| International Standard Version | NET Bible |
| 1Sometime later, Samson went to Gaza, saw a prostitute there, and went in to have sex with her. | 1Samson went to Gaza. There he saw a prostitute and went in to have sex 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!" | 2The Gazites were told, "Samson has come here!" So they surrounded the town and hid all night at the city gate, waiting for him to leave. They relaxed all night, thinking, "He will not leave until morning comes; 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. | 3Samson spent half the night with the prostitute; then he got up in the middle of the night and left. He grabbed the doors of the city gate, as well as the two posts, and pulled them right off, bar and all. He put them on his shoulders and carried them up to the top of a hill east of Hebron. |
| 4After this incident, he loved a woman in Sorek Valley whose name was Delilah. | 4After this Samson fell in love with a woman named Delilah, who lived in the Sorek Valley. |
| 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 rulers of the Philistines went up to visit her and said to her, "Trick him! Find out what makes him so strong and how we can subdue him and humiliate him. Each one of us will give you eleven hundred silver pieces." |
| 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, "Tell me what makes you so strong and how you can be subdued and humiliated." |
| 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 said to her, "If they tie me up with seven fresh bowstrings that have not been dried, I will become weak and be just like 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 rulers of the Philistines brought her seven fresh bowstrings which had not been dried and they 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. | 9They hid in the bedroom and then she said to him, "The Philistines are here, Samson!" He snapped the bowstrings as easily as a thread of yarn snaps when it is put close to fire. The secret of his strength was not discovered. |
| 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." | 10Delilah said to Samson, "Look, you deceived me and told me lies! Now tell me how you can be subdued." |
| 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 said to her, "If they tie me tightly with brand new ropes that have never been used, I will become weak and be just like 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 and tied him with them and said to him, "The Philistines are here, Samson!" (The Philistines were hiding in the bedroom.) But he tore the ropes from his arms as if they were a piece of thread. |
| 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." | 13Delilah said to Samson, "Up to now you have deceived me and told me lies. Tell me how you can be subdued." He said to her, "If you weave the seven braids of my hair into the fabric on the loom and secure it with the pin, I will become weak and be like 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 she made him go to sleep, wove the seven braids of his hair into the fabric on the loom, fastened it with the pin, and said to him, "The Philistines are here, Samson!" He woke up and tore away the pin of the loom and the fabric. |
| 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." | 15She said to him, "How can you say, 'I love you,' when you will not share your secret with me? Three times you have deceived me and have not told me what makes you so strong." |
| 16She nagged him every day with this speech, pestering him until he was annoyed nearly to death. | 16She nagged him every day and pressured him until he was sick to death of it. |
| 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." | 17Finally he told her his secret. He said to her, "My hair has never been cut, for I have been dedicated to God from the time I was conceived. If my head were shaved, my strength would leave me; I would become weak, and be just like all other men." |
| 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 saw that he had told her his secret, she sent for the rulers of the Philistines, saying, "Come up here again, for he has told me his secret." So the rulers of the Philistines went up to visit her, bringing the silver 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. | 19She made him go to sleep on her lap and then called a man in to shave off the seven braids of his hair. She made him vulnerable 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. | 20She said, "The Philistines are here, Samson!" He woke up and thought, "I will do as I did before and shake myself free." But he did not realize that the LORD had left 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. | 21The Philistines captured him and gouged out his eyes. They brought him down to Gaza and bound him in bronze chains. He became a grinder in the prison. |
| 22But the hair on his head began to grow again after it had been shaved off. | 22His hair began to grow back after it had been shaved off. |
| 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!" | 23The rulers of the Philistines gathered to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god and to celebrate. They said, "Our god has handed Samson, our enemy, over to us." |
| 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. | 24When the people saw him, they praised their god, saying, "Our god has handed our enemy over to us, the one who ruined our land and killed so many of us!" |
| 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. | 25When they really started celebrating, they said, "Call for Samson so he can entertain us!" So they summoned Samson from the prison and he entertained them. They made him stand between two 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 young man who held his hand, "Position me so I can touch the pillars that support the temple. Then I can lean on 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 filled with men and women, and all the rulers of the Philistines were there. There were three thousand men and women on the roof watching Samson entertain. |
| 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." | 28Samson called to the LORD, "O Master, LORD, remember me! Strengthen me just one more time, O God, so I can get swift revenge against 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. | 29Samson took hold of the two middle pillars that supported the temple and he leaned against them, with his right hand on one 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!" He pushed hard and the temple collapsed on the rulers and all the people in it. He killed many more people in his death than he had killed during 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. | 31His brothers and all his family went down and brought him back. They buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of Manoah his father. He had led Israel for twenty years. |
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