Samson Escapes Gaza 1 ULT Now Samson went to Gaza and he saw a woman there, a harlot, and he went in to her. BSB BSB: One day Samson went to Gaza, where he saw a prostitute and went in to spend the night with her.
2 ULT { And it was told} to the Gazites, saying,“Samson has come here.” So they encircled and they lay in ambush for him all of the night at the gate of the city. And they kept themselves quiet all of the night, saying,“At the light of the morning, then we will kill him.” BSB BSB: When 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.”
3 ULT Now Samson lay down until the middle of the night, but he arose in the middle of the night, and he seized the doors of the gate of the city and the two doorposts. And he pulled them up with the bar, and he put them on his shoulders, and he brought them up to the head of the hill that is at the face of Hebron. BSB BSB: But 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.
Samson and Delilah 4 ULT Now it happened afterward that he loved a woman in the Valley of Sorek, and her name{ was} Delilah. BSB BSB: Some time later, Samson fell in love with a woman in the Valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah.
5 ULT And the lords of the Philistines came up to her and they said to her,“Entice him and see in what his great strength{ is} and in what we shall overcome him, that we may bind him to humble him. And we ourselves will give to you, a man, 1, 100 silver.” BSB BSB: The 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.”
6 ULT So Delilah said to Samson,“Please declare to me in what{ is} your great strength and in what you may be bound to humble you.” BSB BSB: So Delilah said to Samson, “Please tell me the source of your great strength and how you can be tied up and subdued.”
7 ULT And Samson said to her,“If they bind me with seven fresh cords that have not been dried, then I will weaken and I will be like one of man.” BSB BSB: Samson 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.”
8 ULT Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven fresh cords that had not been dried, and she bound him with them. BSB BSB: So the lords of the Philistines brought her seven fresh bowstrings that had not been dried, and she tied him up with them.
9 ULT Now the ambush{ was} staying for her in the room. And she said to him,“The Philistines{ are} upon you, Samson!” But he broke the cords just as a string of flax is broken in its touching fire. So his strength was not known. BSB BSB: While 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.
10 ULT And Delilah said to Samson,“Behold, you have deceived me and spoken lies to me. Now please declare to me in what you may be bound.” BSB BSB: Then Delilah said to Samson, “You have mocked me and lied to me! Now please tell me how you can be tied up.”
11 ULT And he said to her,“If binding, they bind me with new ropes with which work has not been done, then I will weaken and I will be like one of man.” BSB BSB: He replied, “If they tie me up with new ropes that have never been used, I will become as weak as any other man.”
12 ULT So Delilah took new ropes, and she bound him with them. And she said to him,“The Philistines{ are} upon you, Samson!” And the ambush{ was} staying in the room. But he broke them from upon his arms like thread. BSB BSB: So 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.
13 ULT Then Delilah said to Samson,“Up to now you have deceived me and spoken lies to me. Declare to me in what you may be bound!” So he said to her,“If you weave the seven locks of my head with the warp.” BSB BSB: Then 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.”
14 ULT So she drove with the peg, and she said to him,“The Philistines{ are} upon you, Samson!” But he awoke from his sleep and pulled the peg{ from} the weaving and the warp. BSB BSB: So 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.
Delilah Learns the Secret 15 ULT Then she said to him,“How do you say,‘I love you,’ yet your heart{ is} not with me? These three times you have deceived me and you have not declared to me in what{ is} your great strength.” BSB BSB: “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!”
16 ULT And it happened that she pressed him with her words all of the days and she urged him, and his soul wore out to death. BSB BSB: Finally, after she had pressed him daily with her words and pleaded until he was sick to death,
17 ULT So he declared to her all of his heart, and he said to her,“A razor has not gone up on my head, for I{ have been} a Nazirite of God from the womb of my mother. If I were shaved, then my strength would turn from me, and I would weaken and I would be like all of man.” BSB BSB: Samson 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.”
18 ULT Then Delilah saw that he had declared to her all of his heart. So she sent and called for the lords of the Philistines, saying,“Come up one time, for he has declared to me all of his heart.” Then the lords of the Philistines came up to her, and they brought up the silver in their hand. BSB BSB: When 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.
19 ULT And she put him to sleep on her knees, and she called to a man, and she shaved the seven locks of his head, and she began to humble him, and his strength turned from upon him. BSB BSB: And 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.
20 ULT And she said,“The Philistines{ are} upon you, Samson!” And he woke from his sleep, and he said,“I will go out like time upon time, and I will shake myself.” But he himself did not know that Yahweh had turned from upon him. BSB BSB: Then 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.
21 ULT And the Philistines seized him and gouged out his eyes. And they brought him down to Gaza and they bound him with bronze fetters. And he was grinding in the house of prisoners. BSB BSB: Then 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.
22 ULT But the hair of his head began to grow after it had been shaved. BSB BSB: However, the hair of his head began to grow back after it had been shaved.
Samson’s Vengeance and Death 23 ULT Now the lords of the Philistines gathered themselves to sacrifice a great sacrifice to Dagon their god and for celebration, for they said,“Our god has given into our hand Samson, our enemies.” BSB BSB: Now 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.”
24 ULT And the people saw him, and they praised their god, for they said,“Our god has given into our hand our enemy and the devastator of our land, and who multiplied our slain.” BSB BSB: And 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.”
25 ULT And it happened, when their heart{ was} good, that they said,“Call for Samson, that he may make us laugh.” So they called for Samson from the house of prisoners, and he caused laughter to their faces. And they made him stand between the columns. BSB BSB: And 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.
26 ULT And Samson said to the young man holding onto his hand,“Let me rest. Let me feel the columns upon which the house is set so I may support myself on them.” BSB BSB: Samson 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.”
27 ULT Now the house was full{ of} men and women, and all of the lords of the Philistines{ were} there, and on the roof{ were} about 3, 000 men and women, watching to laughing of Samson. BSB BSB: Now 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.
28 ULT Then Samson called to Yahweh and he said,“Lord Yahweh, please remember me, and please strengthen me only this time, O God, so I may avenge myself{ with} one vengeance against the Philistines for my two eyes.” BSB BSB: Then 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.”
29 ULT And Samson grasped the two columns of the center upon which the house was set, and he leaned himself against them, one on his right and one on his left. BSB BSB: And 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,
30 ULT Then Samson said,“My soul shall die with the Philistines!” And he stretched out with his strength, and the house fell on the lords and on all of the people who{ were} in it. So the ones dying whom he killed at his death were more than those he killed in his life. BSB BSB: Samson 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.
31 ULT Then his brothers and all of the house of his father went down. And they lifted him and they went up and they buried him between Zorah and between Eshtaol in the burial place of Manoah, his father. And he had judged Israel 20 years. BSB BSB: Then 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.
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.