Judges 16

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1. 1Samson traveled to Gaza, where he saw a prostitute and slept with her.
2. 2Word spread among the people of Gaza: "Samson is here!" So they surrounded the area and waited for him all night at the city gate. They stayed quiet through the night, saying, "When morning comes, we'll kill him."
3. 3But Samson only stayed until midnight. Then he got up, grabbed the doors of the city gate along with both posts, and ripped them out of the ground — bar and all. He hoisted them onto his shoulders and carried them to the top of the hill that faces Hebron.
4. 4Some time later, Samson fell in love with a woman named Delilah, who lived in the valley of Sorek.
5. 5The Philistine rulers went to her and said, "Entice him and find out where his great strength comes from. Discover how we can overpower him so we can bind him and afflict him. Each of us will give you 1,100 pieces of silver."
6. 6So Delilah said to Samson, "Tell me, where does your great strength come from, and how could someone tie you up to afflict you?"
7. 7Samson told her, "If they tie me up with 7 fresh bowstrings that haven't been dried out, I'll become as weak as any ordinary man."
8. 8So the Philistine rulers brought her 7 fresh bowstrings that hadn't been dried, and she tied him up with them.
9. 9She had men hiding in the room with her. Then she shouted, 'The Philistines are upon you, Samson!' But he snapped the bowstrings like a thread of flax that breaks when it touches fire. So his strength was not discovered.
10. 10Delilah said to Samson, "You made a fool of me and lied to me! Now please, tell me how you can be tied up."
11. 11He told her, "If they tie me tightly with brand-new ropes that have never been used, I'll become as weak as any ordinary man."
12. 12So Delilah took new ropes and tied him up with them. Then she shouted, "The Philistines are here, Samson!" Again, men were hiding in the inner room. But he snapped the ropes off his arms like they were thread.
13. 13Delilah said to Samson, "You keep making a fool of me and telling me lies! Tell me how you could really be tied up." He said to her, "If you weave the 7 braids of my hair into the fabric on your loom."
14. 14So she wove his hair in and pinned it tight with the loom pin. Then she shouted, "The Philistines are here, Samson!" He woke up from his sleep and yanked his hair free, pulling out the pin and the fabric with it.
15. 15Then she said to him, "How can you say, 'I love you,' when your heart is not with me? You've mocked me these three times and still haven't told me where your great strength comes from."
16. 16And it happened that she pressed him daily with her words and urged him, so that his soul was troubled to the point of death.
17. 17He told her all his heart and said to her, "No razor has come upon my head, because I have been a Nazarite to God from my mother's womb. If I am shaved, my strength will leave me, and I will become weak like any other man."
18. 18When Delilah saw that he had told her everything in his heart, she sent a message to the Philistine rulers, saying, "Come up this once, for he has shown me all his heart." So the Philistine rulers came to her, bringing the money with them.
19. 19She made him sleep with his head on her lap, then called a man to shave off the seven braids from his head. She began to torment him, and his strength left him.
20. 20She shouted, "The Philistines are here, Samson!" He woke up and thought, "I'll break free just like before." But he didn't know that the LORD had left him.
21. 21The Philistines seized him, gouged out his eyes, and dragged him down to Gaza. They bound him with bronze shackles and forced him to grind grain in the prison.
22. 22But his hair began to grow back after it had been shaved.
23. 23The Philistine rulers gathered to offer a great sacrifice to their god Dagon and to celebrate. They said, "Our god has delivered Samson, our enemy, into our hands!"
24. 24When the people saw Samson, they praised their god, saying, "Our god has delivered our enemy to us — the one who destroyed our land and killed so many of our people!"
25. 25When their hearts were merry, they said, "Call for Samson, so he can entertain us." They brought Samson out of the prison, and he entertained them. They placed him between the pillars.
26. 26Samson said to the boy who was leading him by the hand, "Let me touch the pillars that hold up this building so I can lean against them."
27. 27The temple was packed with men and women. All the Philistine rulers were there, and about 3,000 more men and women were crowded on the roof, watching Samson perform.
28. 28Then Samson cried out to the LORD, "Lord GOD, please remember me. Strengthen me just one more time, God, so I can pay back the Philistines for taking my 2 eyes."
29. 29Samson reached out and gripped the 2 central pillars that supported the entire building — his right hand on one and his left hand on the other.
30. 30Samson shouted, "Let me die with the Philistines!" Then he pushed with everything he had. The temple came crashing down on the rulers and everyone inside. He killed more people in his death than he had killed in his entire life.
31. 31His brothers and the rest of his father's family came down to get him. They carried his body back and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol, in the tomb of his father Manoah. He judged Israel for 20 years.