Samson’s Revenge 1 UST Some time later, during the wheat harvest, Samson visited the woman he was supposed to marry. He brought a young goat as a gift. He told her father that he wanted to sleep with her{ to make their marriage official}. But her father would not let him do that. BSB BSB: Later 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 UST Her father told him,“I honestly thought that you hated her. So I had her marry the young man who was your helper at the wedding feast. But her younger sister is even prettier. You can marry her instead.” BSB BSB: “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.”
3 UST Samson refused, and he said to everyone who was listening,“Now I have a good reason to hurt the Philistines!” BSB BSB: Samson said to them, “This time I will be blameless in doing harm to the Philistines.”
4 UST Then Samson went out into the fields and caught 300 foxes. He tied their tails together in pairs. He got some torches, and he put a torch between each pair of tails. BSB BSB: Then 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.
5 UST He lit the torches and let the foxes run through the Philistines’ fields. The fire burned the grain they had harvested and the grain that was still in the fields. It also burned their olive trees. BSB BSB: Then 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.
6 UST The Philistine leaders asked,“Who did this?” Someone told them,“Samson did it. He was supposed to marry the daughter of a man who lived in the town of Timnah. But that man had his daughter marry Samson’ s best man instead.” In revenge, the Philistines went and killed Samson’ s fiancée and her father by burning them. BSB BSB: “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.
7 UST Samson found out that they had done that. He told them,“Because you killed my bride and her father, I am going to avenge their deaths. But I will do no more than that.” BSB BSB: And Samson told them, “Because you have done this, I will not rest until I have taken vengeance upon you.”
8 UST Samson attacked the Philistines furiously and killed many of them. Then he went and hid in a cave in the rock of Etam. BSB BSB: And he struck them ruthlessly with a great slaughter, and then went down and stayed in the cave at the rock of Etam.
9 UST Then many Philistine soldiers came and set up camp in the territory of Judah. There were so many of them that their camp covered a large area near the town that people later called Lehi. BSB BSB: Then the Philistines went up, camped in Judah, and deployed themselves near the town of Lehi.
10 UST The men of Judah asked them,“Why have you come to fight us?” The Philistines answered,“We have come to capture Samson. He killed many of us, and so we are going to kill him.” BSB BSB: “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.”
11 UST Then 3, 000 men from Judah went to the cave in the rock of Etam where Samson was hiding. They said to Samson,“The Philistines rule over us. You should have known not to upset them. You have caused much trouble for us.” Samson answered,“They killed my fiancée and her father, so I killed some of them.” BSB BSB: In 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.
12 UST The men of Judah told Samson,“We have come to tie you up. We are going to give you to the Philistines.” Samson said to them,“Promise me that you will not kill me yourselves.” BSB BSB: But 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 UST They answered,“We will only tie you up and give you to the Philistines. We will not kill you.” So they tied him with two new ropes and led him away from the rock. BSB BSB: “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.
14 UST When Samson came to the town of Lehi, the Philistines came toward him shouting. Then the Spirit of Yahweh gave Samson great strength. His arms became so strong that he was able to break the rope around them as if it were weak thread. He also easily broke the rope that was around his hands. BSB BSB: When 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.
15 UST Then Samson saw a donkey’ s jawbone lying on the ground. It was new, so it was hard. He picked it up and used it to kill 1, 000 men. BSB BSB: He found the fresh jawbone of a donkey, reached out his hand and took it, and struck down a thousand men.
16 UST Then Samson made up this poem:“With a donkey’ s jawbone, I have made piles of bodies. With a donkey’ s jawbone, I have killed 1, 000 men.” BSB BSB: Then 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.”
17 UST After Samson finished speaking, he threw away the jawbone. He named that place Ramath Lehi. BSB BSB: And when Samson had finished speaking, he cast the jawbone from his hand; and he named that place Ramath-lehi.
18 UST Samson was very thirsty. He called out to Yahweh,“You have given me this great victory. But now I am afraid that I will die of thirst. Then the Philistines, who do not worship you, will take my body and treat it shamefully!” BSB BSB: And 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?”
19 UST Then God split open a hollow place in Lehi. Water came out of it. When Samson drank some of that water, he felt strong again. So he named that spring En Hakkore. It is still in Lehi today. BSB BSB: So 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.
20 UST Samson was the leader of Israel for 20 years. But during that time, the Philistines were in control of the land of Israel. BSB BSB: And Samson judged Israel for twenty years in the days of the Philistines.
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.