Judges 16

NEW JERUSALEM	CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN
1 Samson then went to Gaza and, seeing a prostitute there, went in to her.	1 He also went into Gaza. And there he saw a harlot woman, and he entered to 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 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.
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 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.
4 After this, he fell in love with a woman in the Vale of Sorek; she was called Delilah.	4 After these things, he loved a woman who was living in the valley of Sorek. And she was called Delilah.
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 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.”
6 Delilah said to Samson, 'Please tel me where your great strength comes from, and what would beneeded to bind and subdue you.'	6 Therefore, 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?”
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 will be bound with seven cords, made of sinews not yet dry, but still damp, I will 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 to her seven cords, such as he had described. And she bound him with these.
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 And so, those hiding in ambush with her, in the bedroom, were expecting the end of the matter. And she cried out to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” And he broke the cords, as one would break a thread of flax, twisted for cutting and singed by fire. And so it was not known wherein lay his strength.
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 Delilah said to him: “Behold, you have mocked me, and you have spoken a falsehood. But at least now, tell me with what you may 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 will be bound with new cords, which have never been used, I will 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 Again, Delilah tied him with these, and she cried out, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” For an ambush had been prepared in the bedroom. But he broke the bindings like the filaments of a web.
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 Delilah spoke to him again: “How long will you deceive me and tell me falsehoods? Reveal with what you ought to be bound.” And Samson responded to her, “If you weave the seven locks of my head with a loom, and if you tie these around a spike and fix it to the ground, I will 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 Delilah had done this, she said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson.” And arising from sleep, he withdrew the spike with the hairs and the weaving.
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 Delilah said to him: “How can you say that you love me, when your soul is not with me? You have lied to me on three occasions, and you are not willing to reveal wherein lies your very great strength.”
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 had been very troublesome to him, and over many days had continually stayed nearby, giving him no time to rest, his soul was faint, and he was weary, even unto 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 disclosing the truth of the matter, he said to her: “Iron has never been drawn across my head, for I am a Nazirite, that is, I have been consecrated to God from my mother’s womb. If my head will be shaven, my strength will depart from me, and I will be faint and will 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 he had confessed to her his whole soul, she sent to the leaders of the Philistines and ordered: “Come up just once more. For now he has opened his heart to me.” And they went up, taking with them the money that 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 recline his head upon her bosom. And she called a barber, and he shaved his seven locks of hair. And she began to push him away, and to repel him from herself. 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 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.
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 And when the Philistines had seized him, they immediately plucked out his eyes. And they led him, bound in chains, to Gaza. And enclosing him in a prison, they made him work a millstone.
22 But his hair began to grow again when it had been cut off.	22 And now his hair began to grow back.
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 leaders of the Philistines convened as one, so that they might offer great sacrifices to Dagon, their god. And they feasted, saying, “Our god has 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 Then, too, the people, seeing this, praised their god, and they said the same, “Our god has delivered our adversary into our hands: the one who destroyed our land and who 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 celebration, having now taken food, they instructed that Samson be called, and that he be mocked before them. And having been brought from prison, he was mocked before them. And they caused him to 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 boy who was guiding his steps, “Permit me to touch the pillars, which support the entire house, and to lean against them, so that I may 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 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.
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 Then, 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.”
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 taking hold of both the pillars, on which the house rested, and holding 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, “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.
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 Then 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.