JudgesChapter 16
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1One day Samson went to Gaza. There he saw a prostitute, and he went in to spend the night with her. 2The people of Gaza heard that Samson was there. So they surrounded the place. All night they hid and waited for him at the city gate. They kept quiet all night. They said, "Let's wait until morning. Then we'll kill him." 3But Samson stayed there only until midnight. Then he got up and took hold of the doors of the city gate and both posts. He pulled them out, bar and all. He put them on his shoulders and carried them to the top of the hill that faces Hebron. 4Some time later, Samson fell in love with a woman in the Valley of Sorek. Her name was Delilah. 5The rulers of the Philistines went to her. They said, "Trick him. Find out what makes him so strong. Find out how we can beat him, tie him up, and control him. Then each of us will give you 1,100 shekels of silver."a 6So Delilah said to Samson, "Please tell me what makes you so strong. How could someone tie you up and control you?" 7Samson told her, "If they tie me up with seven new bowstrings that haven't been dried, I'll become as weak as any other man." 8So the rulers of the Philistines brought her seven new bowstrings that had not been dried. She tied him up with them. 9Some men were hiding in her room. She called out, "Samson, the Philistines are here!" But he snapped the bowstrings like a piece of string that gets near a flame. So no one found out what made him strong. 10Then Delilah said to Samson, "You made a fool of me! You lied to me! Now please tell me how you can be tied up." 11He said, "If they tie me up with new ropes that have never been used, I'll become as weak as any other man." 12So Delilah took new ropes and tied him up with them. Men were hiding in her room. She called out, "Samson, the Philistines are here!" But he snapped the ropes off his arms as if they were threads. 13Then Delilah said to Samson, "You've been making a fool of me and lying to me this whole time! Tell me how you can be tied up." He told her, "If you weave the seven braids of my hair into the cloth on a loom and tighten it with a pin, I'll become as weak as any other man."b 14So while he was asleep, Delilah took the seven braids of his hair. She wove them into the cloth and tightened it with the pin. Then she called to him, "Samson, the Philistines are here!" But he woke up and pulled out the pin, the loom, and the cloth. 15Then she said to him, "How can you say, 'I love you,' when your heart isn't with me? This is the third time you've made a fool of me. You still haven't told me what makes you so strong!" 16She kept nagging him with her words day after day. She begged him until he was sick of it and wanted to die. 17Finally Samson told her everything in his heart. He said, "No razor has ever cut my hair, because I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother's womb. If my head is shaved, my strength will leave me. I'll become as weak as any other man." 18Delilah saw that he had told her everything in his heart. So she sent this message to the rulers of the Philistines: "Come back one more time. He has told me everything in his heart." So the rulers of the Philistines came to her. They brought the money with them. 19She got him to fall asleep with his head on her lap. Then she called a man to shave off the seven braids of his hair. In this way she began to overpower him, and his strength left him. 20Then she called out, "Samson, the Philistines are here!" Samson woke up from his sleep. He thought, "I'll get away like before and shake myself free." But he did not know that the LORD had left him. 21Then the Philistines grabbed him and gouged out his eyes. They took him down to Gaza. There they tied him up with bronze chains. They made him grind grain in the prison. 22But after his head was shaved, his hair began to grow back. 23Now the rulers of the Philistines gathered to offer a great sacrifice to their god Dagon. They celebrated and said, "Our god has handed our enemy Samson over to us!" 24When the people saw him, they praised their god. They said,
"Our god has handed our enemy over to us.
He destroyed our land
and killed so many of us." 25While they were having a good time, they said, "Bring out Samson so he can entertain us." So they brought Samson out of the prison, and he entertained them. They made him stand between the pillars. 26Samson said to the young man who was leading him by the hand, "Let me feel the pillars that hold up the temple. I want to lean against them." 27The temple was full of men and women. All the rulers of the Philistines were there. About 3,000 men and women were on the roof. They were watching Samson entertain them. 28Then Samson called out to the LORD. "Lord GOD, please remember me," he said. "Please, God, make me strong just one more time. Let me get revenge on the Philistines for my two eyes with one blow." 29Then Samson reached out for the two middle pillars that held up the temple. He braced himself against them. His right hand was on one pillar, and his left hand was on the other. 30Samson said, "Let me die with the Philistines!" Then he pushed with all his strength. The temple fell on the rulers and on all the people in it. So Samson killed more people when he died than he had killed while he lived. 31Then Samson's brothers and his father's whole family came down. They carried him back and buried him in the tomb of his father Manoah. It was between Zorah and Eshtaol. Samson had led Israel as judge for 20 years.