Judges 16:1–31

¹ One day Samson went to Gaza, where he saw a prostitute and went in to spend the night with her. ² When the Gazites heard that Samson was there, they surrounded that place and lay in wait for him all night at the city gate. They were quiet throughout the night, saying, “Let us wait until dawn; then we will kill him.” ³ But Samson lay there only until midnight, when he got up, took hold of the doors of the city gate and both gateposts, and pulled them out, bar and all. Then he put them on his shoulders and took them to the top of the mountain overlooking Hebron. ⁴ Some time later, Samson fell in love with a woman in the Valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah. ⁵ The lords of the Philistines went to her and said, “Entice him and find out the source of his great strength and how we can overpower him to tie him up and subdue him. Then each one of us will give you eleven hundred shekels of silver.” ⁶ So Delilah said to Samson, “Please tell me the source of your great strength and how you can be tied up and subdued.” ⁷ Samson told her, “If they tie me up with seven fresh bowstrings that have not been dried, I will become as weak as any other man.” ⁸ So the lords of the Philistines brought her seven fresh bowstrings that had not been dried, and she tied him up with them. ⁹ While the men were hidden in her room, she called out, “Samson, the Philistines are here!” But he snapped the bowstrings like a strand of yarn seared by a flame. So the source of his strength remained unknown. ¹⁰ Then Delilah said to Samson, “You have mocked me and lied to me! Now please tell me how you can be tied up.” ¹¹ He replied, “If they tie me up with new ropes that have never been used, I will become as weak as any other man.” ¹² So Delilah took new ropes, tied him up with them, and called out, “Samson, the Philistines are here!” But while the men were hidden in her room, he snapped the ropes off his arms like they were threads. ¹³ Then Delilah said to Samson, “You have mocked me and lied to me all along! Tell me how you can be tied up.” He told her, “If you weave the seven braids of my head into the web of a loom and tighten it with a pin, I will become as weak as any other man. ” ¹⁴ So while he slept, Delilah took the seven braids of his hair and wove them into the web. Then she tightened it with a pin and called to him, “Samson, the Philistines are here!” But he awoke from his sleep and pulled out the pin with the loom and the web. ¹⁵ “How can you say, ‘I love you,’” she asked, “when your heart is not with me? This is the third time you have mocked me and failed to reveal to me the source of your great strength!” ¹⁶ Finally, after s…