drink any wine or other fermented drink(Y) nor eat anything unclean.(Z) She must do everything I have commanded her.”

15 Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, “We would like you to stay until we prepare a young goat(AA) for you.”

16 The angel of the Lord replied, “Even though you detain me, I will not eat any of your food. But if you prepare a burnt offering,(AB) offer it to the Lord.” (Manoah did not realize(AC) that it was the angel of the Lord.)

17 Then Manoah inquired of the angel of the Lord, “What is your name,(AD) so that we may honor you when your word comes true?”

18 He replied, “Why do you ask my name?(AE) It is beyond understanding.[a]” 19 Then Manoah took a young goat, together with the grain offering, and sacrificed it on a rock(AF) to the Lord. And the Lord did an amazing thing while Manoah and his wife watched: 20 As the flame(AG) blazed up from the altar toward heaven, the angel of the Lord ascended in the flame. Seeing this, Manoah and his wife fell with their faces to the ground.(AH) 21 When the angel of the Lord did not show himself again to Manoah and his wife, Manoah realized(AI) that it was the angel of the Lord.

22 “We are doomed(AJ) to die!” he said to his wife. “We have seen(AK) God!”

23 But his wife answered, “If the Lord had meant to kill us, he would not have accepted a burnt offering and grain offering from our hands, nor shown us all these things or now told us this.”(AL)

24 The woman gave birth to a boy and named him Samson.(AM) He grew(AN) and the Lord blessed him,(AO) 25 and the Spirit of the Lord began to stir(AP) him while he was in Mahaneh Dan,(AQ) between Zorah and Eshtaol.

Samson’s Marriage

14 Samson(AR) went down to Timnah(AS) and saw there a young Philistine woman. 2 When he returned, he said to his father and mother, “I have seen a Philistine woman in Timnah; now get her for me as my wife.”(AT)

3 His father and mother replied, “Isn’t there an acceptable woman among your relatives or among all our people?(AU) Must you go to the uncircumcised(AV) Philistines to get a wife?(AW)”

But Samson said to his father, “Get her for me. She’s the right one for me.” 4 (His parents did not know that this was from the Lord,(AX) who was seeking an occasion to confront the Philistines;(AY) for at that time they were ruling over Israel.)(AZ)

5 Samson went down to Timnah together with his father and mother. As they approached the vineyards of Timnah, suddenly a young lion came roaring toward him. 6 The Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon him(BA) so that he tore the lion apart(BB) with his bare hands as he might have torn a young goat. But he told neither his father nor his mother what he had done. 7 Then he went down and talked with the woman, and he liked her.

8 Some time later, when he went back to marry her, he turned aside to look at the lion’s carcass, and in it he saw a swarm of bees and some honey. 9 He scooped out the honey with his hands and ate as he went along. When he rejoined his parents, he gave them some, and they too ate it. But he did not tell them that he had taken the honey from the lion’s carcass.

10 Now his father went down to see the woman. And there Samson held a feast,(BC) as was customary for young men. 11 When the people saw him, they chose thirty men to be his companions.

12 “Let me tell you a riddle,(BD)” Samson said to them. “If you can give me the answer within the seven days of the feast,(BE) I will give you thirty linen garments and thirty sets of clothes.(BF) 13 If you can’t tell me the answer, you must give me thirty linen garments and thirty sets of clothes.”

“Tell us your riddle,” they said. “Let’s hear it.”

14 He replied,

“Out of the eater, something to eat;
    out of the strong, something sweet.”(BG)

For three days they could not give the answer.

15 On the fourth[b] day, they said to Samson’s wife, “Coax(BH) your husband into explaining the riddle for us, or we will burn you and your father’s household to death.(BI) Did you invite us here to steal our property?”

16 Then Samson’s wife threw herself on him, sobbing, “You hate me! You don’t really love me.(BJ) You’ve given my people a riddle, but you haven’t told me the answer.”

“I haven’t even explained it to my father or mother,” he replied, “so why should I explain it to you?” 17 She cried the whole seven days(BK) of the feast. So on the seventh day he finally told her, because she continued to press him. She in turn explained the riddle to her people.

18 Before sunset on the seventh day the men of the town said to him,

“What is sweeter than honey?
    What is stronger than a lion?”(BL)

Samson said to them,

“If you had not plowed with my heifer,
    you would not have solved my riddle.”

19 Then the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon him.(BM) He went down to Ashkelon,(BN) struck down thirty of their men, stripped them of everything and gave their clothes to those who had explained the riddle. Burning with anger,(BO) he returned to his father’s home. 20 And Samson’s wife was given to one of his companions(BP) who had attended him at the feast.

Samson’s Vengeance on the Philistines

15 Later on, at the time of wheat harvest,(BQ) Samson(BR) took a young goat(BS) and went to visit his wife. He said, “I’m going to my wife’s room.”(BT) But her father would not let him go in.

2 “I was so sure you hated her,” he said, “that I gave her to your companion.(BU) Isn’t her younger sister more attractive? Take her instead.”

3 Samson said to them, “This time I have a right to get even with the Philistines; I will really harm them.” 4 So he went out and caught three hundred foxes(BV) and tied them tail to tail in pairs. He then fastened a torch(BW) to every pair of tails, 5 lit the torches(BX) and let the foxes loose in the standing grain of the Philistines. He burned up the shocks(BY) and standing grain, together with the vineyards and olive groves.

6 When the Philistines asked, “Who did this?” they were told, “Samson, the Timnite’s son-in-law, because his wife was given to his companion.(BZ)”

So the Philistines went up and burned her(CA) and her father to death.(CB) 7 Samson said to them, “Since you’ve acted like this, I swear that I won’t stop until I get my revenge on you.” 8 He attacked them viciously and slaughtered many of them. Then he went down and stayed in a cave in the rock(CC) of Etam.(CD)

9 The Philistines went up and camped in Judah, spreading out near Lehi.(CE) 10 The people of Judah asked, “Why have you come to fight us?”

“We have come to take Samson prisoner,” they answered, “to do to him as he did to us.”

11 Then three thousand men from Judah went down to the cave in the rock of Etam and said to Samson, “Don’t you realize that the Philistines are rulers over us?(CF) What have you done to us?”

He answered, “I merely did to them what they did to me.”

12 They said to him, “We’ve come to tie you up and hand you over to the Philistines.”

Samson said, “Swear to me(CG) that you won’t kill me yourselves.”

13 “Agreed,” they answered. “We will only tie you up and hand you over to them. We will not kill you.” So they bound him with two new ropes(CH) and led him up from the rock. 14 As he approached Lehi,(CI) the Philistines came toward him shouting. The Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon him.(CJ) The ropes on his arms became like charred flax,(CK) and the bindings dropped from his hands. 15 Finding a fresh jawbone of a donkey, he grabbed it and struck down a thousand men.(CL)

16 Then Samson said,

“With a donkey’s jawbone
    I have made donkeys of them.[c](CM)
With a donkey’s jawbone
    I have killed a thousand men.”

17 When he finished speaking, he threw away the jawbone; and the place was called Ramath Lehi.[d](CN)

18 Because he was very thirsty, he cried out to the Lord,(CO) “You have given your servant this great victory.(CP) Must I now die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?” 19 Then God opened up the hollow place in Lehi, and water came out of it. When Samson drank, his strength returned and he revived.(CQ) So the spring(CR) was called En Hakkore,[e] and it is still there in Lehi.

20 Samson led[f] Israel for twenty years(CS) in the days of the Philistines.

Samson and Delilah

16 One day Samson(CT) went to Gaza,(CU) where he saw a prostitute.(CV) He went in to spend the night with her. 2 The people of Gaza were told, “Samson is here!” So they surrounded the place and lay in wait for him all night at the city gate.(CW) They made no move during the night, saying, “At dawn(CX) we’ll kill him.”

3 But Samson lay there only until the middle of the night. Then he got up and took hold of the doors of the city gate, together with the two posts, and tore them loose, bar and all. He lifted them to his shoulders and carried them to the top of the hill that faces Hebron.(CY)

4 Some time later, he fell in love(CZ) with a woman in the Valley of Sorek whose name was Delilah.(DA) 5 The rulers of the Philistines(DB) went to her and said, “See if you can lure(DC) him into showing you the secret of his great strength(DD) and how we can overpower him so we may tie him up and subdue him. Each one of us will give you eleven hundred shekels[g] of silver.”(DE)

6 So Delilah(DF) said to Samson, “Tell me the secret of your great strength and how you can be tied up and subdued.”

7 Samson answered her, “If anyone ties me with seven fresh bowstrings that have not been dried, I’ll become as weak as any other man.”

8 Then the rulers of the Philistines brought her seven fresh bowstrings that had not been dried, and she tied him with them. 9 With men hidden in the room,(DG) she called to him, “Samson, the Philistines are upon you!”(DH) But he snapped the bowstrings as easily as a piece of string snaps when it comes close to a flame. So the secret of his strength was not discovered.

10 Then Delilah said to Samson, “You have made a fool of me;(DI) you lied to me. Come now, tell me how you can be tied.”

11 He said, “If anyone ties me securely with new ropes(DJ) that have never been used, I’ll become as weak as any other man.”

12 So Delilah took new ropes and tied him with them. Then, with men hidden in the room, she called to him, “Samson, the Philistines are upon you!”(DK) But he snapped the ropes off his arms as if they were threads.

13 Delilah then said to Samson, “All this time you have been making a fool of me and lying to me. Tell me how you can be tied.”

He replied, “If you weave the seven braids of my head into the fabric on the loom and tighten it with the pin, I’ll become as weak as any other man.” So while he was sleeping, Delilah took the seven braids of his head, wove them into the fabric 14 and[h] tightened it with the pin.

Again she called to him, “Samson, the Philistines are upon you!”(DL) He awoke from his sleep and pulled up the pin and the loom, with the fabric.

15 Then she said to him, “How can you say, ‘I love you,’(DM) when you won’t confide in me? This is the third time(DN) you have made a fool of me and haven’t told me the secret of your great strength.(DO)” 16 With such nagging she prodded him day after day until he was sick to death of it.

17 So he told her everything.(DP) “No razor has ever been used on my head,” he said, “because I have been a Nazirite(DQ) dedicated to God from my mother’s womb. If my head were shaved, my strength would leave me, and I would become as weak as any other man.”

18 When Delilah saw that he had told her everything, she sent word to the rulers of the Philistines(DR), “Come back once more; he has told me everything.” So the rulers of the Philistines returned with the silver in their hands.(DS) 19 After putting him to sleep on her lap, she called for someone to shave off the seven braids of his hair, and so began to subdue him.[i] And his strength left him.(DT)

20 Then she called, “Samson, the Philistines are upon you!”(DU)

He awoke from his sleep and thought, “I’ll go out as before and shake myself free.” But he did not know that the Lord had left him.(DV)

21 Then the Philistines(DW) seized him, gouged out his eyes(DX) and took him down to Gaza.(DY) Binding him with bronze shackles, they set him to grinding grain(DZ) in the prison. 22 But the hair on his head began to grow again after it had been shaved.

The Death of Samson

23 Now the rulers of the Philistines assembled to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon(EA) their god and to celebrate, saying, “Our god has delivered Samson, our enemy, into our hands.”

24 When the people saw him, they praised their god,(EB) saying,

“Our god has delivered our enemy
    into our hands,(EC)
the one who laid waste our land
    and multiplied our slain.”

25 While they were in high spirits,(ED) they shouted, “Bring out Samson to entertain us.” So they called Samson out of the prison, and he performed for them.

When they stood him among the pillars, 26 Samson said to the servant who held his hand, “Put me where I can feel the pillars that support the temple, so that I may lean against them.” 27 Now the temple was crowded with men and women; all the rulers of the Philistines were there, and on the roof(EE) were about three thousand men and women watching Samson perform. 28 Then Samson prayed to the Lord,(EF) “Sovereign Lord, remember me. Please, God, strengthen me just once more, and let me with one blow get revenge(EG) on the Philistines for my two eyes.” 29 Then Samson reached toward the two central pillars on which the temple stood. Bracing himself against them, his right hand on the one and his left hand on the other, 30 Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines!” Then he pushed with all his might, and down came the temple on the rulers and all the people in it. Thus he killed many more when he died than while he lived.

31 Then his brothers and his father’s whole family went down to get him. They brought him back and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of Manoah(EH) his father. He had led[j](EI) Israel twenty years.(EJ)

Footnotes

  1. Judges 13:18 Or is wonderful
  2. Judges 14:15 Some Septuagint manuscripts and Syriac; Hebrew seventh
  3. Judges 15:16 Or made a heap or two; the Hebrew for donkey sounds like the Hebrew for heap.
  4. Judges 15:17 Ramath Lehi means jawbone hill.
  5. Judges 15:19 En Hakkore means caller’s spring.
  6. Judges 15:20 Traditionally judged
  7. Judges 16:5 That is, about 28 pounds or about 13 kilograms
  8. Judges 16:14 Some Septuagint manuscripts; Hebrew replied, “I can if you weave the seven braids of my head into the fabric on the loom.” 14 So she
  9. Judges 16:19 Hebrew; some Septuagint manuscripts and he began to weaken
  10. Judges 16:31 Traditionally judged
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Judges 12
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