Judges 16:16–31

¹⁶And it came to pass, when she pestered him daily with her words and pressed him, so that his soul was ²vexed to death, ¹⁷that he ^gtold her all his heart, and said to her, ^h“No razor has ever come upon my head, for I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother’s womb. If I am shaven, then my strength will leave me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man.”

¹⁸When Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called for the lords of the Philistines, saying, “Come up once more, for he has told me all his heart.” So the lords of the Philistines came up to her and brought the money in their hand. ¹⁹ⁱThen she lulled him to sleep on her knees, and called for a man and had him shave off the seven locks of his head. Then ³she began to torment him, and his strength left him. ²⁰And she said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” So he awoke from his sleep, and said, “I will go out as before, at other times, and shake myself free!” But he did not know that the Lord ^jhad departed from him.

²¹Then the Philistines took him and ⁴put out his ^keyes, and brought him down to Gaza. They bound him with bronze fetters, and he became a grinder in the prison. ²²However, the hair of his head began to grow again after it had been shaven.

Samson Dies with the Philistines

²³Now the lords of the Philistines gathered together to offer a great sacrifice to ^lDagon their god, and to rejoice. And they said:

“Our god has delivered into our hands

Samson our enemy!”

²⁴When the people saw him, they ^mpraised their god; for they said:

“Our god has delivered into our hands our enemy,

The destroyer of our land,

And the one who multiplied our dead.”

²⁵So it happened, when their hearts were ⁿmerry, that they said, “Call for Samson, that he may perform for us.” So they called for Samson from the prison, and he performed for them. And they stationed him between the pillars. ²⁶Then Samson said to the lad who held him by the hand, “Let me feel the pillars which support the temple, so that I can lean on them.” ²⁷Now the temple was full of men and women. All the lords of the Philistines were there—about three thousand men and women on the ^oroof watching while Samson performed.

²⁸Then Samson called to the Lord, saying, “O Lord God, ^premember me, I pray! Strengthen me, I pray, just this once, O God, that I may with one blow take vengeance on the Philistines for my two eyes!” ²⁹And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars which supported the temple, and he braced himself against them, one on his right and the other on his left. ³⁰Then Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines!” And he pushed with all his might, and the temple fell on the lords and all the people who were in it. So the dead that he killed at his death were more than he had killed in his life.

³¹And his brothers and all his father’s household came down and took him, and brought him up and ^qburied him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of his father Manoah. He had judged Israel ^rtwenty years.