Judges 16-18

New Life Version

Samson and Delilah

16 Samson went to Gaza and saw a woman who sold the use of her body there. He went in to her. ² The Gazites were told, “Samson has come here.” So they gathered around the place and waited for him all night at the gate of the city. They were quiet all night, saying, “Let us wait until the morning light. Then we will kill him.” ³ But Samson lay until late at night. Then he got up and took hold of the doors of the city gate and the pieces that held them. He pulled them up together with the locks and put them on his shoulders. And he carried them up to the top of the mountain beside Hebron.

⁴ After this Samson loved a woman in the valley of Sorek. Her name was Delilah. ⁵ The leaders of the Philistines came to her, saying, “Tempt Samson to tell you the secret of his powerful strength. Find out how we can get power over him so we can tie him and hold him. Then we will each give you 1,100 pieces of silver.” ⁶ So Delilah said to Samson, “I beg you. Tell me the secret of your powerful strength. Tell me how one can get power over you and tie you up and hold you.” ⁷ Samson said to her, “They must tie me with seven new ropes that have not been dried. Then I will become weak and be like any other man.” ⁸ So the leaders of the Philistines brought her seven new ropes that had not been dried. And Delilah tied Samson with them. ⁹ She had men hiding and waiting in another room. She said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” But he broke the ropes like a string breaks when it touches fire. So they did not find the secret of his strength.

¹⁰ Delilah said to Samson, “See, you have fooled me and told me lies. Now tell me, I beg you, how can you be tied?” ¹¹ Samson said to her, “They must tie me with new ropes which have never been used. Then I will become weak and be like any other man.” ¹² So Delilah took new ropes, tied Samson with them, and said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” Men were hiding and waiting in another room. But Samson broke the ropes from his arms like a string.

¹³ Then Delilah said to Samson, “You have fooled me and told me lies until now. Tell me how you can be tied.” Samson said to her, “You must work the seven strings of my hair into the cloth you are making and hold it there with a nail. Then I will become weak and be like any other man.” ¹⁴ So while Samson slept, Delilah took the seven strings of his hair and worked them into the cloth. She held it in place with the nail. Then she said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” But he awoke from his sleep and pulled away the nail, the cloth maker and the cloth.

¹⁵ Delilah said to Samson, “How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when your heart is not with me? You have lied to me these three times. You have not told me the secret of your powerful strength.” ¹⁶ She asked him day after day until his soul was troubled to death. ¹⁷ So he told her all that was in his mind. He said to her, “My hair has never been cut. For I have been a Nazirite to God from the time I was born. If my hair is cut, my strength will leave me. I will become weak and be like any other man.”

¹⁸ Delilah saw that Samson had told her the truth. She sent and called the leaders of the Philistines, saying, “Come once again. For he has told me all he knows.” So the leaders of the Philistines came to her. And they brought the money in their hands. ¹⁹ She made Samson sleep on her knees. Then she called for a man to cut off the seven parts of Samson’s hair. She began to hurt Samson, and his strength left him. ²⁰ She said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” He awoke from his sleep and said, “I will go out as I have at other times. I will shake myself free.” But he did not know that the Lord had left him. ²¹ The Philistines took hold of him and cut out his eyes. They brought him down to Gaza and tied him with brass chains. Samson was made to grind grain in the prison. ²² But the hair of his head started to grow again after it was cut off.

The Death of Samson

²³ Now the leaders of the Philistines gathered to give a large gift to their god Dagon. They were happy, for they said, “Our god has given us Samson, the man who has fought against us.” ²⁴ The people praised their god when they saw Samson. They said, “Our god has given us the one who fought against us, destroyed our country, and killed many of us.” ²⁵ After the people had had much to drink, they said, “Bring Samson here so we can have some fun with him.” So they called Samson out of prison and made fun of him. They made him stand between the stone pillars that held up the building. ²⁶ Samson said to the boy who was holding his hand, “Let me feel the tall pillars that hold up the building. I want to rest against them.” ²⁷ Now the building was full of men and women. All the leaders of the Philistines were there, and there were about 3,000 men and women on the roof looking down and laughing at Samson.

²⁸ Then Samson called to the Lord and said, “O Lord God, I beg You. Remember me. Give me strength only this once, O God. So I may now punish the Philistines for my two eyes.” ²⁹ Samson took hold of the two center pillars that held up the building. He pushed against them, with his right hand on one and his left hand on the other. ³⁰ Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines!” Then he pushed with all his strength so that the building fell on the leaders and all the people in it. He killed more at his death than he killed in his life. ³¹ Then his brothers and all those of his father’s house came and took him. They brought him up and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the grave of his father Manoah. Samson had ruled Israel for twenty years.

The False Gods of Micah

17 There was a man of the hill country of Ephraim whose name was Micah. ² He said to his mother, “There were 1,100 pieces of silver taken from you. And I heard you pray that the robber would be cursed. See, the silver is with me. I took it.” His mother said, “May the Lord bring good to you, my son.” ³ He returned the 1,100 pieces of silver to his mother. And she said, “I set apart all the silver from my hand to the Lord for my son. It is to be used in making an object to look like a god. So I will return the silver to you.” ⁴ When he returned the silver to his mother, she gave 200 pieces to the man who works with silver. He made them into an object to look like a god for Micah’s house. ⁵ The man Micah had a special building where gods were worshiped. He made a holy vest and gods for the house. And he set apart one of his sons to be his religious leader. ⁶ There was no king in Israel in those days. Each man did what he thought was right.

⁷ Now there was a young man of Bethlehem in Judah. He was a Levite, of the family of Judah, and he was staying there. ⁸ He left the city of Bethlehem in Judah to find a place to live. As he traveled he came to the house of Micah in the hill country of Ephraim. ⁹ Micah said to him, “Where do you come from?” He answered, “I am a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah. I am going to stay where I may find a place.” ¹⁰ Then Micah said to him, “Live with me. Be a father and a religious leader to me. I will give you ten pieces of silver a year, new clothes, and your living.” So the Levite went in. ¹¹ The Levite agreed to live with the man. And the young man was like a son to Micah. ¹² So Micah set apart the Levite. The young man became his religious leader and lived in Micah’s house. ¹³ Then Micah said, “Now I know that the Lord will bring good to me because I have a Levite as my religious leader.”

Micah and the Danites

18 There was no king of Israel in those days. At that time the family of the Danites was looking for their own land to live in. For no land had been given to them yet among the families of Israel. ² So the people of Dan sent five men from all those in their family. They were men with strength of heart, from Zorah and Eshtaol, sent to look over the land. The people of Dan said to them, “Go and look over the land.” And the men came to the house of Micah in the hill country of Ephraim. They stayed there. ³ When they were near the house of Micah, they heard the voice of the young man, the Levite. They knew who he was, and said to him, “Who brought you here? What are you doing in this place? What do you have here?” ⁴ The Levite said to them, “This is what Micah has done for me. He has hired me. I have become his religious leader.” ⁵ They said to him, “We beg you to ask God if all will go well for us as we travel.” ⁶ The religious leader said to them, “Go in peace. The way you are going is pleasing to the Lord.”

⁷ Then the five men left and came to Laish. They saw how the people lived there, quiet and feeling safe, like the Sidonians. There was no ruler in the land who would put them to shame for anything. They were far from the Sidonians and had nothing to do with anyone. ⁸ The five men returned to their brothers at Zorah and Eshtaol. Their brothers said to them, “What do you have to say?” ⁹ They answered, “Get ready. Let us go up against them. For we have seen their land and it is very good. Will you sit and do nothing? Do not wait. Go into the land and take it. ¹⁰ When you go in, you will come to people who feel very safe. They have much land, but God has given it to you. It will be a place where you will have all you need on earth.”

¹¹ Then 600 men from the family of Dan, from Zorah and Eshtaol, went out ready for war. ¹² They went to Kiriath-jearim in Judah and set up their tents. They called that place Mahaneh-dan to this day. It is west of Kiriath-jearim. ¹³ They went from there to the hill country of Ephraim and came to the house of Micah.

¹⁴ Then the five men who had gone to look over the country of Laish said to their brothers, “Do you know that in these houses there are gods, a holy vest, and objects made to look like gods? So think about what you should do.” ¹⁵ They turned there and came to the house of the young man, the Levite, at the home of Micah. They asked him how he was getting along. ¹⁶ The 600 men of the sons of Dan who were ready for war were standing by the gate. ¹⁷ The five men who had gone to look over the land went in the house. They took the objects made to look like gods, the holy vest and the other gods. The religious leader stood by the gate with the 600 men who were ready for war. ¹⁸ When the men went into Micah’s house and took the objects made to look like gods, the holy vest and the other gods, the religious leader said to them, “What are you doing?” ¹⁹ They said to him, “Be quiet. Put your hand over your mouth and come with us. Be a father and a religious leader to us. Is it better for you to be a religious leader to the house of one man, or to a family in Israel?” ²⁰ The religious leader felt glad in his heart. He took the holy vest, the house gods and objects made to look like gods. And he went among the people.

²¹ Then they turned and left. They put the little ones, the animals and their riches in front of them. ²² They had gone a long way from the house of Micah. And the men who were in the houses near Micah’s house gathered together and went after them. When they came to the sons of Dan, ²³ they called out to them. The sons of Dan turned around and said to Micah, “What is wrong with you? Why have you gathered together?” ²⁴ Micah said, “You have taken away my gods which I made. And you go away with the religious leader. What do I have left? How can you say to me, ‘What is wrong with you?’” ²⁵ The sons of Dan said to him, “Do not let your voice be heard among us. Or angry men will kill you and those of your house.” ²⁶ Then the sons of Dan went on their way. Micah saw that they were too strong for him. So he returned to his house.

²⁷ The men of Dan took what Micah had made and the religious leader who had belonged to him. They came to Laish, to people who were quiet and felt safe. And they killed them with the sword. They burned the city with fire. ²⁸ There was no one to take them away from their trouble, because it was far from Sidon and they had nothing to do with anyone. It was in the valley near Beth-rehob. The sons of Dan built the city again, and lived in it. ²⁹ They called the name of the city Dan, after the name of Dan their father who was born in Israel. The name of the city had been Laish before. ³⁰ The people of Dan set up for themselves the object made to look like a god. And Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Manasseh, and his sons were religious leaders to the family of Dan until the day their land was taken. ³¹ They set up the false god that Micah had made, while the house of God was at Shiloh.