Judges 16

₁Samson went to the town of Gaza. He saw a prostitute and he went to sleep with her. ₂Someone told the people of Gaza that Samson was there and they waited for him at the gate of the town. They wanted to kill him just before the sun came up. ₃But Samson got up during the night. He broke the 2 doors of the gate of the town from the frames and he put the doors together with the bolts on his shoulders. Then he walked to the top of the hill on the way to Hebron and he put the doors down there.

₄Later, Samson fell in love with a woman in the Sorek Valley. Her name was Delilah. ₅The leaders of the Philistines came to her and told her: ‘You must find out why Samson is so strong and how we can tie him up so that he can not escape. If you do, each one of us will give you 1 100 pieces_of_silver.’

₆When Samson came to Delilah again, she asked him: ‘Please tell me why you are so strong. How can someone tie you up so that you can not get away?’ ₇Samson said to her: ‘If they tie me with 7 new and fresh bowstrings, then I can do nothing. I will be like other people.’

₈The leaders of the Philistines gave Delilah 7 new and fresh bowstrings and she tied Samson with them. ₉There were men waiting in her house in another room. She said to Samson: ‘Samson, the Philistines are coming to get you.’ Samson broke the bowstrings easily, as if he was breaking a thin string that was burning. The Philistines did not find out why Samson was so strong.

₁₀Delilah said to him: ‘You told me a lie, and you deceived me. Tell me now how I can tie you.’ ₁₁Samson said to her: ‘If you tie me with new ropes that have never been used before, then I can do nothing. I will be like other people.’ ₁₂Delilah took new ropes and she tied him and said to him: ‘Samson, the Philistines are coming to get you.’ There were men waiting in her house again, in another room. But Samson broke the ropes like thread.

₁₃Delilah said to him: ‘You lied to me again and deceived me. Now, tell me how I can tie you.’ Samson said to her: ‘I will be weak if you take the 7 braids of my hair and weave them with material in your loom.’ ₁₄When Samson was sleeping she did what he said and she tied the loom to the floor with a tent-peg. Then she shouted: ‘Samson, the Philistines are coming to get you.’ He woke up and he pulled his hair out of the loom. ₁₅Delilah said to him: ‘You say you love me but it is not_true. You do not tell me the truth. You have deceived me 3 times and you did not tell me why you are so strong.’ ₁₆Delilah kept on asking him again and again. She did not stop. Later Samson wished that he was dead.

₁₇Then Samson told her the truth. He said: ‘I have never shaved my hair, because I have been a Nazirite of God from the time when I was born. If someone cuts my hair, I will not be strong. I will be like other people.’

₁₈Delilah knew that Samson had told her the truth and she called the leaders of the Philistines. She told them: ‘You must come. This time he has told me the truth.’ The leaders of the Philistines went to Delilah. They had the money with them. ₁₉Delilah made Samson sleep with his head on her knees and then she called someone to cut Samson's hair. Then Samson was not strong anymore. ₂₀She said: ‘Samson, the Philistines are coming to get you.’

When Samson woke up, he thought that he would get away again, as he had before, and free himself, but Samson did not know that the Lord was not with him anymore. ₂₁The Philistines grabbed him and they took out his eyes. They took him to the town of Gaza. There they tied him with chains. He was in jail and he had to grind grain with a grinding-stone.

₂₂Later his hair started to grow long again. It was like it was before Delilah cut it off.

₂₃One day the leaders of the Philistines came together to sacrifice to their idol, Dagon, and to have a feast. They said: ‘Our god helped us catch our enemy, Samson.’ _24-25The Philistines were happy. They said: ‘Go and get Samson. We want to laugh at him.’

They went to get Samson from jail so that they could laugh at him. When the Philistines saw Samson, they started to praise their idol and said: ‘Our enemy, Samson, destroyed our land and he killed many of our people. And now our idol has helped us to catch him.’ They put Samson near the pillars of the temple of their idol Dagon. ₂₆Samson said to the boy who was holding his hand: ‘Take me to the pillars of the temple. I want to feel where they are and I want to stand against them.’

₂₇The temple was full of men and women and the leaders of the Philistines were happy. There were 3 000 Philistines on the roof of the temple, men and women who had come to laugh at Samson. ₂₈Then Samson prayed to the Lord and said: ‘Lord, my God, help me and make me strong one more time. I want to punish the Philistines because they took out my eyes.’

₂₉Then Samson put his hands against the 2 pillars on which the roof of the temple rested. His right hand was against one pillar and his left hand was against the other pillar. ₃₀Then he said: ‘Lord, let me die with the Philistines.’

Samson pushed very hard against the pillars, as hard as he could. The roof of the temple fell onto the leaders and all the people who were in the temple. Samson died, but on that day he killed more people than he had when he lived. ₃₁His brothers and his family came and they took his body and they buried him in the grave of his father, Manoah, between the towns of Zorah and Eshtaol. Samson was a leader of the Israelites for 20 years.