Samson at Gaza

1Then went Samson to Gaza, and saw there a harlot, and went in unto her.

2And it was told the Gazites, saying, Samson has come here. And they surrounded the place, 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.

3And 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 a hill that is before Hebron.

Samson and Delilah

4And it came to pass afterward, that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah.

5And the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and said unto her, Entice him, and see where his great strength lies, and by what means we may prevail against him, that we may bind him to afflict him: and we will all give you eleven hundred pieces of silver.

6And Delilah said to Samson, Tell me, I pray you, where your great strength lies, and with what you might be bound to afflict you.

7And Samson said unto her, If they bind me with seven green cords that were never dried, then shall I be weak, and be as another man.

8Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven green cords which had not been dried, and she bound him with them.

9Now there were men lying in wait, abiding with her in the chamber. And she said unto him, The Philistines be upon you, Samson. And he broke the cords, as a thread of yarn is broken when it touches the fire. So his strength was not known.

10And Delilah said unto Samson, Behold, you have mocked me, and told me lies: now tell me, I pray you, how you might be bound.

11And he said unto her, If they bind me securely with new ropes that never were used, then shall I be weak, and be as another man.

12Delilah therefore took new ropes, and bound him with them, and said unto him, The Philistines be upon you, Samson. And there were men lying in wait abiding in the chamber. And he broke them from off his arms like a thread.

13And Delilah said unto Samson, Until now you have mocked me, and told me lies: tell me how you might be bound. And he said unto her, If you weave the seven locks of my head with the web.

14And she fastened it with the pin, and said unto him, The Philistines be upon you, Samson. And he awaked out of his sleep, and went away with the pin of the beam, and with the web.

15And she said unto him, How can you say, I love you, when your heart is not with me? you have mocked me these three times, and have not told me where your great strength lies.

16And it came to pass, when she pressed him daily with her words, and urged him, so that his soul was vexed unto death;

17That he told her all his heart, and said unto her, There has not come a razor upon my 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.

18And 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 has showed me all his heart. Then the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and brought money in their hand.

19And 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.

20And she said, The Philistines be upon you, Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep, and said, I will go out as at other times before, and shake myself. And he knew not that the LORD was departed from him.

21But the Philistines took him, and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of bronze; and he did grind in the prison house.

22However the hair of his head began to grow again after he was shaven.

The Death of Samson

23Then the lords of the Philistines gathered themselves together to offer a great sacrifice unto Dagon their god, and to rejoice: for they said, Our god has delivered Samson our enemy into our hand.

24And when the people saw him, they praised their god: for they said, Our god has delivered into our hands our enemy, and the destroyer of our country, who slew many of us.

25And it came to pass, when their hearts were merry, that they said, Call for Samson, that he may make sport for us. And they called for Samson out of the prison house; and he made sport for them: and they set him between the pillars.

26And Samson said unto the lad that held him by the hand, Allow me that I may feel the pillars upon which the house stands, that I may lean upon them.

27Now 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.

28And Samson called unto the LORD, and said, O Lord GOD, remember me, I pray you, and strengthen me, I pray you, only this once, O God, that I may be avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes.

29And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars upon which the house stood, and on which it was borne up, of one with his right hand, and of the other with his left.

30And 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 whom he slew at his death were more than they whom he slew in his life.

31Then 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.