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¹ THEN Samson went to Gaza, and saw there a harlot, and he went in unto her.

² And it was told the Gazites, saying, Samson has come here. And they lay in wait for him all night in the gate of the city, and were whispering all night, saying, When the morning dawns, we shall kill him.

³ But Samson slept till midnight, and arose at midnight, and took the two door-posts of the gate of the city, and lifted them up, together with the bars thereof, and put them on his shoulder and carried them to the mountain that is before Hebron.

⁴ And it came to pass after this, he loved a woman in the valley of Sarok, whose name was Delilah.

⁵ And the lords of the Philistines came up to her and said to her, Entice him, and see wherein his great strength lies, and by what means we may prevail against him, that we may bind him to disgrace him; and we will give you every one of us thirteen hundred pieces of silver.

⁶ And Delilah said to Samson, Tell me wherein your great strength lies, and with what you might be bound, and how that you may become weak.

⁷ And Samson said to her, If they bind me with seven fresh bowstrings that were never dried, then I shall become weak and be like any other man.

⁸ Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven fresh bowstrings that had never been dried, and she bound him with them.

⁹ Now there were men lying in wait in her inner chamber. And she said to him, The Philistines have come upon you, Samson. And he broke the bowstrings as a thread of tow is broken when it touches the fire. So his strength was not disturbed.

¹⁰ And Delilah said to Samson, Behold, you have deceived me and told me lies; now tell me with what you might be bound.

¹¹ And he said to her, If they bind me fast with new chains that never were used, then shall I be weak and be like any other man.

¹² So Delilah took new chains and bound him with them, and said to him, The Philistines have come upon you, Samson. And the men were lying in wait in the inner chamber. And he broke them from off his arms like a thread.

¹³ And Delilah said to Samson, Behold you have deceived me and told me lies; tell me with what you might be bound. And he said to her, If you weave the seven locks of my head into a web.

¹⁴ And she wove it with the weavers web, and said, The Philistines have come upon you, Samson. And he awoke from his sleep, and pulled away both the weavers loom and the web.

¹⁵ And she said to him, How can you say to me. I love you, when your heart is not with me? For behold, you have deceived me these three times, and you have not told me wherein your great strength lies.

¹⁶ And it came to pass, when she had pressed him daily with her words and urged him, his soul was vexed to death;

¹⁷ So he told her all his heart, and said to her, There has never come a razor upon my head; for I have been a Nazarite to God from my mothers womb; if I be shaven, then my strength will depart from me, and I shall become weak and be like any other man.

¹⁸ And when Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called for the lords of the Philistines, saying, Come up now, for he has told me all his heart. Then the lords of the Philistines came up to her, and brought the money with them.

¹⁹ And she made him sleep upon her knees; and she called for the barber, and had him shave off the seven locks of his head; and she began to overpower him, and his strength had departed from him.

²⁰ And she said to him, The Philistines have come upon you, Samson. And he awoke from his sleep, and said, I will go out as at other times before, and I will torment them. And he did not know that the LORD had departed from him.

²¹ And the Philistines seized him, and put out his eyes and bound him with fetters and brought him down to Gaza, and he did grind wheat in the prison house.

²² But the hair of his head began to grow again after he was shaven.

²³ Then the lords of the Philistines assembled to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god, and to rejoice; for they said, Our god has delivered Samson our enemy into our hand.

²⁴ And when the people saw him, they praised their god; for they said, Our god has delivered into our hands our enemy and the destroyer of our country, who slew many of us.

²⁵ And it came to pass when their hearts were merry, they said, Call for Samson that he may make sport before us. And they called Samson out of the prison house; and he made sport before them; and they set him between the pillars.

²⁶ And Samson said to the lad who held him by the hand, Let me feel the pillars on which the house stands, that I may lean against them.

²⁷ Now the house was full of men and women; and all the lords of the Philistines were there; and there were upon the roof about three thousand men and women, looking on while Samson made sport.

²⁸ Then Samson called to the LORD, and said, O LORD God, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me only this once, O God, that I may be avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes.

²⁹ And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars upon which the house stood, and he leaned against them, grasping one with his right hand and the other with his left.

³⁰ And Samson said, Let me die with the Philistines. Then he pulled with all his might; and the house fell upon the lords and upon all the people that were therein. So the dead whom Samson slew at his death were more than those whom he slew during his life.

³¹ Then his brothers and all the house of his father came down and took him, and brought him up and buried him between Zedah and Eshtaol in the burying place of Menoah his father. And he had judged Israel twenty years.