samson

³²And what should I say next? For time is not sufficient for me to give an account of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the Prophets:

³⁰he said, “May my life die with the Philistines.” And when he had shaken the pillars strongly, the house fell upon all the leaders, and the rest of the multitude who were there. And he killed many more in his death than he had killed before in his life.

²⁸Then, calling upon the Lord, he said, “O Lord God remember me, and restore to me now my former strength, O my God, so that I may avenge myself against my enemies, and so that I may receive one vengeance for the deprivation of my two eyes.”

¹And again, the sons of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord. And he delivered them into the hands of the Philistines for forty years. ²Now there was a certain man from Zorah, and of the stock of Dan, whose name was Manoah, having a barren wife. ³And an Angel of the Lord appeared to her, and he said: “You are barren and without children. But you shall conceive and bear a son. ⁴Therefore, take care that you do not drink wine or strong drink. Neither shall you eat anything unclean. ⁵For you shall conceive and bear a son, whose head no razor shall touch. For he shall be a Nazirite of God, from his infancy and from his mother’s womb. And he shall begin to free Israel from the hand of the Philistines.” ⁶And when she had gone to her husband, she said to him: “A man of God came to me, having the countenance of an Angel, exceedingly terrible. And when I had inquired of him, who he was, and where he was from, and what name he was called, he was not willing to tell me.

¹He also went into Gaza. And there he saw a harlot woman, and he entered to her.

²⁰And she said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” And awaking from sleep, he said in his mind, “I will break away and shake myself free, just as I did before.” For he did not know that the Lord had withdrawn from him.

¹⁸And being very thirsty, he cried out to the Lord, and he said: “You have given, to the hand of your servant, this very great salvation and victory. But see that I am dying of thirst, and so I will fall into the hands of the uncircumcised.”

¹Then, after some time, when the days of the wheat harvest were near, Samson arrived, intending to visit his wife, and he brought her a kid from the goats. And when he wanted to enter her bedroom, as usual, her father prohibited him, saying:

¹He also went into Gaza. And there he saw a harlot woman, and he entered to her. ²And when the Philistines had heard of this, and it had become well known among them, that Samson had entered the city, they surrounded him, placing guards at the gate of the city. And there they were keeping watch all night in silence, so that, in the morning, they might kill him as he was going out. ³But Samson slept until the middle of the night, and rising up from there, he took both doors from the gate, with their posts and bars. And laying them upon his shoulders, he carried them to the top of the hill that looks toward Hebron. ⁴After these things, he loved a woman who was living in the valley of Sorek. And she was called Delilah. ⁵And the leaders of the Philistines went to her, and they said: “Deceive him, and learn from him wherein lies his great strength, and how we may be able to overcome him and to impose restraints on him. And if you will do this, each one of us will give you one thousand one hundred silver coins.” ⁶Therefore, Delilah said to Samson, “Tell me, I beg you, wherein lies your very great strength, and with what might you be bound, so that you could not break free?”

⁵For you shall conceive and bear a son, whose head no razor shall touch. For he shall be a Nazirite of God, from his infancy and from his mother’s womb. And he shall begin to free Israel from the hand of the Philistines.”

²⁷Now the house was full of men and women. And all the leaders of the Philistines were there, as well as about three thousand persons, of both sexes, on the roof and in the upper level of the house, who were watching Samson being mocked.

²⁰And he judged Israel, in the days of the Philistines, for twenty years.

¹⁹And so the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon him, and he descended to Ashkelon, and in that place he struck down thirty men. And taking away their garments, he gave them to those who had solved the problem. And being exceedingly angry, he went up to his father’s house.

³¹Then his brothers and all his relatives, going down, took his body, and they buried it between Zorah and Eshtaol, in the burying place of his father, Manoah. And he judged Israel for twenty years.

²⁵And the Spirit of the Lord began to be with him in the camp of Dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.