Judges 16 ISV BSB Parallel

◄ Judges 16 ►

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Berean Study Bible

1Sometime later, Samson went to Gaza, saw a prostitute there, and went in to have sex with her.

1One day Samson went to Gaza, where he saw a prostitute and went in to spend the night with her.

2When the Gazites were informed, "Samson has come here!" they surrounded him, intending to lay in wait for him at the city gate throughout the entire night. They kept quiet all night, telling each other, "At first light, let's kill him!"

2When 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.”

3Meanwhile, Samson had sex until midnight, then at midnight he got up, grabbed the doors, the two door posts, and the bars of the city gate, and uprooted them. He put them on his shoulders and carried them to the top of the mountain opposite Hebron.

3But 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.

4After this incident, he loved a woman in Sorek Valley whose name was Delilah.

4Some time later, Samson fell in love with a woman in the Valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah.

5The Philistine officials approached her and told her, "Entice him to discover where his great strength is, and how we can overpower him. We intend to tie him up and torture him. We'll each pay you 1,100 silver coins."

5The 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.”

6So Delilah asked Samson, "Please tell me the secret to your great strength and how you may be tied up and tortured."

6So Delilah said to Samson, “Please tell me the source of your great strength and how you can be tied up and subdued.”

7Samson replied, "If I'm tied up with seven green cords that have never been dried out, then I'll become weak and just like any other human being."

7Samson 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.”

8Then the Philistine leaders brought her seven green cords that had never been dried, and she tied him up with them.

8So the lords of the Philistines brought her seven fresh bowstrings that had not been dried, and she tied him up with them.

9Meanwhile, some kidnappers were hiding inside an inner room, waiting for her signal. So she told him, "The Philistines are attacking you!" But he snapped the cords as one might break a burned candle wick. So his secret remained undiscovered.

9While 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.

10Some time later, Delilah told Samson, "Look here! You've been mocking me and lying to me. Now please tell me how you can be tied up."

10Then Delilah said to Samson, “You have mocked me and lied to me! Now please tell me how you can be tied up.”

11He told her, "If I'm tied up securely with new ropes that have never been used, then I'll become weak and just like any other human being."

11He replied, “If they tie me up with new ropes that have never been used, I will become as weak as any other man.”

12So Delilah grabbed some new ropes and tied him up. Then she told him, "The Philistines are attacking you, Samson!" because some kidnappers were hiding inside an inner room. But he snapped the ropes from his arms like thread.

12So 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.

13Later on, Delilah told Samson, "You're still mocking me and telling me lies! Tell me how to tie you up!" He answered her, "If you weave the seven locks on my head into a loom and fasten it with a peg, then I will become weak and just like any other human being."

13Then 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.”

14So Delilah took the seven locks on his head and wove them into the loom while he slept. She fastened his hair with a peg and then told him, "The Philistines are attacking you, Samson!" But he woke up from his nap and pulled the pin from the loom and the weaving.

14So 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.

15Some time later, she asked him, "How can you keep saying 'I love you!' when your heart isn't with me? These three times you've lied to me and haven't told me where your great strength lies."

15“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!”

16She nagged him every day with this speech, pestering him until he was annoyed nearly to death.

16Finally, after she had pressed him daily with her words and pleaded until he was sick to death,

17So he finally disclosed everything. He told her, "A razor has never touched my head, because I've been a Nazirite for God before I was born. If I am shaved, then my strength will abandon me and I will become weak like every human being."

17Samson 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.”

18When Delilah realized that he had disclosed everything to her, she sent for the Philistine officials and told them, "Hurry up and come here at once, because he has told me everything." So the Philistine officials went to her and brought their money with them.

18When 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.

19So she enticed him to fall asleep on her lap, called for a man to shave off his seven locks of hair from his head, and so began to humiliate him. Then his strength abandoned him.

19And 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.

20When she cried out, "The Philistines are attacking you, Samson!" he woke from his sleep and told himself, "I'll go out like I did at other times like this and shake myself free." But he didn't know that the LORD had abandoned him.

20Then 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.

21Then the Philistines grabbed him, gouged out his eyes, brought him down to Gaza, tied him up in bronze chains, and made him grind grain in their prison.

21Then 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.

22But the hair on his head began to grow again after it had been shaved off.

22However, the hair of his head began to grow back after it had been shaved.

23Some time later, the Philistine officials got together to present a magnificent sacrifice to their god Dagon, and to throw a party, because they were claiming, "Our god has given Samson into our control!"

23Now 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.”

24When the people saw Samson, they praised their god, claiming: Our god has given our enemy into our control; the one who was destroying our land, and who has killed many of us.

24And 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.”

25Because they all got good and drunk, they ordered, "Go get Samson, so he can entertain us." So they called for Samson from the prison, and he entertained them while they made him stand between the pillars.

25And 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.

26Then Samson told the young man who had been leading him around by the hand, "Let me touch and feel the pillars on which this building rests, and I'll support myself against them."

26Samson 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.”

27Now the building was full of men, women, and all the Philistine officials, with about 3,000 men and women on the roof watching Samson while he was entertaining them.

27Now 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.

28Then Samson cried out to the LORD, "Lord GOD, please remember me. And please strengthen me this one time, God, so that I can repay the Philistines right now for my two eyes."

28Then 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.”

29Then Samson grabbed the two middle pillars upon which the house rested and braced himself against them with one pillar in his right hand and the other in his left.

29And 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,

30Then Samson said, "Let me die with the Philistines!" He strained with all his strength until the building collapsed on the officials and every person in it. As a result, the dead whom he killed at his death were more than those whom he killed during his lifetime.

30Samson 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.

31Afterwards, his brothers and his father's household servants came down, took him, brought him back, and buried him in his father Manoah's tomb between Zorah and Eshtaol. He had governed Israel for 20 years.

31Then 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.

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