16Samson went to Gaza, and there he saw a prostitute, and he went in to her.H3212H8123H5804H7200H802H2181H9352The Gazites were told, "Samson has come here." And they surrounded the place and set an ambush for him all night at the gate of the city. They kept quiet all night, saying, "Let us wait till the light of the morning; then we will kill him."H5841H559H8123H935H5437H693H3915H8179H5892H2790H3915H559H1242H216H20263But Samson lay till midnight, and at midnight he arose and took hold of the doors of the gate of the city and the two posts, and pulled them up, bar and all, and put them on his shoulders and carried them to the top of the hill that is in front of Hebron.H8123H7901H2677H3915H6965H2677H3915H270H1817H8179H5892H8147H4201H5265H1280H7760H3802H5927H7218H2022H6440H22754After this he loved a woman in the Valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah.H310H157H802H5158H7796H8034H18075And the lords of the Philistines came up to her and said to her, "Seduce him, and see where his great strength lies, and by what means we may overpower him, that we may bind him to humble him. And we will each give you 1,100 pieces of silver."H5633H6430H5927H559H6601H7200H1419H3581H3201H631H6031H5414H376H505H3967H37016So Delilah said to Samson, "Please tell me where your great strength lies, and how you might be bound, that one could subdue you."H1807H559H8123H5046H1419H3581H631H60317Samson said to her, "If they bind me with seven fresh bowstrings that have not been dried, then I shall become weak and be like any other man."H8123H559H631H7651H3892H3499H2717H2470H259H1208Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven fresh bowstrings that had not been dried, and she bound him with them.H5633H6430H5927H7651H3892H3499H2717H6319Now she had men lying in ambush in an inner chamber. And she said to him, "The Philistines are upon you, Samson!" But he snapped the bowstrings, as a thread of flax snaps when it touches the fire. So the secret of his strength was not known.H693H3427H2315H559H6430H8123H5423H3499H6616H5296H5423H7306H784H3581H304510Then Delilah said to Samson, "Behold, you have mocked me and told me lies. Please tell me how you might be bound."H1807H559H8123H2048H1696H3577H5046H63111And he said to her, "If they bind me with new ropes that have not been used, then I shall become weak and be like any other man."H559H631H631H2319H5688H4399H6213H2470H259H12012So Delilah took new ropes and bound him with them and said to him, "The Philistines are upon you, Samson!" And the men lying in ambush were in an inner chamber. But he snapped the ropes off his arms like a thread.H1807H3947H2319H5688H631H559H6430H8123H693H3427H2315H5423H2220H233913Then Delilah said to Samson, "Until now you have mocked me and told me lies. Tell me how you might be bound." And he said to her, "If you weave the seven locks of my head with the web and fasten it tight with the pin, then I shall become weak and be like any other man."H1807H559H8123H2008H2048H1696H3577H5046H631H559H707H7651H4253H7218H454514So while he slept, Delilah took the seven locks of his head and wove them into the web. And she made them tight with the pin and said to him, "The Philistines are upon you, Samson!" But he awoke from his sleep and pulled away the pin, the loom, and the web.H8628H3489H559H6430H8123H3364H8142H5265H3489H708H454515And 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 you have not told me where your great strength lies."H559H349H559H157H3820H2048H7969H6471H5046H1419H358116And when she pressed him hard with her words day after day, and urged him, his soul was vexed to death.H6693H3117H1697H509H5315H7114H419117And he told her all his heart, and said to her, "A razor has never come upon my head, for I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother's womb. If my head is shaved, then my strength will leave me, and I shall become weak and be like any other man."H5046H3820H559H5927H4177H7218H5139H430H517H990H1548H3581H5493H2470H12018When Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called the lords of the Philistines, saying, "Come up again, for he has told me all his heart." Then the lords of the Philistines came up to her and brought the money in their hands.H1807H7200H5046H3820H7971H7121H5633H6430H559H5927H6471H5046H3820H5633H6430H5927H5927H3701H302719She made him sleep on her knees. And she called a man and had him shave off the seven locks of his head. Then she began to torment him, and his strength left him.H3462H1290H7121H376H1548H7651H4253H7218H2490H6031H3581H549320And she said, "The Philistines are upon you, Samson!" And he awoke from his sleep and said, "I will go out as at other times and shake myself free." But he did not know that the LORD had left him.H559H6430H8123H3364H8142H559H3318H6471H5287H3045H3068H549321And the Philistines seized him and gouged out his eyes and brought him down to Gaza and bound him with bronze shackles. And he ground at the mill in the prison.H6430H270H5365H5869H3381H5804H631H5178H2912H631H100422But the hair of his head began to grow again after it had been shaved.H8181H7218H2490H6779H834H154823Now the lords of the Philistines gathered to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god and to rejoice, and they said, "Our god has given Samson our enemy into our hand."H5633H6430H622H2076H1419H2077H1712H430H8057H559H430H5414H8123H341H302724And when the people saw him, they praised their god. For they said, "Our god has given our enemy into our hand, the ravager of our country, who has killed many of us."H5971H7200H1984H430H559H430H5414H3027H341H2717H776H2491H723525And when their hearts were merry, they said, "Call Samson, that he may entertain us." So they called Samson out of the prison, and he entertained them. They made him stand between the pillars.H3820H2896H559H7121H8123H7832H7121H8123H631H1004H6440H6711H5975H598226And Samson said to the young man who held him by the hand, "Let me feel the pillars on which the house rests, that I may lean against them."H8123H559H5288H2388H3027H3240H4184H3237H5982H1004H3559H817227Now the house was full of men and women. All the lords of the Philistines were there, and on the roof there were about 3,000 men and women, who looked on while Samson entertained.H1004H4390H582H802H5633H6430H1406H7969H505H376H802H7200H8123H783228Then Samson called to the LORD and said, "O Lord GOD, please remember me and please strengthen me only this once, O God, that I may be avenged on the Philistines for my two eyes."H8123H7121H3068H559H136H3069H2142H2388H6471H430H259H5358H5359H6430H8147H586929And Samson grasped the two middle pillars on which the house rested, and he leaned his weight against them, his right hand on the one and his left hand on the other.H8123H3943H8147H8432H5982H1004H3559H5564H259H3225H259H804030And Samson said, "Let me die with the Philistines." Then he bowed with all his strength, and the house fell upon the lords and upon all the people who were in it. So the dead whom he killed at his death were more than those whom he had killed during his life.H8123H559H4191H5315H6430H5186H3581H1004H5307H5633H5971H4191H4191H4194H7227H4191H241631Then his brothers and all his family came down and took him and brought him up and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of Manoah his father. He had judged Israel twenty years.H251H1004H1H3381H5375H5927H6912H6881H847H6913H4495H1H8199H3478H6242H8141