Judges 16

NEW JERUSALEM	DOUAI-RHEIMS
1 Samson then went to Gaza and, seeing a prostitute there, went in to her.	1 He went also into Gaza, and saw there a woman a harlot, and went in unto her.
2 The men of Gaza being told, 'Samson has arrived,' surrounded the place and kept watch for him thewhole night at the town gate. Al that night they were going to make no move, thinking, 'Let us wait untildaybreak, and then kil him.'	2 And when the Philistines had beard this, and it was noised about among them, that Samson was come into the city, they surrounded him, setting guards at the gate of the city, and watching there all the night in silence, that in the morning they might kill him as he went out.
3 Til midnight, however, Samson stayed in bed, and then at midnight he got up, seized the doors of thetown gate and the two posts as wel ; he tore them up, bar and al , hoisted them on to his shoulders and carriedthem to the top of the hill overlooking Hebron.	3 But Samson slept till midnight, and then rising he took both the doors of the gate, with the posts thereof, and the bolt, and laying them on his shoulders, carried them up to the top of the hill, which looketh towards Hebron.
4 After this, he fell in love with a woman in the Vale of Sorek; she was called Delilah.	4 After this he loved a woman, who dwelt in the valley of Sorec, and she was called Dalila.
5 The Philistine chiefs visited her and said, 'Cajole him and find out where his great strength comesfrom, and how we can master him, so that we can bind him and subdue him. In return we shall each give youeleven hundred silver shekels.'	5 And the princes of the Philistines came to her, and said: Deceive him, and learn of him wherein his great strength lieth, and how we may be able to overcome him, to bind and afflict him: which if thou shalt do, we will give thee every one of us eleven hundred pieces of silver.
6 Delilah said to Samson, 'Please tel me where your great strength comes from, and what would beneeded to bind and subdue you.'	6 And Dalila said to Samson: Tell me, I beseech thee, wherein thy greatest strength lieth, and what it is wherewith if thou wert bound thou couldst not break loose.
7 Samson replied, 'If I were bound with seven new bowstrings which had not yet been dried, I shouldlose my strength and become like any other man.'	7 And Samson answered her: If I shall be bound with seven cords made of sinews not yet dry, but still moist, I shall be weak like other men.
8 The Philistine chiefs brought Delilah seven new bowstrings which had not yet been dried and she tookthem and bound him with them.	8 And the princes of the Philistines brought unto her seven cords, such is he spoke of, with which she bound him;
9 She had men concealed in her room, and she shouted, 'The Philistines are on you, Samson!' Then hesnapped the bowstrings as a strand of tow snaps at a touch of the fire. So the secret of his strength remainedunknown.	9 Men lying privately in wait with her, and in the chamber expecting the event of the thing, and she cried out to him: The Philistines are upon thee, Samson. And he broke the bands, as a man would break a thread of tow twined with spittle, when it smelleth the fire: so it was not known wherein his strength Jay.
10 Delilah then said to Samson, 'You have been laughing at me and tel ing me lies. But now please telme what would be needed to bind you.'	10 And Dalila said to him: Behold thou hast mocked me, and hast told me a false thing: but now at least tell me wherewith thou mayest be bound.
11 He replied, 'If I were bound tightly with new ropes which have never been used, I should lose mystrength and become like any other man.'	11 And he answered her: If I shall be bound with new ropes, that were never in work, I shall be weak and like other men.
12 Delilah then took new ropes and bound him with them, and she shouted, 'The Philistines are on you,Samson!' She had men concealed in her room, but he snapped the ropes round his arms like thread.	12 Dalila bound him again with these, and cried out: The Philistines are upon thee, Samson, there being an ambush prepared for him in the chamber. But he broke the bands like threads of webs.
13 Delilah then said to Samson, 'Up to now you have been laughing at me and tel ing me lies. Tell mewhat would be needed to bind you.' He replied, 'If you wove the seven locks of my hair into the warp of a clothand beat them together tight with the reed, I should lose my strength and become like any other man.'	13 And Dalila said to him again: How long dost thou deceive me, and tell me lies? Shew me wherewith thou mayest be bound. And Samson answered her: If thou plattest the seven locks of my head with a lace, and tying them round about a nail fastenest it in the ground, I shall be weak.
14 She lul ed him to sleep, then wove the seven locks of his hair into the warp, beat them together tightwith the reed and shouted, 'The Philistines are on you, Samson!' He woke from his sleep and pul ed out bothreed and warp. So the secret of his strength remained unknown.	14 And when Dalila had done this, she said to him: The Philistines are upon thee, Samson. And awaking out of his sleep he drew out the nail with the hairs and the lace.
15 Delilah said to him, 'How can you say that you love me, when your heart is not with me? Three timesnow you have laughed at me and have not told me where your great strength comes from.'	15 And Dalila said to him: How dost thou say thou lovest me, when thy mind is not with me? Thou hast told me lies these three times, and wouldst not tell me wherein thy great strength lieth.
16 And day after day she pestered him with her talk, nagging him til he grew sick to death of it.	16 And when she pressed him much, and continually hung upon him for many days, giving him no time to rest, his soul fainted away, and was wearied even until death.
17 At last he confided everything to her; he said to her, 'A razor has never touched my head, because Ihave been God's nazirite from my mother's womb. If my head were shorn, then my power would leave me and Ishould lose my strength and become like any other man.'	17 Then opening the truth of the thing, he said to her: The razor hath never come upon my head, for I am a Nazarite, that is to say, consecrated to God from my mother's womb: if my head be shaven, my strength shall depart from me, and I shall become weak, and shall be like other men.
18 Delilah then realized that he had real y confided in her; she sent for the Philistine princes with themessage, 'Come just once more: he has confided everything to me.' And the Philistine chiefs came to her withthe money in their hands.	18 Then seeing that be had discovered to her all his mind, she sent to the princes of the Philistines, saying: Come up this once more, for now he hath opened his heart to me. And they went up taking with them the money which they had promised.
19 She lul ed Samson to sleep in her lap, summoned a man and had him shear off the seven locks fromhis head. Thus for the first time she got control over him, and his strength left him.	19 But she made him sleep upon her knees, and lay his head in her bosom. And she called a barber, and shaved his seven locks, and began to drive him away, and thrust him from her: for immediately his strength departed from him.
20 She cried, 'The Philistines are on you, Samson!' He awoke from sleep, thinking, 'I shal break free as I have done time after time and shake myself clear.' But he did not know that Yahweh had left him.	20 And she said: The Philistines are upon thee, Samson. And awaking from sleep, he said in his mind: I will go out as I did before, and shake myself, not knowing that the Lord was departed from him.
21 The Philistines seized him, put out his eyes and took him down to Gaza. They fettered him with adouble chain of bronze and he spent his time turning the mil in the prison.	21 Then the Philistines seized upon him, and forthwith pulled out his eyes, and led him bound in chains to Gaza, and shutting him up in prison made him grind.
22 But his hair began to grow again when it had been cut off.	22 And now his hair began to grow again.
23 The Philistine chiefs assembled to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god. And amid their festivitiesthey said: Into our hands our god has delivered Samson our enemy.	23 And the princes of the Philistines assembled together, to offer great sacrifices to Dagon their god, and to make merry, saying: Our god hath delivered our enemy Samson into our hands.
24 And as soon as the people saw their god, they acclaimed him, shouting his praises: Into our handsour god has delivered Samson our enemy, the man who laid our country waste and kil ed so many of us.	24 And the people also seeing this, praised their god, and said the same: Our god hath delivered our adversary into our bands, him that destroyed our country and killed very many.
25 And as their hearts were full of joy, they shouted, 'Summon Samson out to amuse us.' So Samsonwas summoned from prison, and he performed feats in front of them; then he was put to stand between thepil ars.	25 And rejoicing in their feasts, when they had now taken their good cheer, they commanded that Samson should be called, and should play before them. And being brought out of prison he played before them, and they made him stand between two pillars.
26 Samson then said to the boy who was leading him by the hand, 'Lead me where I can touch thepil ars supporting the building, so that I can lean against them.'	26 And he said to the lad that guided his steps: Suffer me to touch the pillars which support the whole house, and let me lean upon them, and rest a little.
27 Now the building was crowded with men and women. Al the Philistine chiefs were there, while aboutthree thousand men and women were watching Samson's feats from the terrace.	27 Now the house was full of men and women, and all the princes of the Philistines were there. Moreover about three thousand persons of both sexes from the roof and the higher part of the house, were beholding Samson's play.
28 Samson cal ed on Yahweh and cried out, 'Lord Yahweh, I beg you, remember me; give me strengthagain this once, O God, and let me be revenged on the Philistines at one blow for my two eyes.'	28 But he called upon the Lord, saying: O Lord God, remember me, and restore to me now my former strength, O my God, that I may revenge myself on my enemies, and for the loss of my two eyes I may take one revenge.
29 And Samson took hold of the two central pil ars supporting the building, and braced himself with hisright arm round one and his left round the other;	29 And laying hold on both the pillars on which the house rested, and holding the one with his right hand, and the other with his left,
30 and he shouted, 'Let me die with the Philistines!' He then heaved with al his might, and the buildingfel on the chiefs and on all the people there. Those whom he brought to their death by his death outnumberedthose whom he had done to death during his life.	30 He said: Let me die with the Philistines. And when he had strongly shook the pillars, the house fell upon all the princes, and the rest of the multitude that was there: and he killed many more at his death, than he had killed before in his life.
31 His brothers and the whole of his father's family came down and carried him away. They took himback and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of Manoah his father. He had judged Israel fortwenty years.	31 And his brethren and all his kindred, going down took his body, and buried it between Saraa and Esthaol in the buryingplace of his father Manue: and he judged Israel twenty years.