| New International Version | Berean Study Bible |
| 1Later on, at the time of wheat harvest, Samson took a young goat and went to visit his wife. He said, "I'm going to my wife's room." But her father would not let him go in. | 1Later on, at the time of the wheat harvest, Samson took a young goat and went to visit his wife. “I want to go to my wife in her room,” he said. But her father would not let him enter. |
| 2"I was so sure you hated her," he said, "that I gave her to your companion. Isn't her younger sister more attractive? Take her instead." | 2“I was sure that you thoroughly hated her,” said her father, “so I gave her to one of the men who accompanied you. Is not her younger sister more beautiful than she? Please take her instead.” |
| 3Samson said to them, "This time I have a right to get even with the Philistines; I will really harm them." | 3Samson said to them, “This time I will be blameless in doing harm to the Philistines.” |
| 4So he went out and caught three hundred foxes and tied them tail to tail in pairs. He then fastened a torch to every pair of tails, | 4Then Samson went out and caught three hundred foxes. And he took torches, turned the foxes tail-to-tail, and fastened a torch between each pair of tails. |
| 5lit the torches and let the foxes loose in the standing grain of the Philistines. He burned up the shocks and standing grain, together with the vineyards and olive groves. | 5Then he lit the torches and released the foxes into the standing grain of the Philistines, burning up the piles of grain and the standing grain, as well as the vineyards and olive groves. |
| 6When the Philistines asked, "Who did this?" they were told, "Samson, the Timnite's son-in-law, because his wife was given to his companion." So the Philistines went up and burned her and her father to death. | 6“Who did this?” the Philistines demanded. “It was Samson, the son-in-law of the Timnite,” they were told. “For his wife was given to his companion.” So the Philistines went up and burned her and her father to death. |
| 7Samson said to them, "Since you've acted like this, I swear that I won't stop until I get my revenge on you." | 7And Samson told them, “Because you have done this, I will not rest until I have taken vengeance upon you.” |
| 8He attacked them viciously and slaughtered many of them. Then he went down and stayed in a cave in the rock of Etam. | 8And he struck them ruthlessly with a great slaughter, and then went down and stayed in the cave at the rock of Etam. |
| 9The Philistines went up and camped in Judah, spreading out near Lehi. | 9Then the Philistines went up, camped in Judah, and deployed themselves near the town of Lehi. |
| 10The people of Judah asked, "Why have you come to fight us?" "We have come to take Samson prisoner," they answered, "to do to him as he did to us." | 10“Why have you attacked us?” said the men of Judah. The Philistines replied, “We have come to arrest Samson and pay him back for what he has done to us.” |
| 11Then three thousand men from Judah went down to the cave in the rock of Etam and said to Samson, "Don't you realize that the Philistines are rulers over us? What have you done to us?" He answered, "I merely did to them what they did to me." | 11In response, three thousand men of Judah went to the cave at the rock of Etam, and they asked Samson, “Do you not realize that the Philistines rule over us? What have you done to us?” “I have done to them what they did to me,” he replied. |
| 12They said to him, "We've come to tie you up and hand you over to the Philistines." Samson said, "Swear to me that you won't kill me yourselves." | 12But they said to him, “We have come down to arrest you and hand you over to the Philistines.” Samson replied, “Swear to me that you will not kill me yourselves.” |
| 13"Agreed," they answered. "We will only tie you up and hand you over to them. We will not kill you." So they bound him with two new ropes and led him up from the rock. | 13“No,” they answered, “we will not kill you, but we will tie you up securely and hand you over to them.” So they bound him with two new ropes and led him up from the rock. |
| 14As he approached Lehi, the Philistines came toward him shouting. The Spirit of the LORD came powerfully upon him. The ropes on his arms became like charred flax, and the bindings dropped from his hands. | 14When Samson arrived in Lehi, the Philistines came out shouting against him. And the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him. The ropes on his arms became like burnt flax, and the bonds broke loose from his hands. |
| 15Finding a fresh jawbone of a donkey, he grabbed it and struck down a thousand men. | 15He found the fresh jawbone of a donkey, reached out his hand and took it, and struck down a thousand men. |
| 16Then Samson said, "With a donkey's jawbone I have made donkeys of them. With a donkey's jawbone I have killed a thousand men." | 16Then Samson said: “With the jawbone of a donkey I have piled them into heaps. With the jawbone of a donkey I have slain a thousand men.” |
| 17When he finished speaking, he threw away the jawbone; and the place was called Ramath Lehi. | 17And when Samson had finished speaking, he cast the jawbone from his hand; and he named that place Ramath-lehi. |
| 18Because he was very thirsty, he cried out to the LORD, "You have given your servant this great victory. Must I now die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?" | 18And being very thirsty, Samson cried out to the LORD, “You have accomplished this great deliverance through Your servant. Must I now die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?” |
| 19Then God opened up the hollow place in Lehi, and water came out of it. When Samson drank, his strength returned and he revived. So the spring was called En Hakkore, and it is still there in Lehi. | 19So God opened up the hollow place in Lehi, and water came out of it. When Samson drank, his strength returned, and he was revived. That is why he named it En-hakkore, and it remains in Lehi to this day. |
| 20Samson led Israel for twenty years in the days of the Philistines. | 20And Samson judged Israel for twenty years in the days of the Philistines. |
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