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16 Then Samson's wife went to him and she wept. She said to him, ‘It seems that you hate me. You do not really love me. You have asked my friends a clever question, but you have not told me the answer.’

Samson said to her, ‘I have not told the answer even to my father or mother. So why should I tell you?’

17 Samson's wife continued to weep like that all the days of the party. Finally, she gave him so much trouble that he told her the answer on the seventh day. Then she told the young men the answer to Samson's question.

18 Before sunset on the seventh day, the men of the town gave their answer to Samson:

‘There is nothing sweeter than honey!
There is nothing stronger than a lion!’

Samson said to them, ‘You have used my young cow to do your work! Without her you would not have found the answer to my question.’

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16 Then Samson’s wife threw herself on him, sobbing, “You hate me! You don’t really love me.(A) 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(B) 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?”(C)

Samson said to them,

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

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