Judges 16

Samson and Delilah's Deception Judges 16:4–14

⁴Verse 4. It came to pass afterward, that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah. ⁵Verse 5. The lords of the Philistines came up to her, and said to her, “Entice him, and see in which his great strength lies, and by what means we may prevail against him, that we may bind him to afflict him; and we will each give you eleven hundred pieces of silver.” ⁶Verse 6. Delilah said to Samson, “Please tell me where your great strength lies, and what you might be bound to afflict you.” ⁷Verse 7. Samson said to her, “If they bind me with seven green cords that were never dried, then shall I become weak, and be as another man.”

⁸Verse 8. Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven green cords which had not been dried, and she bound him with them. ⁹Verse 9. Now she had an ambush waiting in the inner room. She said to him, “The Philistines are on you, Samson!” He broke the cords, as a string of tow is broken when it touches the fire. So his strength was not known. ¹⁰Verse 10. Delilah said to Samson, “Behold, you have mocked me, and told me lies: now please tell me with which you might be bound.” ¹¹Verse 11. He said to her, “If they only bind me with new ropes with which no work has been done, then shall I become weak, and be as another man.”

¹²Verse 12. So Delilah took new ropes, and bound him therewith, and said to him, “The Philistines are on you, Samson!” The ambush was waiting in the inner room. He broke them off his arms like a thread. ¹³Verse 13. Delilah said to Samson, “Until now, you have mocked me and told me lies. Tell me with what you might be bound.” He said to her, “If you weave the seven locks of my head with the web.” ¹⁴Verse 14. She fastened it with the pin, and said to him, “The Philistines are on you, Samson!” He awakened out of his sleep, and plucked away the pin of the beam, and the web.

Samson Reveals His Secret Judges 16:15–20

¹⁵Verse 15. She said to him, “How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when your heart is not with me? You have mocked me these three times, and have not told me where your great strength lies.” ¹⁶Verse 16. When she pressed him daily with her words, and urged him, his soul was troubled to death. ¹⁷Verse 17. He told her all his heart, and said to her, “No razor has ever come on my head; for I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother’s womb. If I am shaved, then my strength will go from me, and I will become weak, and be like any other man.”

¹⁸Verse 18. 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 has told me all his heart.” Then the lords of the Philistines came up to her, and brought the money in their hand. ¹⁹Verse 19. She made him sleep on 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. ²⁰Verse 20. She said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” He awoke out of his sleep, and said, “I will go out as at other times, and shake myself free.” But he didn’t know that Yahweh had departed from him.

Samson's Capture Judges 16:21–22

²¹Verse 21. 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 ground at the mill in the prison. ²²Verse 22. However the hair of his head began to grow again after he was shaved.

Philistines Celebrate Judges 16:23–27

²³Verse 23. The lords of the Philistines gathered them together to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god, and to rejoice; for they said, “Our god has delivered Samson our enemy into our hand.” ²⁴Verse 24. When the people saw him, they praised their god; for they said, “Our god has delivered our enemy and the destroyer of our country, who has slain many of us, into our hand.” ²⁵Verse 25. When their hearts were merry, they said, “Call for Samson, that he may entertain us.” They called for Samson out of the prison; and he performed before them. They set him between the pillars;

²⁶Verse 26. and Samson said to the boy who held him by the hand, “Allow me to feel the pillars whereupon the house rests, that I may lean on them.” ²⁷Verse 27. Now the house was full of men and women; and all the lords of the Philistines were there; and there were on the roof about three thousand men and women, who saw while Samson performed.

Samson's Final Prayer Judges 16:28–30

²⁸Verse 28. Samson called to Yahweh, and said, “Lord Yahweh, remember me, please, and strengthen me, please, only this once, God, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes.” ²⁹Verse 29. Samson took hold of the two middle pillars on which the house rested, and leaned on them, the one with his right hand, and the other with his left. ³⁰Verse 30. Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines!” He bowed himself with all his might; and the house fell on the lords, and on all the people who were therein. So the dead that he killed at his death were more than those who he killed in his life.

Samson's Death and Legacy Judges 16:31

³¹Verse 31. Then his brothers 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 burial site of Manoah his father. He judged Israel twenty years.