1 And Samson went to Gaza, and saw there a harlot, and went in to her. 2 And it was reported to the Gazites, saying, Samson has come here: and they surrounded him and lay in wait for him all night in the gate of the city, and they were quiet all the night, saying, Let us wait till the dawn appears, and we will kill him. 3 And Samson slept till midnight, and rose up at midnight, and took hold of the doors of the 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 Hebron, and laid them there. 4 And it happened after this that he loved a woman in Sorek, and her name was Delilah. 5 And the princes of the Philistines came up to her, and said to her, Deceive him, and see in what his great strength lies, and by what we shall prevail against him, and bind him to humble him; and we will give you each eleven hundred pieces of silver. 6 And Delilah said to Samson, Tell me, Please, in what your great strength lies, and with what you shall be bound that you may be humbled. 7 And Samson said to her, If they bind me with seven moist cords that have not been damaged, then I shall be weak and be as one of ordinary men. 8 And the princes of the Philistines brought to her seven moist cords that had not been damaged, and she bound him with them. 9 And the liers in wait remained with her in the chamber; and she said to him, The Philistines are upon you, Samson: and he broke the cords as if any one should break a thread of tow when it has touched the fire, and his strength was not known. 10 And Delilah said to Samson, Look, you have cheated me, and told me lies; now then tell me with what you shall be bound. 11 And he said to her, If they should bind me fast with new ropes with which work has not been done, then I shall be weak, and shall be as another man. 12 And Delilah took new ropes, and bound him with them, and the liers in wait came out of the chamber, and she said, The Philistines are upon you, Samson: and he broke them off his arms like a thread. 13 And Delilah said to Samson, Look, you have deceived me, and told me lies; tell me, Please, with what you may be bound: and he said to her, If you should weave the seven locks of my head with the web, and should fasten them with the pin into the wall, then I will be weak as another man. 14 And it happened when he was asleep, that Delilah 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 Philistines are upon you, Samson: and he awoke out of his sleep, and carried away the pin of the web out of the wall. 15 And Delilah said to Samson, How can you say, I love you, when your heart is not with me? this third time you have deceived me, and have not told me in what your great strength lies. 16 And it happened as she pressed him hard with her words continually, and straitened him, 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, because I have been a holy one of God⁠a from my mother's womb; if then I should be shaved, my strength will depart from me, and I shall be weak, and I shall be as all other men. 18 And Delilah saw that he told her all his heart, and she sent and called the princes of the Philistines, saying, Come up yet this once; for he has told me all his heart. And the chiefs of the Philistines went up to her, and brought the money in their hands. 19 And Delilah made Samson sleep upon her knees; and she called a man, and he shaved the seven locks of his head, and she began to humble him, and his strength departed from him. 20 And Delilah said, The Philistines are upon you, Samson: and he awoke out of his sleep and said, I will go out as at former times, and shake myself; and he did not know that the Lord had departed from him. 21 And the Philistines took him, and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, and bound 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 shaved. 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 Samson. 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 our people who were killed. 25 And when their heart was merry, then they said, Call Samson out of the prison-house, and let him play before us: and they called Samson 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 Samson said to the young man that held his hand, Allow me to feel the pillars on which the house rests, and I will support myself upon them. 27 And the house was full of men and women, and there were all the chiefs of the Philistines, and on the roof were about seven hundred men and women looking at the sports of Samson. 28 And Samson wept before the Lord, and said, Lord, my lord, remember me, Please, and strengthen me, God, yet this once, and I will take revenge once to the Philistines for my two eyes. 29 And Samson took hold of the two pillars of the house on which the house stood, and leaned on them, and laid hold of one with his right hand, and the other with his left. 30 And Samson said, Let my soul 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 Samson killed in his death were more than those whom he killed in his life. 31 And his brothers and his father's house went down, and they took him; and they went up and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of his father Manoah; and he judged Israel twenty years.