-
Then went
Samson to Gaza, and saw there an harlot, and went
in unto her.
02 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.
03 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.
04 And it came to pass afterward, that he loved a
woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was
Delilah.
05 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.
06 And Delilah said to Samson, Tell me, I pray
thee, wherein thy great strength lieth, and
wherewith thou mightest be bound to afflict thee.
07 And Samson said unto her, If they bind me with
seven green withs that were never dried, then
shall I be weak, and be as another man.
08 Then the lords of the Philistines brought up
to her seven green withs which had not been
dried, and she bound him with them.
09 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 withs, 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.
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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 shewed 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.
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