|
Chapter 16 |
| 1 | Then went
Samson to Gaza, and saw there an harlot, and went in unto her. |
| 2 | And it
was told the Gazites, saying, Samson is come hither. And they compassed him in,
and laid wait for him all night in the gate of the city, and were quiet all the
night, saying, In the morning, when it is day, we shall kill him. |
| 3 |
And Samson lay till midnight, and arose at midnight, and took the doors of the
gate of the city, and the two posts, and went away with them, bar and all, and
put them upon his shoulders, and carried them up to the top of an hill that is
before Hebron. |
|
4 | And it came to pass afterward, that he loved a woman
in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah. |
| 5 | And the lords
of the Philistines came up unto her, and said unto her, Entice him, and see
wherein his great strength lieth, and by what means we may prevail against him,
that we may bind him to afflict him; and we will give thee every one of us
eleven hundred pieces of silver. |
| 6 | And Delilah said to Samson,
Tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength lieth, and wherewith thou
mightest be bound to afflict thee. |
| 7 | And Samson said unto her, If
they bind me with seven green withes that were never dried, then shall I be
weak, and be as another man. |
|
8 | Then the lords of the Philistines
brought up to her seven green withes which had not been dried, and she bound
him with them. |
|
9 | Now there were men lying in wait, abiding with her
in the chamber. And she said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson.
And he brake the withes, as a thread of tow is broken when it toucheth the
fire. So his strength was not known. |
| 10 | And Delilah said unto Samson,
Behold, thou hast mocked me, and told me lies: now tell me, I pray thee,
wherewith thou mightest be bound. |
| 11 | And he said unto her, If they
bind me fast with new ropes that never were occupied, then shall I be weak, and
be as another man. |
| 12 | Delilah therefore took new ropes, and bound
him therewith, and said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And
there were liers in wait abiding in the chamber. And he brake them from off his
arms like a thread. |
| 13 | And Delilah said unto Samson, Hitherto thou
hast mocked me, and told me lies: tell me wherewith thou mightest be bound. And
he said unto her, If thou weavest the seven locks of my head with the
web. |
| 14 |
And she fastened it with the pin, and said unto him, The
Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awaked out of his sleep, and went away
with the pin of the beam, and with the web. |
|
15 | And she said unto him,
How canst thou say, I love thee, when thine heart is not with me? thou hast
mocked me these three times, and hast not told me wherein thy great strength
lieth. |
| 16
| And it came to pass, when she pressed him daily with her
words, and urged him, so that his soul was vexed unto death; |
| 17 | That
he told her all his heart, and said unto her, There hath not come a razor upon
mine head; for I have been a Nazarite unto God from my mother's womb: if I be
shaven, then my strength will go from me, and I shall become weak, and be like
any other man. |
|
18 | And when Delilah saw that he had told her all his
heart, she sent and called for the lords of the Philistines, saying, Come up
this once, for he hath showed me all his heart. Then the lords of the
Philistines came up unto her, and brought money in their hand. |
| 19 | And
she made him sleep upon her knees; and she called for a man, and she caused him
to shave off the seven locks of his head; and she began to afflict him, and his
strength went from him. |
| 20 | And she said, The Philistines be upon thee,
Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep, and said, I will go out as at other
times before, and shake myself. And he wist not that the LORD was departed from
him. |
| 21 |
But the Philistines took him, and put out his eyes, and
brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he did grind
in the prison house. |
| 22 | Howbeit the hair of his head began to grow
again after he was shaven. |
|
23 | Then the lords of the Philistines
gathered them together for to offer a great sacrifice unto Dagon their god, and
to rejoice: for they said, Our god hath delivered Samson our enemy into our
hand. |
| 24 |
And when the people saw him, they praised their god: for they
said, Our god hath delivered into our hands our enemy, and the destroyer of our
country, which slew many of us. |
| 25 | And it came to pass, when
their hearts were merry, that they said, Call for Samson, that he may make us
sport. And they called for Samson out of the prison house; and he made them
sport: and they set him between the pillars. |
|
26 | And Samson said unto
the lad that held him by the hand, Suffer me that I may feel the pillars
whereupon the house standeth, that I may lean upon them. |
| 27 | Now the
house was full of men and women; and all the lords of the Philistines were
there; and there were upon the roof about three thousand men and women, that
beheld while Samson made sport. |
| 28 | And Samson called unto the
LORD, and said, O Lord God, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray
thee, only this once, O God, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines
for my two eyes. |
|
29 | And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars upon
which the house stood, and on which it was borne up, of the one with his right
hand, and of the other with his left. |
| 30 | And Samson said, Let me die
with the Philistines. And he bowed himself with all his might; and the house
fell upon the lords, and upon all the people that were therein. So the dead
which he slew at his death were more than they which he slew 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
buryingplace of Manoah his father. And he judged Israel twenty years. |
