Judges 16

Samson at Gaza

1Samson went to Gaza, saw a prostitute there, and went in to her. 2The Gazites were told, “Samson has come here.” They surrounded the place and lay in wait for him all night at the city gate. They kept quiet all night, saying, “At the light of morning we will kill him.” 3But Samson lay until midnight. At midnight he rose, took hold of the doors of the city gate and the two posts, pulled them up together with the bar, put them on his shoulders, and carried them to the top of the hill that faces Hebron.

Samson Loves Delilah

4After this he loved a woman in the Valley of Sorek whose name was Delilah. 5The rulers of the Philistines went up to her and said, “Entice him and see where his great strength lies and how we may overpower him, so that we may bind him and humble him. Each of us will give you eleven hundred pieces of silver.” 6Delilah said to Samson, “Please tell me where your great strength lies and with what you may be bound to humble you.” 7Samson 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.” 8Then the rulers of the Philistines brought up to her seven fresh bowstrings that had not been dried, and she bound him with them. 9Now men were lying in wait with her in an inner room. She said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” But he snapped the bowstrings as a thread of flax snaps when it touches fire. So the source of his strength was not known.

Delilah Presses Samson

10Delilah said to Samson, “Look, you have mocked me and told me lies. Now please tell me how you may be bound.” 11He said to her, “If they bind me securely with new ropes that have never been used for work, then I shall become weak and be like any other man.” 12So Delilah took new ropes and bound him with them and said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” The men in ambush were in the inner room. But he snapped the ropes from his arms like thread. 13Delilah said to Samson, “Until now you have mocked me and told me lies. Tell me how you may be bound.” He said to her, “If you weave the seven locks of my head with the web.” 14She fastened it with the pin and said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” He awoke from his sleep and pulled away the pin of the loom and the web.

Samson Tells Her All His Heart

15She said to him, “How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when your heart is not with me? These three times you have mocked me and have not told me where your great strength lies.” 16When she pressed him with her words day after day and urged him, his soul became impatient to the point of death. 17So 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 I am shaved, then my strength will leave me, and I shall become weak and be like any other person.” 18When Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called the rulers of the Philistines, saying, “Come up this time, for he has told me all his heart.” Then the rulers of the Philistines came up to her and brought the silver in their hands. 19She made him sleep upon her knees, called a man, and had him shave off the seven locks of his head. Then she began to humble him, and his strength left him. 20She said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” 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 departed from him.

The Philistines Blind Samson

21The Philistines seized him and gouged out his eyes. They brought him down to Gaza and bound him with bronze chains, and he ground grain in the prison house. 22But the hair of his head began to grow again after it had been shaved.

The Philistines Celebrate Dagon

23The rulers of the Philistines gathered to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god and to rejoice. They said:

“Our god has given Samson our enemy
into our hand.” 24When the people saw him, they praised their god, for they said:

“Our god has given our enemy into our hand,
the destroyer of our land,
who multiplied our slain.” 25When their hearts were merry, they said, “Call Samson, that he may entertain us.” They called Samson from the prison house, and he entertained them. They made him stand between the pillars. 26Samson said to the young man who held him by the hand, “Let me feel the pillars upon which the house rests, that I may lean against them.” 27Now the house was full of men and women. All the rulers of the Philistines were there, and on the roof were about three thousand men and women who watched while Samson entertained them.

Samson Dies with the Philistines

28Then Samson called to the LORD and said, “Lord GOD, please remember me. Please strengthen me only this once, O God, that I may be avenged on the Philistines with one vengeance for my two eyes.” 29Samson grasped the two middle pillars upon which the house rested and leaned his weight against them, his right hand on one and his left hand on the other. 30Samson said, “Let my life die with the Philistines.” Then he bowed with all his strength, and the house fell upon the rulers 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. 31Then his brothers and all his father’s household came down, carried him away, brought him up, and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of Manoah his father. He had judged Israel twenty years.