Judges 16:16–31

¹⁶She continued to pester him day after day. She nagged him until he was sick and tired of it.

¹⁷So he told her everything. “I’ve never used a razor on my head,” he said. “I’ve never cut my hair. That’s because I’ve been a Nazirite since the day I was born. A Nazirite is set apart to God. If you shave my head, I won’t be strong anymore. I’ll become as weak as any other man.”

¹⁸Delilah realized he had told her everything. So she sent a message to the Philistine rulers. She said, “Come back one more time. He has told me everything.” So the rulers returned. They brought the silver with them.

¹⁹Delilah got Samson to go to sleep on her lap. Then she called for a man to shave off the seven braids of his hair. That’s how she began to bring him under her control. And he wasn’t strong anymore.

²⁰She called out, “Samson! The Philistines are attacking you!”

He woke up from his sleep. He thought, “I’ll go out just as I did before. I’ll shake myself free.” But he didn’t know that the Lord had left him.

²¹Then the Philistines grabbed hold of him. They poked his eyes out. They took him down to Gaza. They put bronze chains around him. Then they made him grind grain in the prison. ²²His head had been shaved. But the hair on it began to grow again.

Samson Dies

²³The rulers of the Philistines gathered together. They were going to offer a great sacrifice to their god Dagon. They were going to celebrate. They said, “Our god has handed our enemy Samson over to us.”

²⁴When the people saw Samson, they praised their god. They said,

“Our god has handed our enemy over to us.

Our enemy has destroyed our land.

He has killed large numbers of our people.”

²⁵After they had drunk a lot of wine, they shouted, “Bring Samson out. Let him put on a show for us.” So they called Samson out of the prison. He put on a show for them.

They had him stand near the temple pillars. ²⁶Then he spoke to the servant who was holding his hand. He said, “Put me where I can feel the pillars. I’m talking about the ones that hold the temple up. I want to lean against them.”

²⁷The temple was crowded with men and women. All of the Philistine rulers were there. About 3,000 men and women were on the roof. They were watching Samson put on a show.

²⁸Then he prayed to the Lord. He said, “Lord and King, show me that you still have concern for me. God, please make me strong just one more time. Let me pay the Philistines back for what they did to my two eyes. Let me do it with only one blow.”

²⁹Then Samson reached toward the two pillars that were in the middle of the temple. They held the temple up. He put his right hand on one of them. He put his left hand on the other. He leaned hard against them.

³⁰Samson said, “Let me die together with the Philistines!” Then he pushed with all his might. The temple came down on the rulers. It fell on all of the people who were in it. So Samson killed many more Philistines when he died than he did while he lived.

³¹Then his brothers went down to get him. So did his father’s whole family. All of them brought Samson’s body back home. They buried his body in the tomb of his father Manoah. It’s between Zorah and Eshtaol. Samson had led Israel for 20 years.