Judges 16

Revised Geneva Translation

16 Then Samson went to Gaza, and saw a harlot there, and went in to her.

² And it was told to the Gazites, “Samson has come here.” And they went around and laid wait for him all night in the gate of the city, and were quiet all night, saying, “Wait until the early morning and we shall kill him.”

³ And Samson slept until midnight and arose at midnight and took the doors of the gates of the city and the two posts and lifted them away, with the bars, and put them upon his shoulders and carried them up to the top of the mountain that is before Hebron.

⁴ And after this, he loved a woman by the river of Sorek, whose name was Delilah,

⁵ to whom came the princes of the Philistines. And they said to her, “Entice him and see wherein his great strength lies, and by what means we may overcome him, so that we may bind him and punish him. And every one of us shall give you eleven hundred shekels of silver.”

⁶ And Delilah said to Samson, “Tell me, please, wherein your great strength lies, and with what you might be bound, to do you harm.”

⁷ Then Samson answered her, “If they bind me with seven green cords that were never dried, then I shall be weak and be as another man.”

⁸ And the princes of the Philistines brought her seven green cords that were not dry, and she bound him with them.

⁹ And she had men lying in wait with her in the chamber. Then she said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” And he broke the cords, as a thread of yarn is broken when it feels fire. So, his strength was not known.

¹⁰ Afterward, Delilah said to Samson, “See, you have mocked me and told me lies. I ask you now, please tell me with what you might be bound.

¹¹ Then he answered her, “If they bind me with new ropes that never were used, then shall I be weak and be as another man.”

¹² Delilah, therefore, took new ropes and bound him with them, and said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” And men lay in wait in the chamber, and he broke them from his arms, as a thread.

¹³ Afterward Delilah said to Samson, “Up to now you have beguiled me, and told me lies. Tell me how you might be bound.” And he said to her, “If you weave the seven locks of my head with the threads of the woof.

¹⁴ And she fastened it with a pin and said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” And he awoke out of his sleep and went away with the pin of the web and the woof.

¹⁵ Again, she said to him, “How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when your heart is not with me? You have mocked me these three times and have not told me wherein your great strength lies.”

¹⁶ And because she pressed him with her words continually, and pestered him, his soul was pained to the death.

¹⁷ Therefore, he told her all his heart and said to her, “There has never come a razor upon my head; for I am a Nazirite to God from my mother’s womb. Therefore, if I am shaved, my strength will go from me and I shall be weak and be like all men.”

¹⁸ And when Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent, and called for the princes of the Philistines, saying, “Come up once again; for he has shown me all his heart.” Then the princes of the Philistines came up to her and brought the money in their hands.

¹⁹ And she made him sleep upon her knees. And she called a man and made him shave off the seven locks of his head. And she began to subdue him; for his strength had gone from him.

²⁰ Then she said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” And he awoke out of his sleep, and thought, “I will go out now, as at other times, and shake myself.” But he did not know that the LORD had departed from him.

²¹ Therefore, the Philistines took him and put out his eyes and brought him down to Gaza and bound him with chains. And he was a grinder in the prison house.

²² And the hair of his head began to grow again after it was shaved.

²³ Then, the princes of the Philistines gathered themselves together to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon, their god, and to rejoice. For they said, “Our god has delivered Samson, our enemy, into our hands!”

²⁴ Also when the people saw him, they praised their god. For they said, “Our god has delivered our enemy and the destroyer of our country, who has killed many of us, into our hands!”

²⁵ And when their hearts were merry, they said, “Call Samson, so that he may perform for us!” So, they called Samson out of the prison house. And he was a laughingstock to them. And they set him between the pillars.

²⁶ Then, Samson said to the servant who led him by the hand, “Lead me, so that I may touch the pillars that the house stands upon, and so that I may lean on them.”

²⁷ Now, the house was full of men and women. And all the princes of the Philistines were there. Also, there were about three thousand men and women on the roof who watched while Samson performed.

²⁸ Then, Samson called to the LORD, and said, “O Lord GOD! Think upon me, I pray! O God, I beg You, strengthen me just this one time, so that I may, at once, be avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes!”

²⁹ And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars upon which the house stood and upon which it was held up, one on his right and the other on his left.

³⁰ Then Samson said, “Let me lose my life with the Philistines!” And he flexed with all his might; and the house fell upon the princes and upon all the people who were inside. So, the dead which he killed at his death, were more than those whom he had killed 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 sepulcher of Manoah, his father. Now, he had judged Israel for twenty years.