1 GLT Now it happened after some days, during the days of the harvest of wheat, that Samson visited his wife with a kid from the goats. for he said,“I will go in to my wife, to the inner room.” But her father did not allow him to go in. 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 GLT Her father said,“Truly I said that surely you hated her, so I gave her to your close friend. Is not her younger sister better than she? Please may she be yours in her place.” 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 GLT Samson said to them,“This time I am blameless concerning the Philistines when I am inflicting calamity against them.” BSB BSB: Samson said to them, “This time I will be blameless in doing harm to the Philistines.”
4 GLT Then Samson went and captured three hundred foxes and he made them turn tail to tail. He took torches, and he set one torch between two of the tails in the middle. 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 GLT He kindled fire in the torches, he let them loose into the standing grain of the Philistines. As a result he burned both the stack of sheaves and also the standing grain, even a vineyard, and olive orchard. 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 GLT So the Philistines said,“Who has done this?”, and they replied“Samson, the son- in- law of the Timnite, because he took his wife and he gave her to his close friend.” As a result the Philistines went up and they burned her and her father with fire. 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 GLT Samson said to them,“Since you have actually acted like this, surely I have avenged myself against you, and afterwards, I will stop.” BSB BSB: And Samson told them, “Because you have done this, I will not rest until I have taken vengeance upon you.”
8 GLT He struck them on the lower leg as well as the thigh, a great slaughter. Then he went down and he remained in the cleft of 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 GLT But the Philistines went up and they encamped in Judah and they had spread themselves out in Lehi. BSB BSB: Then the Philistines went up, camped in Judah, and deployed themselves near the town of Lehi.
10 GLT Now the men of Judah said,“Why have you come up against us?” They replied,“We have come up in order to bind Samson, to do to him just as he has done to us.” 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 GLT Then three thousand men of Judah went down to the cleft of the rock of Etam, and they said to Samson,“Do you not know that the Philistines are ruling over us? What is this you have done to us?” He replied to them,“Just as they have done to me, so I have done to 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 GLT They replied to him,“We have come down to bind you in order to give you over into the hand of the Philistines.” But Samson said to them,“Swear to me that you will not instead attack 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 GLT They replied to him saying,“No, however surely we will bind you and we will give you over into their hand. But truly we will not kill you.” Then they bound him with two new ropes and they brought him up 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 GLT He had come as far as Lehi, and then the Philistines shouted as they encountered him. Then the Spirit of Yahweh rushed upon him. The ropes which were on his arms became as flax stalks which they had burned in fire, so his bands were loosed from upon 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 GLT He found a fresh jawbone of a donkey, and he stretched forth his hand and he took it and he slaughtered a thousand men with it. BSB BSB: He found the fresh jawbone of a donkey, reached out his hand and took it, and struck down a thousand men.
16 GLT Then Samson said,“With the jawbone of the donkey, one heap, two heaps, with the jawbone of the donkey I have slaughtered a thousand 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 GLT Now it happened when he finished speaking that he hurled the jawbone out of his hand, and 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 GLT Then he was very thirsty and cried out to Yahweh and he said,“You Yourself have given this great victory into the hand of Your servant. But now must I die with this thirst so that I will fall into the hand of the uncircumcised?” 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 GLT So God split open the hollow place that is at Lehi and water came out of it. When he drank, his spirit returned so that he revived. Therefore he called the name of it En Hakkore, which is in Lehi to this day. 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 GLT Thus he judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years. 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.