Judges 14:1–16:31

Samson Gets Married

14 Samson went down to Timnah. There he saw a young Philistine woman. 2When he returned, he spoke to his father and mother. He said, “I’ve seen a Philistine woman in Timnah. Get her for me. I want her to be my wife.”

3His father and mother replied, “Can’t we find a wife for you among your relatives? Isn’t there one among any of our people? Do you have to go to the Philistines to get a wife? They aren’t God’s people. They haven’t even been circumcised.”

But Samson said to his father, “Get her for me. She’s the right one for me.”

4Samson’s parents didn’t know that the Lord wanted things to happen that way. He was working out his plans against the Philistines. That’s because the Philistines were ruling over Israel at that time.

5Samson went down to Timnah. His father and mother went with him. They approached the vineyards of Timnah. Suddenly a young lion came roaring toward Samson.

6Then the Spirit of the Lord came on Samson with power. He tore the lion apart with his bare hands. He did it as easily as he might have torn a young goat apart. But he didn’t tell his father or mother what he had done.

7Then he went down and talked with the woman. He liked her.

8Some time later, he was going back to get married to her. But he turned off the road to look at the lion’s dead body. Large numbers of bees and some honey were in it. 9He dug the honey out with his hands. He ate it as he walked along. Then he joined his parents again. He gave them some honey. They ate it too. But he didn’t tell them he had taken it from the lion’s dead body.

10Samson’s father went down to see the woman. Samson had a big dinner prepared there. He was following the practice of men when they got married. 11When the people saw Samson, they gave him 30 companions.

12“Let me tell you a riddle,” Samson said to the companions. “The dinner will last for seven days. Give me the answer to the riddle before the dinner ends. If you do, I’ll give you 30 linen shirts. I’ll also give you 30 sets of clothes. 13But suppose you can’t give me the answer. Then you must give me 30 linen shirts. You must also give me 30 sets of clothes.”

“Tell us your riddle,” they said. “Let’s hear it.”

14Samson replied,

“Out of the eater came something to eat.

Out of the strong came something sweet.”

For three days they couldn’t give him the answer.

15On the fourth day they spoke to Samson’s wife. “Get your husband to explain the riddle for us,” they said. “If you don’t, we’ll burn you to death. We’ll burn up everyone in your family. Did you invite us here to rob us?”

16Then Samson’s wife threw herself on him. She sobbed, “You hate me! You don’t really love me. You have given my people a riddle. But you haven’t told me the answer.”

“I haven’t even explained it to my father or mother,” he replied. “So why should I explain it to you?”

17She cried during the whole seven days the dinner was going on. So on the seventh day he finally told her the answer to the riddle. That’s because she kept on asking him to tell her. Then she explained the riddle to her people.

18Before sunset on the seventh day the men of the town spoke to Samson. They said,

“What is sweeter than honey?

What is stronger than a lion?”

Samson said to them,

“You have plowed with my young cow.

If you hadn’t, you wouldn’t have known the answer to my riddle.”

19Then the Spirit of the Lord came on Samson with power. He went down to Ashkelon. He struck down 30 of their men. He took everything they had with them. And he gave their clothes to those who had explained the riddle. Samson was burning with anger as he went up to his father’s house.

20Samson’s wife was given to someone else. She was given to a friend of Samson. The friend had helped him at his wedding.

Samson Gets Even With the Philistines

15 Later on, Samson went to visit his wife. He took a young goat with him. He went at the time the wheat was being gathered. He said, “I’m going to my wife’s room.” But her father wouldn’t let him go in.

2Her father said, “I was sure you really hated her. So I gave her to your friend. Isn’t her younger sister more beautiful? Take her instead.”

3Samson said to them, “This time I have a right to get even with the Philistines. I’m going to hurt them badly.”

4So he went out and caught 300 foxes. He tied them in pairs by their tails. Then he tied a torch to each pair of tails. 5He lit the torches. He let the foxes loose in the fields of grain that belonged to the Philistines. He burned up the grain that had been cut and stacked. He burned up the grain that was still growing. He also burned up the vineyards and olive trees.

6The Philistines asked, “Who did this?” They were told, “Samson did. He’s the son-in-law of the man from Timnah. Samson did it because his wife was given to his friend.”

So the Philistines went up and burned the woman and her father to death.

7Samson said to them, “Is that how you act? Then I won’t stop until I pay you back.” 8He struck them down with heavy blows. He killed many of them. Then he went down and stayed in a cave. It was in the rock of Etam.

9The Philistines went up and camped in Judah. They spread out near Lehi. 10The men of Judah asked, “Why have you come to fight against us?”

“We’ve come to take Samson as our prisoner,” they answered. “We want to do to him what he did to us.”

11Then 3,000 men from Judah went to get Samson. They went down to the cave that was in the rock of Etam. They said to Samson, “Don’t you realize the Philistines are ruling over us? What have you done to us?”

Samson answered, “I only did to them what they did to me.”

12The men of Judah said to him, “We’ve come to tie you up. We’re going to hand you over to the Philistines.”

Samson said, “Take an oath and promise me you won’t kill me yourselves.”

13“We agree,” they answered. “We’ll only tie you up and hand you over to them. We won’t kill you.” So they tied him up with two new ropes. They led him up from the rock.

14Samson approached Lehi. The Philistines came toward him shouting. Then the Spirit of the Lord came on Samson with power. The ropes on his arms became like burned thread. They dropped off his hands. 15He found a fresh jawbone of a donkey. He grabbed hold of it and struck down 1,000 men.

16Then Samson said,

“By using a donkey’s jawbone

I’ve made them look like donkeys.

By using a donkey’s jawbone

I’ve struck down 1,000 men.”

17Samson finished speaking. Then he threw the jawbone away. That’s why the place was called Ramath Lehi.

18Samson was very thirsty. So he cried out to the Lord. He said, “You have helped me win this great battle. Do I have to die of thirst now? Must I fall into the power of people who haven’t even been circumcised? They aren’t your people.”

19Then God opened up the hollow place in Lehi. Water came out of it. When Samson drank the water, his strength returned. He felt as good as new. So the spring was called En Hakkore. It’s still there in Lehi.

20Samson led Israel for 20 years. In those days the Philistines were in the land.

Samson and Delilah

16 One day Samson went to Gaza. There he saw a prostitute. He went in to spend the night with her.

2The people of Gaza were told, “Samson is here!” So they surrounded the place. They hid and waited for him at the city gate all night long. They didn’t make any move against him during the night. They said, “Let’s wait until the sun comes up. Then we’ll kill him.”

3But Samson stayed there only until the middle of the night. Then he got up. He took hold of the doors of the city gate. He also took hold of the two doorposts. He tore them loose, together with their metal bar. He picked them up and put them on his shoulders. Then he carried them to the top of the hill that faces Hebron.

4Some time later, Samson fell in love again. The woman lived in the Valley of Sorek. Her name was Delilah.

5The rulers of the Philistines went to her. They said, “See if you can get him to tell you the secret of why he’s so strong. Find out how we can overpower him. Then we can tie him up. We can bring him under our control. Each of us will give you 28 pounds of silver.”

6So Delilah spoke to Samson. She said, “Tell me the secret of why you are so strong. Tell me how you can be tied up and controlled.”

7Samson answered her, “Let someone tie me up with seven new leather straps. They must be straps that aren’t completely dry. Then I’ll become as weak as any other man.”

8So the Philistine rulers brought seven new leather straps to her. They weren’t completely dry. Delilah tied Samson up with them.

9Men were hiding in the room. She called out to him. She said, “Samson! The Philistines are attacking you!” But he snapped the leather straps easily. They were like pieces of string that had come too close to a flame. So the secret of why he was so strong wasn’t discovered.

10Delilah spoke to Samson again. “You have made me look foolish,” she said. “You told me a lie. Come on. Tell me how you can be tied up.”

11Samson said, “Let someone tie me tightly with new ropes. They must be ropes that have never been used. Then I’ll become as weak as any other man.”

12So Delilah got some new ropes. She tied him up with them. Men were hiding in the room. She called out to him. She said, “Samson! The Philistines are attacking you!” But he snapped the ropes off his arms. They fell off just as if they were threads.

13Delilah spoke to Samson again. “Until now, you have been making me look foolish,” she said. “You have been telling me lies. This time really tell me how you can be tied up.”

He replied, “Weave the seven braids of my hair into the cloth on a loom. Then pin my hair to the loom. If you do, I’ll become as weak as any other man.”

So while Samson was sleeping, Delilah took hold of the seven braids of his hair. She wove them into the cloth on a loom. 14Then she pinned his hair to the loom.

Again she called out to him. She said, “Samson! The Philistines are attacking you!” He woke up from his sleep. He pulled up the pin and the loom, together with the cloth.

15Then she said to him, “How can…