Samson went to Gaza, and there he saw a prostitute, and he went
in to her. The Gazites were told, “Samson has come here.” And they
surrounded the place and set an ambush for him all night at the
gate of the city. They kept quiet all night, saying, “Let us wait
till the light of the morning; then we will kill him.” But Samson
lay till midnight, and at midnight he arose and took hold of the
doors of the gate of the city and the two posts, and pulled them
up, bar and all, and put them on his shoulders and carried them to
the top of the hill that is in front of Hebron.
After this he loved a woman in the Valley of Sorek, whose name
was Delilah. And the lords of the Philistines came up to her and
said to her, “Seduce him, and see where his great strength lies,
and by what means we may overpower him, that we may bind him to
humble him. And we will each give you 1,100 pieces of silver.” So
Delilah said to Samson, “Please tell me where your great strength
lies, and how you might be bound, that one could subdue you.”
Samson said to her, “If they bind me with seven fresh bowstrings
that have not been dried, then I shall become weak and be like any
other man.” Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her
seven fresh bowstrings that had not been dried, and she bound him
with them. Now she had men lying in ambush in an inner chamber. And
she said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” But he
snapped the bowstrings, as a thread of flax snaps when it touches
the fire. So the secret of his strength was not known.
Then Delilah said to Samson, “Behold, you have mocked me and told
me lies. Please tell me how you might be bound.” And he said to
her, “If they bind me with new ropes that have not been used, then
I shall become weak and be like any other man.” So Delilah took new
ropes and bound him with them and said to him, “The Philistines are
upon you, Samson!” And the men lying in ambush were in an inner
chamber. But he snapped the ropes off his arms like a thread.
Then Delilah said to Samson, “Until now you have mocked 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 web and fasten it
tight with the pin, then I shall become weak and be like any other
man.” So while he slept, Delilah took the seven locks of his head
and wove them into the web. And she made them tight with the pin
and said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” But he
awoke from his sleep and pulled away the pin, the loom, and the
web.
And 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 you
have not told me where your great strength lies.” And when she
pressed him hard with her words day after day, and urged him, his
soul was vexed to death. And he told her all his heart, and said to
her, “A razor has never come upon my head, for I have been a
Nazirite to God from my mother's womb. If my head is shaved, then
my strength will leave me, and I shall become weak and be like any
other man.”
When Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and
called the lords of the Philistines, saying, “Come up again, for he
has told me all his heart.” Then the lords of the Philistines came
up to her and brought the money in their hands. She made him sleep
on her knees. And she called a man and had him shave off the seven
locks of his head. Then she began to torment him, and his strength
left him. And 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 the LORD had left
him. And the Philistines seized him and gouged out his eyes and
brought him down to Gaza and bound him with bronze shackles. And he
ground at the mill in the prison. But the hair of his head began to
grow again after it had been shaved.
Now the lords of the Philistines gathered to offer a great
sacrifice to Dagon their god and to rejoice, and they said, “Our
god has given Samson our enemy into our hand.” And when the people
saw him, they praised their god. For they said, “Our god has given
our enemy into our hand, the ravager of our country, who has killed
many of us.” And when their hearts were merry, they said, “Call
Samson, that he may entertain us.” So they called Samson out of the
prison, and he entertained them. They made him stand between the
pillars. And Samson said to the young man who held him by the hand,
“Let me feel the pillars on which the house rests, that I may lean
against them.” Now the house was full of men and women. All the
lords of the Philistines were there, and on the roof there were
about 3,000 men and women, who looked on while Samson entertained.
Then Samson called to the LORD and said, “O Lord GOD, please
remember me and please strengthen me only this once, O God, that I
may be avenged on the Philistines for my two eyes.” And Samson
grasped the two middle pillars on which the house rested, and he
leaned his weight against them, his right hand on the one and his
left hand on the other. And Samson said, “Let me die with the
Philistines.” Then he bowed with all his strength, and the house
fell upon the lords and upon all the people who were in it. So the
dead whom he killed at his death were more than those whom he had
killed during his life. Then his brothers and all his family came
down and took him and brought him up and buried him between Zorah
and Eshtaol in the tomb of Manoah his father. He had judged Israel
twenty years.
