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And the children of Israel did euill againe in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord deliuered them into the hand of the Philistines forty yeeres.
And there was a certaine man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah, and his wife was barren, and bare not. And the Angel of the Lord appeared vnto the woman, and said vnto her, Behold now, thou art barren, and bearest not: but thou shalt conceiue and beare a sonne. Now therefore beware I pray thee, and drinke not wine, nor strong drinke, and eat not any vncleane thing. For loe, thou shalt conceiue, and beare a sonne, and no rasor shall come on his head: for the child shall be a Nazarite vnto God from the wombe: and he shall begin to deliuer Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.
Then the woman came, and told her husband, saying; A man of God came vnto mee, and his countenance was like the countenance of an Angel of God, very terrible: but I asked him not whence he was, neither told he me his name: But he said vnto mee, Behold, thou shalt conceiue and beare a sonne; and now, drinke no wine nor strong drinke, neither eate any vncleane thing: for the childe shal be a Nazarite to God, from the wombe, to the day of his death.
Then Manoah entreated the Lord, and said, O my Lord, let the man of God which thou didst send, come againe vnto vs, & teach vs what we shall do vnto the childe that shall be borne.
And God hearkened to the voyce of Manoah; and the Angel of God came againe vnto the woman as shee sate in the field: But Manoah her husband was not with her.
And the woman made haste, and ranne, and shewed her husband, and said vnto him; Behold, the man hath appeared vnto me, that came vnto me the other day. And Manoah arose, and went after his wife, and came to the man, and said vnto him, Art thou the man that spakest vnto the woman? And he said, I am.
And Manoah said, Now let thy words come to passe: How shall wee order the childe, and how shall we doe vnto him? And the Angel of the Lord said vnto Manoah, Of all that I said vnto the woman, let her beware.
She may not eate of any thing that commeth of the Uine, neither let her drinke wine or strong drinke, nor eat any vncleane thing: all that I commanded her, let her obserue. And Manoah saide vnto the Angel of the Lord, I pray thee let vs deteine thee, vntill wee shall haue made ready a kid for thee.
And the Angel of the Lord said vnto Manoah, Though thou deteine mee, I will not eat of thy bread: and if thou wilt offer a burnt offering, thou must offer it vnto the Lord: for Manoah knew not that he was an Angel of the Lord.
And Manoah said vnto the Angel of the Lord, What is thy name, that when thy sayings come to passe, we may doe thee honour? And the Angel of the Lord said vnto him, Why askest thou thus after my name, seeing it is secret?
So Manoah tooke a kid, with a meat offering, and offered it vpon a rocke vnto the Lord: and the Angel did wonderously, and Manoah and his wife looked on. For it came to passe, when the flame went vp toward heauen from off the altar, that the Angel of the Lord ascended in the flame of the altar: and Manoah and his wife looked on it, and fell on their faces to the ground.
But the Angel of the Lord did no more appeare to Manoah and to his wife:) then Manoah knewe that he was an Angel of the Lord. And Manoah said vnto his wife, Wee shall surely die, because wee haue seene God.
But his wife said vnto him, If the Lord were pleased to kill vs, he would not haue receiued a burnt offering and a meat offering at our hands, neither would hee haue shewed vs all these things, nor would as at this time haue told vs such things as these.
And the woman bare a sonne, and called his name Samson: and the child grew, & the Lord blessed him. And the Spirit of the Lord beganne to mooue him at times in the campe of Dan, betweene Zorah and Eshtaol.
And Samson went down to Timnath, and sawe a woman in Timnath, of the daughters of the Philistines. And hee came vp, and told his father and his mother, and said, I haue seene a woman in Timnath, of the daughters of the Philistines: nowe therefore get her for me to wife.
Then his father and his mother said vnto him, Is there neuer a woman among the daughters of thy brethren, or among all my people, that thou goest to take a wife of the vncircumcised Philistines? And Samson said vnto his father, Get her for me, for shee pleaseth me well. But his father and his mother knew not that it was of the Lord, that hee sought an occasion against the Philistines: for at that time the Philistines had dominion ouer Israel.
Then went Samson downe, and his father & his mother, to Timnath, and came, to the vineyards of Timnath: and behold, a young Lion roared against him. And the Spirit of the Lord came mightily vpon him, and hee rent him as he would haue rent a kid, and he had nothing in his hand: but hee told not his father or his mother what hee had done.
And hee went downe and talked with the woman, and she pleased Samson well.
And after a time hee returned to take her, and he turned aside to see the carkeis of the Lion: and beholde, there was a swarme of Bees, and honie in the carkeis of the Lion.
And hee tooke thereof in his handes, and went on eating, and came to his father and mother, and hee gaue them, and they did eate: but he told not them that he had taken the hony out of the carkeis of the Lion.
So his father went downe vnto the woman, and Samson made there a feast: for so vsed the young men to doe. And it came to passe when they saw him, that they brought thirtie companions to be with him.
And Samson said vnto them, I will now put foorth a riddle vnto you: if you can certeinly declare it me, within the seuen dayes of the feast, and finde it out, then I will giue you thirtie sheetes, and thirtie change of garments: But if ye cannot declare it me, then shall yee giue me thirtie sheetes, and thirtie change of garments. And they said vnto him, Put foorth thy riddle, that we may heare it.
And hee said vnto them, Out of the eater came foorth meate, aud out of the strong came foorth sweetnesse. And they could not in three dayes expound the riddle.
And it came to passe on the seuenth day, that they said vnto Samsons wife, Entice thy husband, that hee may declare vnto vs the riddle, lest we burne thee and thy fathers house with fire: Haue yee called vs, to take that wee haue? is it not so?
And Samsons wife wept before him, and said, Thou doest but hate me, and louest me not: thou hast put foorth a riddle vnto the children of my people, and hast not tolde it me. And hee said vnto her, Behold, I haue not tolde it my father nor my mother, and shall I tell it thee?
And shee wept before him the seuen dayes, while the feast lasted: and it came to passe on the seuenth day, that he tolde her, because shee lay sore vpon him: and she tolde the riddle to the children of her people.
And the men of the city said vnto him on the seuenth day before the sunne went downe, What is sweeter then honie? and what is stronger then a Lion? And he said vnto them, If ye had not plowed with my heifer, yee had not found out my riddle.
And the Spirit of the Lord came vpon him, and hee went downe to Ashkelon, and slewe thirtie men of them, and tooke their spoile, and gaue change of garments vnto them which expounded the riddle, and his anger was kindled; and hee went vp to his fathers house.
But Samsons wife was giuen to his companion, whom hee had vsed as his friend.
But it came to passe within a while after, in the time of wheat haruest, that Samson visited his wife with a kid, and he said, I will goe in to my wife into the chamber. But her father would not suffer him to goe in. And her father saide, I verily thought that thou haddest vtterly hated her, therfore I gaue her to thy companion: is not her younger sister fairer then she? take her, I pray thee, in stead of her.
And Samson said concerning them, Now shal I be more blamelesse then the Philistines, though I do them a displeasure. And Samson went and caught three hundred foxes, and tooke firebrands, and turned taile to taile, and put a firebrand in the midst betweene two tailes.
And when hee had set the brands on fire, he let them goe into the standing corne of the Philistines, and burnt vp both the shockes, and also the standing corne, with the vineyards and oliues.
Then the Philistines saide, Who hath done this? and they answered, Samson the sonne in law of the Timnite, because hee had taken his wife, and giuen her to his companion. And the Philistines came vp, and burnt her and her father with fire.
And Samson said vnto them, Though ye haue done this, yet will I be auenged of you, and after that, I wil cease. And he smote them hip and thigh, with a great slaughter; and hee went down and dwelt in the top of the rocke Etam.
Then the Philistines went vp, and pitched in Iudah, and spread themselues in Lehi. And the men of Iudah said, Why are ye come vp against vs? and they answered, To bind Samson are we come vp, to doe to him, as he hath done to vs.
Then three thousand men of Iudah went to the top of the rocke Etam, and sayd to Samson; Knowest thou not that the Philistines are rulers ouer vs? What is this that thou hast done vnto vs? And he said vnto them, As they did vnto me, so haue I done vnto them.
And they said vnto him, Wee are come downe to binde thee, that we may deliuer thee into the hand of the Philistines. And Samson said vnto them, Sweare vnto me, that yee will not fall vpon me your selues.
And they spake vnto him, saying; No: but wee will binde thee fast, and deliuer thee into their hand: but surely we will not kill thee. And they bound him with two new cordes, and brought him vp from the rocke.
And when he came vnto Lehi, the Philistines shouted against him: and the Spirit of the Lord came mightily vpon him, and the cordes that were vpon his armes became as flaxe that was burnt with fire, & his bands loosed from off his hands.
And he found a new iawbone of an asse, and put foorth his hand, and tooke it, and slewe a thousand men therewith. And Samson said, With the iawbone of an asse, heapes vpon heapes, with the iaw of an asse haue I slaine a thousand men.
And it came to passe when he had made an end of speaking, that hee cast away the iaw bone out of his hand, and called that place Ramath-Lehi.
And hee was sore athirst, and called on the Lord, and said, Thou hast giuen this great deliuerance into the hand of thy seruant: and now shall I die for thirst, and fall into the hand of the vncircumcised?
But God claue an hollow place that was in the iawe, and there came water thereout, & when he had drunke, his spirit came againe, and he reuiued: wherefore hee called the name thereof En-hakkore, which is in Lehi, vnto this day:
And he iudged Israel in the dayes of the Philistines twentie yeeres.
Then went Samson to Gaza, and saw there an harlot, and went in vnto her.
And it was told the Gazites, saying, Samson is come hither. And they compassed him in, and layd wait for him all night in the gate of the citie, and were quiet all the night, saying, In the morning when it is day, we shall kill him.
And Samson lay till midnight, and arose at midnight, and tooke the doores of the gate of the city, and the two posts, and went away with them, barre and all, and put them vpon his shoulders, and caried them vp to the toppe of an hill that is before Hebron.
And it came to passe afterward, that he loued a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah.
And the lords of the Philistines came vp vnto her, and said vnto her, Entice him, and see wherein his great strength lieth, and by what meanes we may preuaile against him, that we may bind him, to afflict him: and we will giue thee euery one of vs, eleuen hundreth pieces of siluer.
And Delilah said to Samson, Tel me, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength lyeth, and wherewith thou mightest be bound, to afflict thee.
And Samson said vnto her, If they binde mee with seuen greene withs, that were neuer dried, then shall I be weake, and be as another man.
Then the lords of the Philistines brought vp to her seuen greene withs, which had not bene dried, & she bound him with them.
Delilah therfore tooke new ropes, and bound him therewith, and said vnto him, The Philistines be vpon thee, Samson. (And there were liers in wait abiding in the chamber.) and hee brake them from off his armes, like a threed.
Now there were men lying in wait, abiding with her in the chamber: and she said vnto him, The Philistines be vpon thee, Samson. And he brake the withs, as a threed of tow is broken, when it toucheth the fire: so his strength was not knowen.
And Delilah said vnto Samson, Behold, thou hast mocked me, and told mee lies: now tell mee, I pray thee, wherewith thou mightest be bound.
And he said vnto her, If they bind me fast with newe ropes that neuer were occupied, then shall I bee weake, and be as another man.
Delilah therfore tooke new ropes, and bound him therewith, and said vnto him, The Philistines be vpon thee, Samson. (And there were liers in wait abiding in the chamber.) and hee brake them from off his armes, like a threed.
And Delilah said vnto Samson, Hitherto thou hast mocked me, and told me lies: tell me wherewith thou mightest be bound. And he said vnto her, If thou weauest the seuen lockes of my head with the web.
And she fastened it with the pinne, and said vnto him, The Philistines be vpon thee, Samson. And hee awaked out of his sleepe, and went away with the pinne of the beame, & with the web.
And she fastened it with the pinne, and said vnto him, The Philistines be vpon thee, Samson. And hee awaked out of his sleepe, and went away with the pinne of the beame, & with the web.
And shee said vnto him, How canst thou say, I loue thee, when thine heart is not with mee? Thou hast mocked mee these three times, and hast not told me wherin thy great strength lieth. And it came to passe, when she pressed him daily with her wordes, and vrged him so that his soule was vexed vnto death,
That he told her all his heart, and said vnto her, There hath not come a rasor vpon mine head: for I haue bene a Nazarite vnto God from my mothers wombe: If I bee shauen, then my strength will goe from me, and I shall become weake, and bee like any other man.
And when Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called for the Lords of the Philistines, saying, Come vp this once, for hee hath shewed me all his heart. Then the lords of the Philistines came vp vnto her, & brought money in their hand.
And she made him sleepe vpon her knees, and she called for a man, and she caused him to shaue off the seuen lockes of his head, and she began to afflict him, and his strength went from him.
And she said, The Philistines be vpon thee, Samson. And hee awoke out of his sleepe, and said, I will go out as at other times before, and shake my selfe. And he wist not that the Lord was departed from him.
But the Philistines tooke him and put out his eyes, and brought him downe to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brasse, and he did grind in the prison house.
Howbeit, the haire of his head began to grow againe, after he was shauen.
Then the lords of the Philistines gathered them together, for to offer a great sacrifice vnto Dagon their god, and to reioyce: for they said, Our god hath deliuered Samson our enemy into our hand.
And when the people saw him, they praised their god: for they said, Our god hath deliuered into our hands our enemy, and the destroyer of our countrey, which slew many of vs.
And it came to passe when their hearts were merry, that they said, Call for Samson, that hee may make vs sport. And they called for Samson out of the prison house, and he made them sport, and they set him betweene the pillars.
And Samson said vnto the lad that held him by the hand, Suffer mee, that I may feele the pillars whereupon the house standeth, that I may leane vpon them.
Now the house was full of men and women, and all the lords of the Philistines were there: and there were vpon the roofe about three thousand men and women, that behelde while Samson made sport.
And Samson called vnto the Lord, and said, O Lord God, remember me, I pray thee, & strengthen mee, I pray thee, onely this once, O God, that I may be at once auenged of the Philistines, for my two eyes.
And Samson tooke hold of the two middle pillars, vpon which the house stood, and on which it was borne vp, of the one with his right hand, and of the other with his left.
And Samson said, Let me die with the Philistines: & he bowed himselfe with all his might: and the house fel vpon the lords, and vpon all the people that were therein: so the dead which he slew at his death, were moe, then they which he slew in his life.
Then his brethren, and all the house of his father, came downe, and tooke him, and brought him vp, and buried him betweene Zorah and Eshtaol, in the burying place of Manoah his father: and hee iudged Israel twentie yeeres.
