Samson’s Downfall

16:1 Samson went to Gaza. There he saw a prostitute and went in to have sex with her.1 16:2 The Gazites were told,2 “Samson has come here!” So they surrounded the town3 and hid all night at the city gate, waiting for him to leave.4 They relaxed5 all night, thinking,6 “He will not leave7 until morning comes;8 then we will kill him!” 16:3 Samson spent half the night with the prostitute; then he got up in the middle of the night and left.9 He grabbed the doors of the city gate, as well as the two posts, and pulled them right off, bar and all.10 He put them on his shoulders and carried them up to the top of a hill east of Hebron.11

16:4 After this Samson fell in love with a woman named Delilah, who lived in the Sorek Valley. 16:5 The rulers of the Philistines went up to visit her and said to her, “Trick him! Find out what makes him so strong and how we can subdue him and humiliate12 him. Each one of us will give you eleven hundred silver pieces.”

16:6 So Delilah said to Samson, “Tell me what makes you so strong and how you can be subdued and humiliated.”13 16:7 Samson said to her, “If they tie me up with seven fresh14 bowstrings15 that have not been dried, I will become weak and be just like any other man.” 16:8 So the rulers of the Philistines brought her seven fresh bowstrings which had not been dried and they tied him up with them. 16:9 They hid16 in the bedroom and then she said to him, “The Philistines are here,17 Samson!” He snapped the bowstrings as easily as a thread of yarn snaps when it is put close to fire.18 The secret of his strength was not discovered.19

16:10 Delilah said to Samson, “Look, you deceived20 me and told me lies! Now tell me how you can be subdued.” 16:11 He said to her, “If they tie me tightly with brand new ropes that have never been used,21 I will become weak and be just like any other man.” 16:12 So Delilah took new ropes and tied him with them and said to him, “The Philistines are here,22 Samson!” (The Philistines were hiding in the bedroom.)23 But he tore the ropes24 from his arms as if they were a piece of thread.

16:13 Delilah said to Samson, “Up to now you have deceived me and told me lies. Tell me how you can be subdued.” He said to her, “If you weave the seven braids of my hair25 into the fabric on the loom26 and secure it with the pin, I will become weak and be like any other man.” 16:14 So she made him go to sleep, wove the seven braids of his hair into the fabric on the loom, fastened it with the pin, and said to him, “The Philistines are here,27 Samson!”28 He woke up29 and tore away the pin of the loom and the fabric.

16:15 She said to him, “How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when you will not share your secret with me?30 Three times you have deceived me and have not told me what makes you so strong.” 16:16 She nagged him31 every day and pressured him until he was sick to death of it.32 16:17 Finally he told her his secret.33 He said to her, “My hair has never been cut,34 for I have been dedicated to God35 from the time I was conceived.36 If my head37 were shaved, my strength would leave me; I would become weak, and be just like all other men.” 16:18 When Delilah saw that he had told her his secret,38 she sent for39 the rulers of the Philistines, saying, “Come up here again, for he has told me40 his secret.”41 So the rulers of the Philistines went up to visit her, bringing the silver in their hands. 16:19 She made him go to sleep on her lap42 and then called a man in to shave off43 the seven braids of his hair.44 She made him vulnerable45 and his strength left him. 16:20 She said, “The Philistines are here,46 Samson!” He woke up47 and thought,48 “I will do as I did before49 and shake myself free.” But he did not realize that the Lord had left him. 16:21 The Philistines captured him and gouged out his eyes. They brought him down to Gaza and bound him in bronze chains. He became a grinder in the prison. 16:22 His hair50 began to grow back after it had been shaved off.