Verse
BSB
Berean Standard Bible
ASV
American Standard Version
One
day
Samson went to Gaza, where
he
saw a prostitute
and went in to
spend
the
night
with
her.
And
Samson went to Gaza, and
saw there
a harlot,
and went in unto
her.
When
the Gazites heard
that
Samson
was
there
, they
surrounded
that
place
and lay
in wait for him all night at
the city
gate .
They
were quiet throughout
the night, saying, “
Let us
wait
until
dawn;
then we will kill him. ”
`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, `
Let be'
till
morning
light,
then we will kill him.
But
Samson lay there
only
until
midnight, when
he
got
up
, took
hold of the doors of the city
gate and both
gateposts
, and pulled
them out
, bar and all .
Then
he
put them on
his shoulders and took
them to the top of the mountain overlooking
Hebron.
And
Samson lay till
midnight, and
arose
at
midnight
, and
laid
hold of the doors of the gate of
the
city,
and the
two
posts
, and plucked
them up
, bar and all ,
and
put them upon
his shoulders ,
and carried
them up
to the top of the mountain that
is
before
Hebron.
Some
time
later
, Samson
fell
in
love
with
a woman in the Valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah.
And
it
came
to
pass
afterward
, that
he
loved
a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah.
The lords of the Philistines went
to
her and said, “
Entice him and find
out
the
source
of
his great strength and how
we can
overpower
him to tie
him up
and subdue
him.
Then
each
one of us will
give
you
eleven hundred shekels
of silver. ”
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.
So
Delilah said to Samson, “Please
tell me the
source
of
your
great strength and how
you
can
be tied
up
and
subdued
. ”
And
Delilah said to Samson, Tell me ,
I
pray
thee,
wherein
thy
great strength lieth,
and wherewith
thou
mightest
be bound
to
afflict
thee
.
Samson told
her, “
If they tie
me up
with seven fresh
bowstrings
that have
not
been
dried, I will
become as
weak as any
other
man. ”
And
Samson said
unto
her, If they bind
me with seven green
withes
that were
never
dried, then
shall
I become weak ,
and
be
as another
man.
So
the lords of the Philistines brought her seven fresh
bowstrings
that
had not been dried, and she tied
him up
with them.
Then
the lords of the Philistines brought up
to
her seven green
withes
which
had not been dried, and she bound
him with them.
While
the
men
were
hidden
in her
room,
she called
out,
“Samson
, the Philistines are here!”
But
he snapped
the bowstrings
like
a strand
of yarn
seared
by
a
flame
. So the
source
of
his strength remained
unknown
.
Now
she
had
liers-
in -wait
abiding
in
the
inner
chamber.
And
she said
unto
him
, The Philistines are upon
thee,
Samson.
And
he brake
the withes,
as
a string
of tow
is
broken
when
it
toucheth
the
fire
. So his strength was
not
known
.
Then
Delilah said to
Samson, “You
have
mocked me and lied
to
me !
Now please
tell me how
you
can
be tied
up
. ”
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
.
He replied
, “
If they tie
me up
with new ropes that
have
never
been used
, I will
become as
weak as any
other
man. ”
And
he said
unto
her
, If they only
bind
me with new ropes wherewith
no
work
hath
been done
, then
shall
I become weak ,
and
be
as another
man.
So Delilah took new ropes, tied
him up
with
them
, and called
out,
“Samson
, the Philistines are here!”
But
while
the men
were hidden
in her
room,
he
snapped
the ropes
off his arms like they
were
threads
.
So Delilah took new ropes, and
bound
him therewith
, and said
unto
him
, The Philistines are upon
thee,
Samson.
And
the liers-in-wait
were abiding
in the inner
chamber.
And
he
brake
them
off his arms like a
thread
.
Then
Delilah said to
Samson, “You
have
mocked me and lied
to
me all
along!
Tell me how
you
can
be tied
up
. ”
He told
her, “
If you
weave
the seven braids
of my head into
the web of
a
loom
and
tighten
it
with
a
pin,
I
will
become
as
weak
as
any
other
man
. ”
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.
So
while
he
slept,
Delilah
took
the
seven
braids
of
his
hair
and wove
them
into
the
web.
Then
she tightened
it with a
pin and called
to
him, “Samson,
the Philistines are here!”
But
he awoke
from
his sleep and pulled
out
the pin with
the loom
and the web.
And she fastened
it with the
pin ,
and said
unto
him, The Philistines are upon
thee,
Samson.
And
he awaked
out
of
his sleep ,
and plucked
away
the pin of
the beam,
and the web.
“
How can
you
say, ‘
I love you,’”
she
asked
, “
when your
heart is not with me? This
is
the
third
time
you
have
mocked me and failed
to
reveal
to
me the
source
of
your
great strength !”
And
she
said
unto
him,
How canst
thou
say, I love thee
, when thy
heart is not with me? thou
hast
mocked me these
three
times,
and hast
not
told
me wherein
thy
great strength lieth.
Finally
, after
she had
pressed him daily with her words and pleaded
until
he
was sick
to
death ,
And
it
came
to
pass
, when
she pressed him daily with her words ,
and urged
him,
that
his
soul
was vexed
unto
death .
Samson
told her all that
was
in
his heart :
“My
hair
has
never
been
cut
, because
I have been a Nazirite to
God from my mother’s
womb .
If I am
shaved
, my strength will leave
me, and I will
become as
weak as
any other man. ”
And
he
told her all his heart, and
said
unto
her,
There
hath
not
come
a
razor
upon
my
head;
for
I have been a Nazirite 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.
When Delilah realized
that he had revealed
to
her all that
was
in
his heart, she sent this
message
to
the lords of the Philistines :
“
Come up once more
, for he has
revealed
to
me all that
is
in
his heart. ”
Then the lords of the Philistines came to
her, bringing
the money in their hands
.
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
told
me all his heart. Then the lords of the Philistines came up
unto
her, and
brought
the money in their hand
.
And having
lulled
him to
sleep on
her lap,
she called a man to
shave
off the seven braids
of his head .
In
this
way
she began to subdue
him, and his strength left
him.
And she
made
him sleep upon
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.
Then
she called
out,
“Samson
, the Philistines are here!”
When
Samson awoke from
his sleep, he
thought
, “
I will escape
as I
did
before
and shake myself free. ”
But he did
not know
that the
LORD
had
departed from him.
And
she said
, The Philistines are upon
thee,
Samson .
And
he
awoke out
of
his sleep, and
said
, I will go
out
as at
other
times,
and shake myself free. But he knew
not that Jehovah
was
departed from him.
Then
the Philistines seized
him, gouged
out his eyes ,
and brought him down to Gaza, where
he
was
bound with bronze
shackles
and forced
to
grind grain
in the prison.
And
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
did
grind in the prison -house
.
However,
the hair of his head began to grow back
after it
had
been
shaved
.
Howbeit
the hair of his head began to grow again
after he
was
shaven
.
Now
the lords of the Philistines gathered together to offer a great sacrifice to
their god Dagon.
They
rejoiced
and said, “
Our god has
delivered Samson our enemy into our hands
. ”
And
the lords of the Philistines gathered them
together 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
.
And when the people saw him, they praised their god, saying:
“
Our god has
delivered into our hands
our enemy who
destroyed
our
land
and multiplied
our dead
. ”
And when the people saw him, they praised their god ;
for
they
said
, Our god hath
delivered into our hand
our enemy ,
and the
destroyer
of
our country,
who
hath
slain
many
of
us
.
And while
their hearts were merry, they said, “
Call for Samson to
entertain
us. ”
So
they called Samson out of the prison to
entertain
them. And they stationed
him between the pillars .
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
sport
before
them. And they set
him between the pillars :
Samson said to
the servant
who
held his
hand, “Lead
me where
I can
feel the pillars supporting
the temple
, so
I can
lean against
them. ”
and
Samson said unto
the lad
that
held him
by
the
hand, Suffer
me that
I may
feel the pillars whereupon
the house
resteth
, that
I may
lean upon
them.
Now the temple
was full of men and women; all the lords of the Philistines were there ,
and about three thousand men and women were
on
the
roof
watching
Samson entertain
them
.
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
.
Then
Samson called out
to
the
LORD:
“
O Lord GOD
, please
remember me .
Strengthen me, O
God
, just
once more
, so
that with
one
vengeful
blow
I may pay
back
the Philistines for my two eyes. ”
And
Samson called unto
Jehovah,
and
said,
O Lord Jehovah
, 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.
And Samson reached
out
for
the two central
pillars supporting
the temple.
Bracing
himself
against
them with his right hand on
one
pillar
and his
left
hand
on
the other ,
And Samson took
hold
of
the two middle
pillars upon
which
the house
rested,
and
leaned
upon
them ,
the
one
with his right hand ,
and the other with
his
left.
Samson said, “
Let me die with the Philistines. ”
Then
he pushed
with all his might ,
and the temple
fell on
the lords and all the people in
it
. So in
his death he
killed
more than he had
killed
in his life.
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
that
he
slew
at
his death were
more than they
that
he slew
in his life.
Then Samson’s
brothers
and his father’s
family
came down, carried
him back
, and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb
of his father Manoah
. And he had
judged Israel twenty years.
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 burying-place
of Manoah
his father. And he judged Israel twenty years.
Scripture text: Berean Standard Bible and American Standard Version. Public domain; source text distributed by BSB Publishing, LLC.; Public domain..