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.
