King James Version › Judges › 16

Judges

• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5
• 6
• 7
• 8
• 9
• 10
• 11
• 12
• 13
• 14
• 15
• 16
• 17
• 18
• 19
• 20
• 21

1 Then went Sam­son to Gaza, and saw there an har­lot, and went in unto her. 2 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. 3 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. 4 And it came to pass af­ter­ward, that he loved a wom­an in the val­ley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah. 5 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. 6 And Delilah said to Sam­son, Tell me, I pray thee, where­in thy great strength lieth, and where­with thou might­est be bound to af­flict thee. 7 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. 8 Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her sev­en green withs which had not been dried, and she bound him with them. 9 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. 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.