Judg 16 | EngLXX | STEP | And Sampson went to Gaza, and saw there a harlot, and went in to her.

Judges 16

1 And Sampson went to Gaza, and saw there a harlot, and went in to her. 2 And it was reported to the Gazites, saying, Sampson is come here: and they compassed himand laid wait for him all night in the gate of the city, and they were quiet all the night, saying, Letus wait till the dawn appear, and we will kill him. 3 And Sampson slept till midnight, and rose up at midnight, and took hold of the doors ofthe gate of the city with the two posts, and lifted them up with the bar, and laid them on his shoulders,and he went up to the top of the mountain that is before Chebron, and laid them there. 4 And it came to pass after this that he loved a woman in Alsorech, and her namewas Dalida. 5 And the princess of the Philistines came up to her, and said to her, Beguile him, andsee wherein his great strengthis, and wherewith we shall prevail against him, and bind him to humble him; and we will giveyou each eleven hundredpieces of silver. 6 And Dalida said to Sampson, Tell me, I pray you, whereinis your great strength, and wherewith you shall be bound that you may be humbled. 7 And Sampson said to her, If they bind me with seven moist cords that have not been spoiled,then shall I be weak and be as one of ordinary men. 8 And the princess of the Philistines brought to her seven moist cords that had not beenspoiled, and she bound him with them. 9 And the liers in wait remained with her in the chamber; and she said to him, the Philistinesare upon you, Sampson: and he broke the cords as if any one should break a thread of tow whenit has touched the fire, and his strength was not known. 10 And Dalida said to Sampson, Behold, you have cheated me, and told me lies; now then tellme wherewith you shall be bound. 11 And he said to her, If they should bind me fast with new ropes with which work has notbeen done, then shall I be weak, and shall be as another man. 12 And Dalida took new ropes, and bound him with them, and the liers in wait came out ofthe chamber, and she said, The Philistinesare upon you, Sampson: and he broke them off his arms like a thread. 13 And Dalida said to Sampson, Behold, you have deceived me, and told me lies; tell me,I entreat you, wherewith you may be bound: and he said to her, If you should weave the seven locks ofmy head with the web, and should fasten them with the pin into the wall, then shall I be weak as anotherman. 14 And it came to pass when he was asleep, that Dalida took the seven locks of his head,and wove them with the web, and fastened them with the pin into the wall, and she said, The Philistinesare upon you, Sampson: and he awoke out of his sleep, and carried away the pin of the web outof the wall. 15 And Dalida said to Sampson, How say you, I love you, when your heart is not with me?this third time you have deceived me, and have not told me whereinis your great strength. 16 And it came to pass as she pressed him sore with her words continually, and straitenedhim, that his spirit failed almost to death. 17 Then he told her all his heart, and said to her, A razor has not come upon my head, becauseI have been a holyone of God from my mother's womb; if then I should be shaven, my strength will depart fromme, and I shall be weak, and I shall be as allother men. 18 And Dalida saw that he told her all his heart, and she sent and called the princess ofthe Philistines, saying, Come up yet this once; for he has told me all his heart. And the chiefs of thePhilistines went up to her, and brought the money in their hands. 19 And Dalida made Sampson sleep upon her knees; and she called a man, and he shaved theseven locks of his head, and she began to humble him, and his strength departed from him. 20 And Dalida said, The Philistinesare upon you, Sampson: and he awoke out of his sleep and said, I will go out as at former times,and shake myself; and he knew not that the Lord was departed from him. 21 And the Philistines took him, and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, andbound him with fetters of brass; and he ground in the prison-house. 22 And the hair of his head began to grow as before it was shaven. 23 And the chiefs of the Philistines met to offer a great sacrifice to their god Dagon,and to make merry; and they said, God has given into our hand our enemy Sampson. 24 And the people saw him, and sang praises to their god; for our god,said they, has delivered into our hand our enemy, who wasted our land, and who multiplied ourslain. 25 And when their heart was merry, then they said, Call Sampson out of the prison-house,and let him play before us: and they called Sampson out of the prison-house, and he played before them;and they struck him with the palms of their hands, and set him between the pillars. 26 And Sampson said to the young man that held his hand, Suffer me to feel the pillars onwhich the houserests, and I will stay myself upon them. 27 And the housewas full of men and woman, and there were all the chiefs of the Philistines, and on the roofwere about three thousand men and woman looking at the sports of Sampson. 28 And Sampson wept before the Lord, and said, O Lord, my lord, remember me, I pray you,and strengthen me, O God, yet this once, and I will requite one recompense to the Philistines for my twoeyes. 29 And Sampson took hold of the two pillars of the house on which the house stood, and leanedon them, and laid hold of one with his right hand, and the other with his left. 30 And Sampson said, Let my wife perish with the Philistines: and he bowed himself mightily;and the house fell upon the princes, and upon all the people that were in it: and the dead whom Sampsonkilled in his death were more than those whom he killed in his life. 31 And his brethren and his father's house went down, and they took him; and they went upand buried him between Saraa and Esthaol in the sepulchre of his father Manoe; and he judged Israel twentyyears.