⁷ So the men set out in pursuit of the spies on the road that leads to the fords of the Jordan,^(A) and as soon as the pursuers^(B) had gone out, the gate was shut.

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.^(A) They made no move during the night, saying, “At dawn^(B) 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.^(C)