1 GLT 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 GLT Thus the Gazites were saying,“Samson has come here.” So they encircled and they laid in wait for him all the night at the gate of the city. They kept themselves quiet all 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 GLT Samson lay down until the middle of the night. Then he arose in the middle of the night and he seized the doors of the gate of the city and the two doorposts. He pulled them up along with the bolt, he hoisted them upon his shoulders, and he brought them up to the top of the hill which is in front 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.
4 GLT Now it happened after this that he loved a woman in the Valley of Sorek. 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 GLT The governors of the Philistines came up to her, and they said to her,“Make him open up. See by what means is his great strength, and how we can prevail over him, so that we may bind him in order to weaken him. Then we will each give you one thousand one hundred silver pieces.” 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 GLT So Delilah said to Samson,“Please, tell me by what means is your great strength, and how can you be bound in order to weaken 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 GLT Samson replied to her,“If they would bind me with seven fresh cords that have not been dried, then I would become weak and I would be just as one of the other men.” 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 GLT Then the governors of the Philistines brought up to her seven fresh cords that had not been dried, and she tied him up 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 GLT Now she had the ambush group staying in the room when she said to him,“The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” But he tore the cords to shreds just as a wick of flax fiber is torn to shreds when it draws in fire. So his strength did not become 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 GLT As a result Delilah said to Samson,“Look, you have deceived me and you have spoken lies to me. Now tell me, please, by what means you can 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 GLT He replied to her,“If in fact they would bind me with new cords with which work has not been done with them, I would become weak and I would be just as one of the other men.” 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 GLT So Delilah took new cords and she bound him with them. She said to him,“The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” with the ambush group staying in the room. But he flicked them off from upon his arms like they were 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 GLT Then Delilah said to Samson,“Until now you have dealt deceitfully with me and you have spoken lies to me. Reveal to me in what manner you may be bound.” So he said to her,“If you would only weave seven of the locks of hair from my head with the loom.” 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 GLT She fastened them together with a pin, and she said to him,“The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” However he woke from his sleep and he pulled out the pin from the weaving and the warp of the loom. 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.
15 GLT Then she said to him,“How can you say,‘I love you,’ yet your heart is not with me? You have dealt deceitfully with me these three times and you have not revealed to me by what means 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 GLT Now it happened that she pressured him with her speech throughout the day. She also continually pressed him so that his soul was vexed to death. BSB BSB: Finally, after she had pressed him daily with her words and pleaded until he was sick to death,
17 GLT So he told her everything in his heart and he said to her,“A razor has never gone up upon my head, because I have been a Nazirite to God from the womb of my mother. If I would be completely shaved, then my strength would leave me, and I would become weak. I would be just as any of the other men.” 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 GLT When Delilah perceived that he had told her everything in his heart, she sent and she called to the governors of the Philistines, saying,“Come up one more time, for he has told me everything in his heart.” Then the rulers of the Philistines came up to her, and they brought 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 GLT Then she made him fall asleep on her knees and she called to the man while she shaved off the seven locks from his head. Thus she had begun to weaken him, and his strength departed 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 GLT Then she said,“The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” He woke up from his sleep and he said,“I will escape like time after time and I will shake myself loose.” But he did not know that Yahweh had departed 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 GLT The Philistines seized him and they gouged out his eyes. They brought him down to Gaza and they bound him with a pair of bronze fetters. Now it happened that he was grinding at the house of the 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 GLT However, the hair on his head began to grow again after it had been shaved. BSB BSB: However, the hair of his head began to grow back after it had been shaved.
23 GLT The governors of the Philistines assembled themseleves together to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god, and for a celebration. They said,“Our god has given Samson into our hand, our great enemy.” 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 GLT When the people saw him, they praised their god, for they said,“Our god has given our enemy into our hand, the devastator of our land, who heaped up our slain ones.” 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 GLT Now it happened when their heart was merry, that they said,“Call for Samson, that he may make us laugh.” So they called for Samson from the house of the prisoners and he caused laughter in front of them. They had 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 GLT Samson said to the young man who was holding onto his hand,“Let me rest! Let me touch the columns, those which the building is situated upon them, so that 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 GLT Now the building was full of the men and the women, and situated there were all of the governors of the Philistines. On the roof there were about three thousand men and women, who were watching while Samson was entertaining. 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 GLT Then Samson called out to Yahweh and he said,“My Lord Yahweh, remember me, please! Strengthen me please, just this time, O God, so that I may avenge myself by one act of vengence on the Philistines because of 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 GLT Samson took hold of the two center columns on which the building was situated on them. He leaned himself against them, one in his right hand, and one in 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 GLT Then Samson said,“My soul will die with the Philistines!” He stretched out with his strength and the building fell on the governors and on all of the people who were in it. So the ones who died that he killed at his death were more than those he killed during 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 GLT Then his brothers and all the house of his father went down. They carried him, as they went back up. They buried him between Zorah and between Eshtaol in the burial place of Manoah, his father. He had judged Israel twenty 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.