1 Now Samson went to AJosh 15:47Gaza and saw a harlot there, and went in to her. 2 When it was told to the Gazites, saying, “Samson has come here,” they A1 Sam 23:26; Ps 118:10-12surrounded the place and lay in wait for him all night at the gate of the city. And they kept silent all night, saying, “Let us wait until the morning light, then we will kill him.” 3 Now Samson lay until midnight, and at midnight he arose and took hold of the doors of the city gate and the two posts and pulled them up along with the bars; then he put them on his shoulders and carried them up to the top of the mountain which is opposite Hebron.

4 After this it came about that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah. 5 The AJosh 13:3lords of the Philistines came up to her and said to her, “BJudg 14:15Entice him, and see where his great strength lies and 1Lit by whathow we may overpower him that we may bind him to afflict him. Then we will each give you eleven hundred pieces of silver.” 6 So Delilah said to Samson, “Please tell me where your great strength is and 1Lit by whathow you may be bound to afflict you.” 7 Samson said to her, “If they bind me with seven fresh cords that have not been dried, then I will become weak and be like any other man.” 8 Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven fresh cords that had not been dried, and she bound him with them. 9 Now she had men lying in wait in an inner room. And she said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” But he snapped the cords as a string of tow snaps when it 1Lit smellstouches fire. So his strength was not discovered.

10 Then Delilah said to Samson, “Behold, you have deceived me and told me lies; now please tell me 1Lit by whathow you may be bound.” 11 He said to her, “If they bind me tightly with new ropes 1Lit with which work has not been donewhich have not been used, then I will become weak and be like any other man.” 12 So Delilah took new ropes and bound him with them and said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” For the men were lying in wait in the inner room. But he snapped 1Lit themthe ropes from his arms like a thread.

13 Then Delilah said to Samson, “Up to now you have deceived me and told me lies; tell me 1Lit by whathow you may be bound.” And he said to her, “If you weave the seven locks of my 2Lit headhair with the web 3The passage in brackets is found in Gr but not in any Heb mss[and fasten it with a pin, then I will become weak and be like any other man.” 14 So while he slept, Delilah took the seven locks of his 1Lit headhair and wove them into the web]. And she fastened it with the pin and said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” But he awoke from his sleep and pulled out the pin of the loom and the web.

15 Then she said to him, “AJudg 14:16How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when your heart is not with me? You have deceived me these three times and have not told me where your great strength is.” 16 It came about when she pressed him daily with her words and urged him, that his soul was 1Lit impatient to the point ofannoyed to death. 17 So he told her all that was in his heart and said to her, “A razor has never come on my head, for I have been a ANum 6:2, 5; Judg 13:5Nazirite to God from my mother’s womb. If I am shaved, then my strength will leave me and I will become weak and be like any other man.”

18 When Delilah saw that he had told her all that was in his heart, she sent and called the lords of the Philistines, saying, “Come up once more, for he has told me all that is in his heart.” Then the lords of the Philistines came up to her and brought the money in their hands. 19 She made him sleep on her knees, and called for a man and had him shave off the seven locks of his 1Lit headhair. Then she began to afflict him, and his strength left him. 20 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 ANum 14:42, 43; Josh 7:12; 1 Sam 16:14the Loʀᴅ had departed from him. 21 Then the Philistines seized him and gouged out his eyes; and they brought him down to Gaza and bound him with bronze chains, and he was a grinder in the prison. 22 However, the hair of his head began to grow again after it was shaved off.

23 Now the lords of the Philistines assembled to offer a great sacrifice to A1 Sam 5:2Dagon their god, and to rejoice, for they said,

28 AJudg 15:18Then Samson called to the Loʀᴅ and said, “O Lord 1Heb YHWH, usually rendered LoʀᴅGoᴅ, please remember me and please strengthen me just this time, O God, that I may at once BJer 15:15be avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes.” 29 Samson grasped the two middle pillars on which the house rested, and braced himself against them, the one with his right hand and the other with his left. 30 And Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines!” And he bent with 1Lit strengthall his might so that the house fell on the lords and all the people who were in it. So the dead whom he killed at his death were more than those whom he killed in his life. 31 Then his brothers and all his father’s household came down, took him, brought him up and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of Manoah his father. AJudg 15:20Thus he had judged Israel twenty years.