Jg 16:1And Samson went down to Gaza; and there he saw a harlot and went in unto her.
Jg 16:2And this was told to the Gazites, saying, Samson has come here. So they surrounded him and set an ambush for him all night long in the gate of the city. And they were quiet all night long, saying among themselves, We will stay here until the light of morning; then we will slay him.
Jg 16:3But Samson lay only until midnight; then he rose at midnight and grasped the doors of the gate of the city and the two posts, and he plucked them up along with the bar; and he put them on his shoulders and brought them up to the top of the mountain that is in front of Hebron.
Jg 16:4Then after this he fell in love with a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah.
Jg 16:5And the lords of the Philistines came to her; and they said to her, Entice him, and find out how it is that his strength is so great, and how we can prevail against him and bind him so that we may afflict him; and we each will give you eleven hundred pieces of silver.
Jg 16:6So Delilah said to Samson, Tell me please, How is it that your strength is so great, and how could you be bound so that you could be afflicted?
Jg 16:7And Samson said to her, If they bind me with seven new cords that are not dried out, I will become weak and be like any other man.
Jg 16:8So the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven new cords that were not dried out, and she bound him with them.
Jg 16:9And there was an ambush staying with her in the inner chamber; and she said to him, The Philistines are upon you, Samson! And he snapped the cords, as when a strand of tow is snapped when it touches fire. So his strength was not known.
Jg 16:10Then Delilah said to Samson, You have just mocked me and told me lies; now tell me please, How can you be bound?
Jg 16:11And he said to her, If they bind me up with new ropes with which no work has been done, I will become weak and be like any other man.
Jg 16:12So Delilah took new ropes and bound him with them; and she said to him, The Philistines are upon you, Samson! And there was an ambush staying in the inner chamber. But he broke them off his arms like a thread.
Jg 16:13Then Delilah said to Samson, Until now you have mocked me and told me lies; tell me how you can be bound. And he said to her, If you weave the seven locks of my head with the web and fasten them with the pin onto the wall, I will become weak and be like any other man.
Jg 16:14So while he slept, Delilah took the seven locks of his head and wove them into the web; and she fastened them with the pin. Then she said to him, The Philistines are upon you, Samson! And he awoke from his sleep and plucked up the pin of the loom and the web.
Jg 16:15Then she said to him, How can you say, I love you, when your heart is not with me? These three times you have mocked me and have not told me how it is that your strength is so great.
Jg 16:16And after she pressed him with her words every day and urged him, his soul was tired to death.
Jg 16:17And he told her all his heart and said to her, No razor has ever come upon my head, for I have been a Nazarite to God from my mother’s womb. If I were shaved, my strength would leave me, and I would become weak and be like all men.
Jg 16:18And when Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent word and called for the lords of the Philistines, saying, Come up once more, for he has told me all his heart. And the lords of the Philistines came up to her, and they brought the silver in their hand.
Jg 16:19And she put him to sleep in her lap and called for a man; and she had him shave off the seven locks of his head. And she began to afflict him, and his strength left him.
Jg 16:20Then she said, The Philistines are upon you, Samson! And he awoke from his sleep and said, I will go out as at other times and shake myself free. But he did not know that Jehovah had left him.
Jg 16:21And the Philistines grabbed him and gouged out his eyes. And they took him down to Gaza and bound him with bronze fetters; and he ground at the mill in the prison house.
Jg 16:22But the hair on his head began to grow back after it had been shaved off.
Jg 16:23And the lords of the Philistines gathered to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god and to rejoice. And they said, Our god has delivered Samson our enemy into our hand.
Jg 16:24And when the people saw him, they praised their god; for they said, Our god has delivered our enemy into our hand, even him who desolated our land, who slew many of us.
Jg 16:25And when their hearts were merry, they said, Call for Samson, that he may entertain us. So they called for Samson from the prison house, and he performed before them. Then they made him stand between the pillars.
Jg 16:26And Samson said to the youth who held him by his hand, Let me feel the pillars upon which the house rests, that I may rest against them.
Jg 16:27Now the house was full of men and women, and all the lords of the Philistines were there; and on the roof there were about three thousand men and women, who were looking on while Samson performed.
Jg 16:28And Samson called on Jehovah and said, O Lord Jehovah, remember me, I pray; and strengthen me, I pray, this one time only, O God, that I may be avenged of the Philistines at once for my two eyes.
Jg 16:29And Samson grasped the two middle pillars upon which the house rested and leaned against them, one with his right hand and the other with his left.
Jg 16:30And Samson said, Let me die with the Philistines. And he bowed with all his strength, and the house fell upon the lords and all the people who were in it. So the dead that he killed in his death were more than those that he killed in his life.
Jg 16:31Then his brothers and all his father’s house went down and bore him away, and they brought him up and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol, in the tomb of Manoah his father. Now he had judged Israel twenty years.
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