Judges 16

1And Samson went to Gaza, and saw there a harlot, and went in unto her.

1One day Samson went to the city of Gaza, where he saw a prostitute and went in to spend the night with her.

2And 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, Let be till morning light, then we will kill him.

2The people of Gaza were told, 'Samson is here!' So they surrounded the place and waited in ambush for him all night at the city gate. They kept quiet throughout the night, saying, 'We will wait until dawn, then we will kill him.'

3And Samson lay till midnight, and arose at midnight, and laid hold of the doors of the gate of the city, and the two posts, and plucked them up, bar and all, and put them upon his shoulders, and carried them up to the top of the mountain that is before Hebron.

3But Samson stayed in bed only until midnight. Then he got up, grabbed the doors of the city gate and the two gateposts, and pulled them up, bar and all. He put them on his shoulders and carried them to the top of the hill that faces the city of Hebron.

4And it came to pass afterward, that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah.

4Sometime later, Samson fell in love with a woman named Delilah, who lived in the Sorek Valley.

5And 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.

5The leaders of the Philistines went to her and said, 'See if you can trick him into telling you the secret of his great strength and how we can overpower him. We want to tie him up and humble him. If you do this, each one of us will give you 1,100 pieces of silver.'

6And Delilah said to Samson, Tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength lieth, and wherewith thou mightest be bound to afflict thee.

6So Delilah said to Samson, 'Please tell me what makes you so strong and how someone could tie you up and overpower you.'

7And Samson said unto her, If they bind me with seven green withes that were never dried, then shall I become weak, and be as another man.

7Samson answered her, 'If they tie me up with seven new bowstrings that have not been dried, I will become as weak as any other man.'

8Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven green withes which had not been dried, and she bound him with them.

8Then the Philistine leaders brought her seven new bowstrings that had not been dried, and she tied him up with them.

9Now she had liers-in-wait abiding in the inner chamber. And she said unto him, The Philistines are upon thee, Samson. And he brake the withes, as a string of tow is broken when it toucheth the fire. So his strength was not known.

9With men hiding in the inner room, she shouted to him, 'Samson, the Philistines are here!' But he snapped the bowstrings as easily as a piece of string snaps when it touches a fire. So the secret of his strength was not discovered.

10And Delilah said unto Samson, Behold, thou hast mocked me, and told me lies: now tell me, I pray thee, wherewith thou mightest be bound.

10Then Delilah said to Samson, 'You made a fool of me and lied to me! Now please tell me how you can really be tied up.'

11And he said unto her, If they only bind me with new ropes wherewith no work hath been done, then shall I become weak, and be as another man.

11He told her, 'If they tie me tightly with brand-new ropes that have never been used for work, I will become as weak as any other man.'

12So Delilah took new ropes, and bound him therewith, and said unto him, The Philistines are upon thee, Samson. And the liers-in-wait were abiding in the inner chamber. And he brake them off his arms like a thread.

12So Delilah took new ropes and tied him up. With men hiding in the inner room, she shouted, 'Samson, the Philistines are here!' But he snapped the ropes off his arms like they were mere threads.

13And 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.

13Delilah said to Samson, 'Up until now you have been mocking me and telling me lies. Tell me how you can be tied up.' He said to her, 'If you weave the seven braids of my head into the fabric on a loom.'

14And she fastened it with the pin, and said unto him, The Philistines are upon thee, Samson. And he awaked out of his sleep, and plucked away the pin of the beam, and the web.

14So while he was sleeping, Delilah wove his seven braids into the fabric and tightened it with a loom shuttle. Again she shouted, 'Samson, the Philistines are here!' He woke up and pulled his hair free, pulling out the shuttle and the fabric.

15And she said unto him, How canst thou say, I love thee, when thy heart is not with me? thou hast mocked me these three times, and hast not told me wherein thy great strength lieth.

15Then she said to him, 'How can you say "I love you" when you don't really trust me? This is the third time you have made a fool of me and haven't told me the secret of your great strength.'

16And it came to pass, when she pressed him daily with her words, and urged him, that his soul was vexed unto death.

16She nagged him day after day and pleaded with him until he was tired to death of it.

17And he told her all his heart, and said unto her, There hath not come a razor upon my head; for I have been a Nazirite 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.

17Finally, he told her everything. 'My hair has never been cut,' he said, 'because I have been a Nazirite dedicated to God since before I was born. If my head were shaved, my strength would leave me, and I would become as weak as any other man.'

18And 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 told me all his heart. Then the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and brought the money in their hand.

18When Delilah realized he had finally told her the whole truth, she sent a message to the Philistine leaders: 'Come back one more time; he has told me everything.' So the Philistine leaders returned to her with the money in their hands.

19And she made him sleep upon her knees; and she called for a man, and shaved off the seven locks of his head; and she began to afflict him, and his strength went from him.

19Delilah lulled Samson to sleep on her lap and called for a man to shave off the seven braids of his hair. In this way she began to humble him, and his strength left him.

20And she said, The Philistines are upon thee, Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep, and said, I will go out as at other times, and shake myself free. But he knew not that Jehovah was departed from him.

20Then she shouted, 'Samson, the Philistines are here!' He woke up and thought, 'I will go out and shake myself free just like I did before.' But he did not realize that the LORD had left him.

21And the Philistines laid hold on him, and put out his eyes; and they brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he did grind in the prison-house.

21The Philistines captured him and poked out his eyes. They took him down to Gaza, bound him with bronze chains, and made him grind grain in the prison.

22Howbeit the hair of his head began to grow again after he was shaven.

22But the hair on his head began to grow back almost as soon as it was shaved off.

23And the lords of the Philistines gathered them together 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.

23The Philistine leaders gathered together to offer a great sacrifice to their god Dagon and to celebrate. They said, 'Our god has handed our enemy Samson over to us!'

24And when the people saw him, they praised their god; for they said, Our god hath delivered into our hand our enemy, and the destroyer of our country, who hath slain many of us.

24When the people saw him, they praised their god, saying, 'Our god has handed over the enemy who destroyed our land and killed so many of us!'

25And 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 sport before them. And they set him between the pillars:

25While they were in high spirits, they shouted, 'Bring Samson out to entertain us!' So they brought Samson out of the prison, and he performed for them. Then they made him stand between the pillars of the temple.

26and Samson said unto the lad that held him by the hand, Suffer me that I may feel the pillars whereupon the house resteth, that I may lean upon them.

26Samson said to the young servant who was leading him by the hand, 'Put me where I can feel the pillars that support the temple so I can lean against them.'

27Now 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.

27Now the temple was crowded with men and women. All the Philistine leaders were there, and there were about 3,000 men and women on the roof watching Samson perform.

28And Samson called unto Jehovah, and said, O Lord Jehovah, 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.

28Then Samson prayed to the LORD, 'O Sovereign LORD, please remember me. God, please strengthen me just one more time. Let me pay back the Philistines with one blow for the loss of my two eyes.'

29And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars upon which the house rested, and leaned upon them, the one with his right hand, and the other with his left.

29Samson reached out and grabbed the two central pillars that supported the temple. Pushing against them with his right hand on one and his left hand on the other,

30And 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 that he slew at his death were more than they that he slew in his life.

30he cried out, 'Let me die with the Philistines!' He pushed with all his might, and the temple crashed down on the leaders and all the people in it. So he killed more people when he died than he had during his entire life.

31Then 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 burying-place of Manoah his father. And he judged Israel twenty years.

31Then his brothers and his father’s whole family went down to get his body. They brought him back and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of his father Manoah. Samson had led Israel for twenty years.