CHAPTER 16
1 Also Samson went into Gaza, and he saw there a woman whore, and he entered to her.
2 And when the Philistines had seen this, and it was published among them, that Samson had entered into the city, they encompassed him, the keepers set in the gates of the city; and the Philistines abiding there all that night privily, that in the morrowtide they should kill Samson going out.
3 And Samson slept till to midnight; and he rose up to go thence, and he took both the closings, or the leaves, of the city gate, with the posts and the lock; and he bare those gates upon his shoulders, to the top of the hill that beholdeth Hebron.
4 After these things Samson loved a woman that dwelled in the valley of Sorek, and she was called Delilah.
5 And the princes of the Philistines came to her, and said, Deceive thou him, and learn thou of him, in what thing he hath so great strength, and how we may overcome him, and torment him when he is bound; the which thing if thou doest, we shall give to thee, each man, a thousand and an hundred plates of silver.
6 Then Delilah spake to Samson, I beseech thee, say thou to me, where-in is thy greatest strength, and what is that thing, with which if thou were bound, thou mayest not break?
7 To whom Samson answered, If I be bound with seven cords of moist sinews not yet dry, I shall be feeble as other men.
8 And the princes of [the] Philistines brought to her seven cords, as he had said; with which she bound him,
9 while ambushments were hid at her, and abided in a closet the end of the thing. And she cried to him, Samson, the Philistines be upon thee! And he brake those bonds, as if a man breaketh a thread of hards, thrown with spittle, when it hath touched the heat of fire; and it was not yet known wherein his strength was.
10 And Delilah said to Samson, Lo! thou hast scorned me, and thou hast spoken falsely; nevertheless now show thou to me, with what thing thou shouldest be bound.
11 To whom he answered, If I be bound with new cords, that were not yet in work, I shall be feeble, and like other men.
12 With the which Delilah bound him again, and she cried, Samson, the Philistines be upon thee! the while ambushments were made ready in a closet. And Samson brake his bonds as threads of webs.
13 And Delilah said again to him, How long shalt thou deceive me, and speak falsely? Show thou to me, with what thing thou shalt be bound. To whom Samson answered, he said, If thou pleatest seven gobbets of hair of mine head with a strong bond,
14 and fastenest to the earth a nail bound about with these hairs, I shall be feeble. And when Delilah had done this, she said to him, Samson, the Philistines be upon thee! And he rose from sleep, and he drew out the nail, with the hairs and a strong bond tied thereto.
15 And Delilah said to him, How sayest thou, that thou lovest me, since thine inward affection is not with me? By three times thou hast lied to me, and wouldest not say to me, wherein is thy most strength.
16 And when she was dis-easeful to him, and cleaved to him continually by many days, and to him gave no space to rest, his life failed, and was made weary unto the death.
17 Then he opened the truth of the thing, and said to her, Iron came never yet upon mine head, for I am a Nazarite, that is, hallowed to the Lord, from my mother’s womb; if mine head be shaven, my strength shall go away from me, and I shall fail, and I shall be as other men.
18 And she saw that he [had] acknowledged to her all his will, either heart; and she sent to the princes of Philistines, and commanded, Go ye up yet once more, for now he hath opened his heart to me. The which went up, the money taken with them that they promised.
19 And she made him sleep upon her knees, and to lay his head in her bosom; and she called a barber, and he shaved seven gobbets of hairs of him; and she began to shove him away, and to put him from her; for anon the strength went away from him.
20 And she said, Samson, the Philistines be upon thee! And he rose from sleep, and said in his soul, I shall go out, as I did before, and I shall shake me from these bonds; and he knew not, that the Lord had gone away from him.
21 And when the Philistines had taken him, anon they put out his eyes, and led him bound with chains to Gaza, and they enclosed him in prison, and made him to grind.
22 And then his hairs began to grow again;
23 and [the] princes of Philistines came together to offer great sacrifices to Dagon, their god, and they made feasts and ate, saying, Our god hath betaken Samson, our enemy, into our hands.
24 And the people seeing also this thing praised their god, and said the same things, Our god hath betaken our adversary into our hands, which did away our land, and killed full many men.
25 And they were gladdened by making of feasts, and then when they had eaten, they commanded that Samson should be called, and play before them; the which was led out of prison, and played before them; and they made him stand betwixt two pillars.
26 And Samson said to the boy that governed his steps, Suffer thou me, that I touch the pillars on which all the house standeth, that I be bowed upon those [or them], and rest a little.
27 And the house was full of men and of women, and the princes of the Philistines were there, and about three thousand of men and of women, beholding from the roof, and from the solar, Samson playing.
28 And he called inwardly the Lord, and said, My Lord God, have mind on me, and my God, yield thou now to me the former strength, that I avenge me of mine enemies, and that I take one vengeance for the loss of my two eyes.
29 And he took both [the] pillars, on which the house stood, and he held the one of those [or them] in his right hand, and the tother in his left hand;
30 and he said, My life die with these Philistines! And when the pillars were shaken altogether strongly, the house felled upon all the princes, and upon the multitude that was there; and Samson dying killed many more, than he alive had slain before.
31 And his brethren and all his kindred came down, and took his body, and they buried it betwixt Zorah and Eshtaol, in the sepulchre of Manoah, his father; and he deemed Israel twenty years.