²³The rulers of the Philistines had gathered to sacrifice a great sacrifice to Dagon their god and to rejoice. And they said, “Our god has given Samson our enemy into our hand.” ²⁴And the people saw him, and they praised their god, for they said, “Our god has given into our hand those who hate us, devastate our land, and have killed many of us.”^q ²⁵After awhile, when their hearts^r were merry, they said, “Call Samson and let him entertain us.” And they called Samson from the prison,^s and he entertained them.^t And they made him stand between the pillars. ²⁶Then Samson said to the servant who was holding him by his hand, “Position me so that I can touch the pillars on which the house^u rests, so I can lean on them.” ²⁷And the house^v was full of men and women, and all of the rulers of the Philistines were there—about three thousand men and women were on the roof watching the performance of Samson.

Samson’s Revenge

²⁸And Samson called to Yahweh and said, “My Lord Yahweh, remember me! Please give me strength this one time, O God, so that I can repay with one act of revenge to the Philistines for my eyes.” ²⁹And Samson reached out and held two of the middle pillars on which the house^w was resting, and he leaned on them, one on his right and one on his left. ³⁰And Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines.” And he pushed^x with all his strength, and the house^y fell on the rulers and all of the people who were with him. And the dead whom he killed in his death were more than those he killed in his life.

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Footnotes

qLiterally “made numerous our slain”
rHebrew “heart”
sLiterally “from the house of the prisoner”
tLiterally “he made sport before them”
uOr “temple”
vOr “temple”
wOr “temple”
xOr “he caused to bend”
yOr “temple”