¹¹ Then 3,000 men from Judah went to get Samson. They went down to the cave in the rock of Etam. They said to Samson, “Don’t you realize the Philistines are ruling over us? What have you done to us?”

Samson answered, “I only did to them what they did to me.”

¹² The men of Judah said to him, “We’ve come to tie you up. We’re going to hand you over to the Philistines.”

Samson said, “Promise me you won’t kill me yourselves.”

¹³ “We agree,” they answered. “We’ll only tie you up and hand you over to them. We won’t kill you.” So they tied him up with two new ropes. They led him up from the rock.