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Judges 16
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King James Version
Samson and Delilah
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 rasor 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.
The Death of
Samson
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 burying place of Manoah his father. And he judged
Israel twenty years.1
References and notes
1. King James Authorized Version
2. Matthew
Henry Bible Commentary - http://eword.gospelcom.net/comments/judges/mh/judges16.htm
3.
John Wesley's Notes on the
Bible - http://eword.gospelcom.net/comments/judges/wesley/judgesintro.htm
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