Judges 16

Thomson^{(i) 1} Sampson went to Gaza, and saw there a woman; a harlot, and went in to her. ² And when the Gazites were told that Sampson was come there, they surrounded him, and lay in wait for him the whole night, at the gate of the city. They indeed kept quiet all the night, saying, When the dawn appeareth we shall kill him. ³ But when Sampson had lain till midnight, he arose in the middle of the night, and took the doors of the city gate with the two posts, and lifted them up with the bar, and laid them on his shoulders, and went up to the top of the mountain which looked towards Chebron, and deposited them there. ⁴ And after this he loved a woman at Alsorach, whose name was Dalida; ⁵ and the chiefs of the Philistines went up to her and said to her, Entice him, and see wherein his great strength lieth, and how we may prevail over him, and bind him so as to humble him; and we will give thee, every one of us eleven hundred pieces of silver. ⁶ Upon this Dalida said to Sampson, Tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength lieth, and with what thou couldst be bound so as to be humbled. ⁷ And Sampson said to her, Were they to bind me with seven thongs, wet, but not rotten, I should lose my strength, and be as other men. ⁸ So the chiefs of the Philistines brought her seven thongs, wet, but not rotten, and she bound him with them. ⁹ Now she had men lying in wait in her chamber. Then she said to him, The Philistines are upon thee, Sampson. Upon which he broke the thongs, as one would break a thread of tow, when it is touched with fire. So his strength was not known. ¹⁰ Then Dalida said to Sampson, Behold, thou hast deceived me and told me lies. Now therefore tell me with what thou canst be bound. ¹¹ And he said to her, Were they to bind me with new ropes which have never been used, I should lose my strength, and be like other men. ¹² So Dalida took new ropes, and bound him with them, and the men in ambush came out of the chamber and she said, The Philistines are upon thee, Sampson! Where upon he broke them from his arms like a thread. ¹³ Then Dalida said to Sampson, Behold, thou hast deceived me and told me lies. Tell me, I pray thee, with what thou canst be bound. And he said to her, If thou wert to weave these seven locks of my head with the woof, and fasten them into the wall with that pin, I should be as weak as other men. ¹⁴ So when he went to sleep, Dalida took the seven locks of his head, and wove them with the woof, and fastened them with the pin to the wall, and said, The Philistines are upon thee Sampson! Whereupon he roused from his sleep, and pulled the pin of the web out of the wall. ¹⁵ Then Dalida said to Sampson, How canst thou say, I love thee, when thy heart is not with me? These three times thou hast deceived me, and hast not told me wherein thy great strength lieth. ¹⁶ And as she continued to afflict him daily with her speeches, and press him, and tired him even to death, ¹⁷ he at length told her all his heart, and said to her; There hath never come a razor on my head, because I am consecrated to God from my mother's womb. If therefore I were shaven, my strength would depart from me, and I would become weak, and be like all other men. ¹⁸ When Dalida saw that be bad told her all his heart, she sent for two chiefs of two Philistines, and said, Come up this once more, for be hath told me all his heart. So two chiefs of two Philistines went up to her, and carried the money in their hands. ¹⁹ And when Dalida had lulled Sampson to sleep on her knees, she sent for a man, and be shaved off two seven locks of his bead, and began to humble him; for his strength was gone from him. ²⁰ And when Dalida said, The Philistines are upon thee Sampson! He awoke from his sleep, and said, I will go out as at other times heretofore, and rouse myself. He indeed did not know that the Lord had departed from him. ²¹ Then the Philistines seized him and put out his eyes, and carried him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass, and he was kept grinding in the prison house. ²² Now when the hairs of his head began to grow as when he was shaven, ²³ the chiefs of the Philistines assembled to offer a great sacrifice to their god Dagon, and to rejoice. And they said; God hath delivered Sampson, our great enemy into our hand. ²⁴ And when the people saw him, they sung praises to their god, saying, Our god hath delivered our enemy into our hands; him who wasted our land, and multiplied the number of our slain. ²⁵ Now when their heart was elated with joy, they said, Call Sampson from the prison, and let him make sport for us; so they called Sampson from the prison, and be made sport for them; and when they bad beaten him with rods, they set him between two pillars. ²⁶ Then Sampson said to the young man who had hold of his hand, Let go, that I may feel the pillars on which the house resteth, and lean upon them. ²⁷ Now the house was full of men and women; and all the chiefs of the Philistines were there; and on the top of the house there were about three thousand men and women looking at Sampson's sports. ²⁸ Then Sampson wept before two Lord, and said, Adonaie, Lord, remember me, I beseech thee, and strengthen me yet this once more, my God, that I may take vengeance on the Philistines for my two eyes. ²⁹ Then Sampson took bold of the two pillars, on which the house rested, and by which it was supported. And having taken hold of one with his right band, and of the other with his left, ³⁰ be said, Let me die with the Philistines, and strained with all his might, and the house fell upon the chiefs and on all the people in it. So that those whom Sampson slew at his death were more than those whom he had slain during his life. ³¹ And his brethren, and the house of his father, went down, and took him, and came up and buried him between Saraa and Esthaol in the tomb of his father Manoe. Now he had judged Israel twenty years.[The Idolatry of the house of Micah and of the Danites.]