Judges 16

16Samson went to Gaza and saw a prostitute. He went to her.H3212H8123H5804H7200H802H2181H9352The news got around: "Samson's here." They gathered around in hiding, waiting all night for him at the city gate, quiet as mice, thinking, "At sunrise we'll kill him."H5841H559H8123H935H5437H693H3915H8179H5892H2790H3915H559H1242H216H20263Samson was in bed with the woman until midnight. Then he got up, seized the doors of the city gate and the two gateposts, bolts and all, hefted them on his shoulder, and carried them to the top of the hill that faces Hebron.H8123H7901H2677H3915H6965H2677H3915H270H1817H8179H5892H8147H4201H5265H1280H7760H3802H5927H7218H2022H6440H22754Some time later he fell in love with a woman in the Valley of Sorek (Grapes). Her name was Delilah.H310H157H802H5158H7796H8034H18075The Philistine tyrants approached her and said, "Seduce him. Discover what's behind his great strength and how we can tie him up and humble him. Each man's company will give you a hundred shekels of silver."H5633H6430H5927H559H6601H7200H1419H3581H3201H631H6031H5414H376H505H3967H37016So Delilah said to Samson, "Tell me, dear, the secret of your great strength, and how you can be tied up and humbled."H1807H559H8123H5046H1419H3581H631H60317Samson told her, "If they were to tie me up with seven bowstrings—the kind made from fresh animal tendons, not dried out—then I would become weak, just like anyone else."H8123H559H631H7651H3892H3499H2717H2470H259H1208The Philistine tyrants brought her seven bowstrings, not dried out, and she tied him up with them.H5633H6430H5927H7651H3892H3499H2717H6319The men were waiting in ambush in her room. Then she said, "The Philistines are on you, Samson!" He snapped the cords as though they were mere threads. The secret of his strength was still a secret.H693H3427H2315H559H6430H8123H5423H3499H6616H5296H5423H7306H784H3581H304510Delilah said, "Come now, Samson—you're playing with me, making up stories. Be serious; tell me how you can be tied up."H1807H559H8123H2048H1696H3577H5046H63111He told her, "If you were to tie me up tight with new ropes, ropes never used for work, then I would be helpless, just like anybody else."H559H631H631H2319H5688H4399H6213H2470H259H12012So Delilah got some new ropes and tied him up. She said, "The Philistines are on you, Samson!" The men were hidden in the next room. He snapped the ropes from his arms like threads.H1807H3947H2319H5688H631H559H6430H8123H693H3427H2315H5423H2220H233913Delilah said to Samson, "You're still playing games with me, teasing me with lies. Tell me how you can be tied up." He said to her, "If you wove the seven braids of my hair into the fabric on the loom and drew it tight, then I would be as helpless as any other mortal." When she had him fast asleep, Delilah took the seven braids of his hair and wove them into the fabric on the loomH1807H559H8123H2008H2048H1696H3577H5046H631H559H707H7651H4253H7218H454514and drew it tight. Then she said, "The Philistines are on you, Samson!" He woke from his sleep and ripped loose from both the loom and fabric!H8628H3489H559H6430H8123H3364H8142H5265H3489H708H454515She said, "How can you say 'I love you' when you won't even trust me? Three times now you've toyed with me, like a cat with a mouse, refusing to tell me the secret of your great strength."H559H349H559H157H3820H2048H7969H6471H5046H1419H358116She kept at it day after day, nagging and tormenting him. Finally, he was fed up—he couldn't take another minute of it.H6693H3117H1697H509H5315H7114H419117He spilled it. He told her, "A razor has never touched my head. I've been God's Nazirite from conception. If I were shaved, my strength would leave me; I would be as helpless as any other mortal."H5046H3820H559H5927H4177H7218H5139H430H517H990H1548H3581H5493H2470H12018When Delilah realized that he had told her his secret, she sent for the Philistine tyrants, telling them, "Come quickly—this time he's told me the truth." They came, bringing the bribe money.H1807H7200H5046H3820H7971H7121H5633H6430H559H5927H6471H5046H3820H5633H6430H5927H5927H3701H302719When she got him to sleep, his head on her lap, she motioned to a man to cut off the seven braids of his hair. Immediately he began to grow weak. His strength drained from him.H3462H1290H7121H376H1548H7651H4253H7218H2490H6031H3581H549320Then she said, "The Philistines are on you, Samson!" He woke up, thinking, "I'll go out, like always, and shake free." He didn't realize that GOD had abandoned him.H559H6430H8123H3364H8142H559H3318H6471H5287H3045H3068H549321The Philistines grabbed him, gouged out his eyes, and took him down to Gaza. They shackled him in irons and put him to the work of grinding in the prison.H6430H270H5365H5869H3381H5804H631H5178H2912H631H100422But his hair, though cut off, began to grow again.H8181H7218H2490H6779H834H154823The Philistine tyrants got together to offer a great sacrifice to their god Dagon. They celebrated, saying, Our god has given us Samson our enemy!H5633H6430H622H2076H1419H2077H1712H430H8057H559H430H5414H8123H341H302724And when the people saw him, they joined in, cheering their god, Our god has given Our enemy to us, The one who ravaged our country, Piling high the corpses among us.H5971H7200H1984H430H559H430H5414H3027H341H2717H776H2491H723525Then this: Everyone was feeling high and someone said, "Get Samson! Let him show us his stuff!" They got Samson from the prison and he put on a show for them. They had him standing between the pillars.H3820H2896H559H7121H8123H7832H7121H8123H631H1004H6440H6711H5975H598226Samson said to the young man who was acting as his guide, "Put me where I can touch the pillars that hold up the temple so I can rest against them."H8123H559H5288H2388H3027H3240H4184H3237H5982H1004H3559H817227The building was packed with men and women, including all the Philistine tyrants. And there were at least 3,000 in the stands watching Samson's performance.H1004H4390H582H802H5633H6430H1406H7969H505H376H802H7200H8123H783228And Samson cried out to GOD: Master, GOD! Oh, please, look on me again, Oh, please, give strength yet once more. God! With one avenging blow let me be avenged On the Philistines for my two eyes!H8123H7121H3068H559H136H3069H2142H2388H6471H430H259H5358H5359H6430H8147H586929Then Samson reached out to the two central pillars that held up the building and pushed against them, one with his right arm, the other with his left.H8123H3943H8147H8432H5982H1004H3559H5564H259H3225H259H804030Saying, "Let me die with the Philistines," Samson pushed hard with all his might. The building crashed on the tyrants and all the people in it. He killed more people in his death than he had killed in his life.H8123H559H4191H5315H6430H5186H3581H1004H5307H5633H5971H4191H4191H4194H7227H4191H241631His brothers and all his relatives went down to get his body. They carried him back and buried him in the tomb of Manoah his father, between Zorah and Eshtaol. He judged Israel for twenty years.H251H1004H1H3381H5375H5927H6912H6881H847H6913H4495H1H8199H3478H6242H8141