Judges 16
New King James Version (NKJV)

Samson and Delilah
16 Now Samson went to Gaza and saw a harlot there, and went in to
her. 2 When the Gazites were told, “Samson has come here!”
they surrounded the place and lay in wait for him all night at the gate of the
city. They were quiet all night, saying, “In the morning, when it is daylight, we will kill
him.” 3 And Samson lay low till midnight; then he arose at midnight, took
hold of the doors of the gate of the city and the two gateposts, pulled them up, bar and all,
put themon his shoulders, and carried them to the top of the hill that faces Hebron.

4 Afterward it happened that he loved a woman in the Valley of Sorek, whose
name was Delilah. 5 And the lords of the Philistines came up to her and
said to her, “Entice him, and find out where his great strength lies, and by
what meanswe may overpower him, that we may bind him to afflict him; and every one of us
will give you eleven hundred pieces of silver.”

6 So Delilah said to Samson, “Please tell me where your great
strength lies, and with what you may be bound to afflict you.”

7 And Samson said to her, “If they bind me with seven fresh bowstrings, not yet dried, then I
shall become weak, and be like any other man.”

8 So the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven fresh bowstrings, not yet dried, and
she bound him with them.9 Now men were lying in wait, staying with her in the
room. And she said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” But he broke the
bowstrings as a strand of yarn breaks when it touches fire. So the secret of his strength was not
known.

10 Then Delilah said to Samson, “Look, you have mocked me and told me lies. Now, please tell me
what you may be bound with.”

11 So he said to her, “If they bind me securely with new ropes that have never been used, then
I shall become weak, and be like any other man.”

12 Therefore Delilah took new ropes and bound him with them, and said to him, “The
Philistines are upon you, Samson!” And men were lying in wait,
staying in the room. But he broke them off his arms like a thread.

13 Delilah said to Samson, “Until now you have mocked me and told me lies. Tell me what you may
be bound with.”

And he said to her, “If you weave the seven locks of my head into the web of the loom”—

14 So she wove it tightly with the batten of the loom, and said to him, “The
Philistines are upon you, Samson!” But he awoke from his sleep, and pulled out the
batten and the web from the loom.

15 Then she said to him, “How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when your
heart is not with me? You have mocked me these three times, and have not told me
where your great strength lies.” 16 And it came to pass, when she pestered him
daily with her words and pressed him, so that his soul was vexed to
death, 17 that he told her all his heart, and said to her, “No razor has ever come upon my
head, for I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother’s womb. If I am shaven, then
my strength will leave me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man.”

18 When Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called for the lords of
the Philistines, saying, “Come up once more, for he has told me all his heart.” So the lords of the
Philistines came up to her and brought the money in their hand. 19 Then she lulled him to
sleep on her knees, and called for a man and had him shave off the seven locks of his head. Then she
began to torment him, and his strength left him. 20 And she said, “The
Philistinesare upon you, Samson!” So he awoke from his sleep, and said, “I will go out
as before, at other times, and shake myself free!” But he did not know that the Lord had
departed from him.

21 Then the Philistines took him and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza. They bound
him with bronze fetters, and he became a grinder in the prison. 22 However, the hair of
his head began to grow again after it had been shaven.
Samson Dies with the Philistines
23 Now the lords of the Philistines gathered together to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their
god, and to rejoice. And they said:

“Our god has delivered into our hands
Samson our enemy!”

24 When the people saw him, they praised their god; for they said:

“Our god has delivered into our hands our enemy,
The destroyer of our land,
And the one who multiplied our dead.”

25 So it happened, when their hearts were merry, that they said, “Call for Samson, that he may
perform for us.” So they called for Samson from the prison, and he performed for them. And they
stationed him between the pillars. 26 Then Samson said to the lad who held him by the
hand, “Let me feel the pillars which support the temple, so that I can lean on
them.” 27 Now the temple was full of men and women. All the lords of the
Philistines were there—about three thousand men and women on the roof watching
while Samson performed.

28 Then Samson called to the Lord, saying, “O Lord God, remember me, I pray!
Strengthen me, I pray, just this once, O God, that I may with one blow take
vengeance on the Philistines for my two eyes!” 29 And Samson took hold of the two middle
pillars which supported the temple, and he braced himself against them, one on his right and the
other on his left. 30 Then Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines!” And he pushed
with all his might, and the temple fell on the lords and all the people
who were in it. So the dead that he killed at his death were more than he had
killed in his life.

31 And his brothers and all his father’s household came down and took him, and
brought him up and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of his father
Manoah. He had judged Israel twenty years.