And Samson went to Gaza. And it was told the Gazites, saying, "Samson is
come hither." And they compassed him in, and laid wait for him all
night in the gate of the city, and were quiet all the night, saying,
"Let be till morning light, then we will kill him."
And Samson lay till midnight, and arose at midnight, and laid hold of
the doors of the gate of the city, and the two posts, and plucked them
up, bar and all, and put them upon his shoulders, and carried them up to
the top of the mountain that is before Hebron.
=Sec.51. Samson's Weakness= (Judg. 16:4-22)
And it came to pass afterward, that he loved a woman, whose name was
Delilah. And the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and said
unto her, "Entice him, and see wherein his great strength lieth, and by
what means we may prevail against him, that we may bind him to afflict
him: and we will give thee every one of us eleven hundred pieces of
silver."
And Delilah said to Samson, "Tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great
strength lieth, and wherewith thou mightest be bound to afflict thee."
And Samson said unto her, "If they bind me with seven new bowstrings
that were never dried, then shall I become weak, and be as another man."
Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven new bowstrings
which had not been dried, and she bound him with them. Now she had liers
in wait abiding in the inner chamber. And she said unto him, "The
Philistines be upon thee, Samson."
And he brake the bowstrings as a string of tow is broken when it touches
the fire. So his strength was not known.
And Delilah said unto Samson, "Behold, thou hast mocked me, and told me
lies: now tell me, I pray thee, wherewith thou mightest be bound."
And he said unto her, "If they only bind me with new ropes wherewith no
work hath been done, then shall I become weak, and be as another man."
So Delilah took new ropes, and bound him therewith, and said unto him,
"The Philistines be upon thee, Samson."
And the liers in wait were abiding in the inner chamber. And he brake
them from off his arms like a thread.
And Delilah said unto Samson, "Hitherto thou hast mocked me, and told me
lies: tell me wherewith thou mightest be bound."
And he said unto her, "If thou weavest the seven locks of my head with
the web."
And she fastened it with the pin, and said unto him, "The Philistines be
upon thee, Samson."
And he awaked out of his sleep, and plucked away the pin of the beam,
and the web.
And she said unto him, "How canst thou say, 'I love thee,' when thine
heart is not with me? thou hast mocked me these three times, and hast
not told me wherein thy great strength lieth."
And it came to pass, when she pressed him daily with her words, and
urged him, that his soul was vexed unto death. And he told her all his
heart, and said unto her, "There hath not come a razor upon mine head:
for I have been a Nazirite unto God from my birth: if I be shaven, then
my strength will go from me, and I shall become weak, and be like any
other man."
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 this once, for
he hath told me all his heart."
Then the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and brought the
money in their hand. And she made him sleep upon her knees: and she
called for a man, and shaved off the seven locks of his head; and she
began to afflict him, and his strength went from him. And she said, "The
Philistines be upon thee, Samson."
And he awoke out of his sleep, and said, "I will go out as at other
times, and shake myself."
But he wist not that the Lord was departed from him.
And the Philistines laid hold on him, and put out his eyes; and they
brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he
did grind in the prison house. Howbeit the hair of his head began to
grow again after he was shaven.
=Sec.52. Samson's Vengeance= (Judg. 16:23-31)
And the lords of the Philistines gathered them together to offer a great
sacrifice unto Dagon their god, and to rejoice: for they said, "Our god
hath delivered Samson our enemy into our hand." And when the people saw
him, they praised their god: for they said, "Our god hath delivered into
our hand our enemy, and the destroyer of our country, which hath slain
many of us." And it came to pass, when their hearts were merry, that
they said, "Call for Samson, that he may make us sport."
And they called for Samson out of the prison house; and he made sport
before them: and they set him between the pillars. And Samson said unto
the lad that held him by the hand, "Suffer me that I may feel the
pillars whereupon the house resteth, that I may lean upon them."
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, that beheld while Samson made sport.
And Samson called unto the Lord, and said, "O Lord God, remember me, I
pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once. O God, that I
may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes."
And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars upon which the house
rested, and leaned upon them, the one with his right hand, and the other
with his left. And Samson said, "Let me die with the Philistines." And
he bowed himself with all his might; and the house fell upon the lords,
and upon all the people that were therein. So the dead which he slew at
his death were more than they which he slew in his life.
Then his brethren and all the house of his father came down, and took
him, and brought him up, and buried him in the burying-place of Manoah
his father.