Samson and the woman in the town of Timnah
1One day Samson went to the town of Timnah and he saw a woman there. She was a Philistine girl. 2When he came back home, he told his parents about her. He said: ‘I have seen a woman in Timnah. She is a Philistine girl. I want you to go and talk to her parents because I want to marry her.’
3Samson's mother and father said to him: ‘Why do you want to have a wife from the Philistines? You can find a wife in your own family or from our own people.’
But Samson said to his father: ‘She is the woman that you must get for me because I love her.’
4Samson's parents did not know, but it was the Lord who wanted this to happen. He wanted to punish the Philistines. During that time the Philistines ruled over the Israelites.
5Samson and his parents went to the town of Timnah. They were near the vineyards of Timnah when a lion roared and attacked Samson.
6The Spirit_of_the_Lord came into Samson and made him strong. Samson grabbed the lion with his hands and killed it. It was very easy for Samson, as easy as it is for a man when he kills a young goat. Samson did not tell his parents about this. 7Then they went to talk to the woman. Samson loved her very much. 8Later Samson went back to the town of Timnah to marry the woman. He stopped on the way to look at the dead lion. There were bees and honey inside the dead body of the lion. 9Samson took some of the honey in his hands and he ate the honey while he walked. When he got to his parents, he gave them some of the honey and they ate it. Samson did not tell his parents that he got the honey from the dead body of the lion.
10They got to the woman's family and Samson gave a feast. This is what all the young men did when they got married. 11When the Philistines saw Samson, they called 30 men to stay with him for the feast. 12Samson said to the men: ‘I will give you a riddle. You must try to find the answer and if you can tell me what the answer is before the end of the 7 days of the feast, then I will give each of you 30 men a coat and a set of clothes. 13But if you can not tell me what the answer is, then each of you must give me a coat and a set of clothes.’
The men said to Samson: ‘Yes, tell us the riddle, we will listen.’
14Samson said to them:
‘From one who eats
came something that you can eat,
and from the one that is strong
came something that is sweet.’
After 3 days the men did not know what the answer was for Samson's riddle. 15On the 7th day the 30 men said to Samson's wife: ‘You must ask your husband what the answer is and then you must tell us. If you do not tell us, then we will kill you and your father's family and we will burn your house. Why did you ask us to come to this feast? Do you want to make us poor?’
16Samson's wife went to him. She cried and said: ‘You do not love me. You hate me. You gave my people a riddle, but you do not tell me what the answer is.’
Samson said to her: ‘I did not tell my father or my mother what the answer is, and I can not tell you.’
17She cried all the time and on the 7th day of the feast Samson told her what the answer was because she did not stop asking him. When he told her what the answer was, she went to the 30 men and she told them. 18Before the sun went down on the 7th day, the people of the town came to Samson and they said:
‘What is sweeter than honey?
What is stronger than a lion?’
Samson said to them: ‘Where did you get the answer? You got it from my wife. You would never have got it yourselves.’
19The Spirit_of_the_Lord came into Samson and made him strong. He went to the town of Ashkelon and he killed 30 men. He took their clothes and coats and he gave them to the 30 men who had given him the answer to the riddle. He was very angry and he went back to his father's house. 20Samson's wife later married one of the men who had come to the feast.
