Judges 16
1 2
3 4 5
6 7 8
9 10 11
12 13
14 15
16 17
18 19
20 21
1 Then went Samson to Gaza,
and saw there an harlot, and went in unto her.
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.
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.
4 And it came to pass
afterward, that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was
Delilah.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 And it came to pass, when she pressed
him daily with her words, and urged him, so that his soul was vexed unto
death;
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
22 Howbeit the hair of his head began to
grow again after he was shaven.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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