Iudicum 16

VULGATA	NEW AMERICAN BIBLE
1 Abiit quoque in Gazam, et vidit ibi mulierem meretricem, ingressusque est ad eam.	1 Once Samson went to Gaza, where he saw a harlot and visited her.
2 Quod cum audissent Philisthiim, et percrebruisset apud eos intrasse urbem Samson, circumdederunt eum, positis in porta civitatis custodibus : et ibi tota nocte cum silentio præstolantes, ut facto mane exeuntem occiderent.	2 Informed that Samson had come there, the men of Gaza surrounded him with an ambush at the city gate all night long. And all the night they waited, saying, "Tomorrow morning we will kill him."
3 Dormivit autem Samson usque ad medium noctem : et inde consurgens, apprehendit ambas portæ fores cum postibus suis et sera, impositasque humeris suis portavit ad verticem montis, qui respicit Hebron.	3 Samson rested there until midnight. Then he rose, seized the doors of the city gate and the two gateposts, and tore them loose, bar and all. He hoisted them on his shoulders and carried them to the top of the ridge opposite Hebron.
4 Post hæc amavit mulierem, quæ habitabat in valle Sorec, et vocabatur Dalila.	4 After that he fell in love with a woman in the Wadi Sorek whose name was Delilah.
5 Veneruntque ad eam principes Philisthinorum, atque dixerunt : Decipe eum, et disce ab illo, in quo habeat tantam fortitudinem, et quomodo eum superare valeamus, et vinctum affligere : quod si feceris, dabimus tibi singuli mille et centum argenteos.	5 The lords of the Philistines came to her and said, "Beguile him and find out the secret of his great strength, and how we may overcome and bind him so as to keep him helpless. We will each give you eleven hundred shekels of silver."
6 Locuta est ergo Dalila ad Samson : Dic mihi, obsecro, in quo sit tua maxima fortitudo, et quid sit quo ligatus erumpere nequeas ?	6 So Delilah said to Samson, "Tell me the secret of your great strength and how you may be bound so as to be kept helpless."
7 Cui respondit Samson : Si septem nerviceis funibus necdum siccis, et adhuc humentibus, ligatus fuero, infirmus ero ut ceteri homines.	7 "If they bind me with seven fresh bowstrings which have not dried," Samson answered her, "I shall be as weak as any other man."
8 Attuleruntque ad eam satrapæ Philisthinorum septem funes, ut dixerat : quibus vinxit eum,	8 So the lords of the Philistines brought her seven fresh bowstrings which had not dried, and she bound him with them.
9 latentibus apud se insidiis, et in cubiculo finem rei expectantibus : clamavitque ad eum : Philisthiim super te, Samson. Qui rupit vincula, quomodo si rumpat quis filum de stuppæ tortum putamine, cum odorem ignis acceperit : et non est cognitum in quo esset fortitudo ejus.	9 She had men lying in wait in the chamber and so she said to him, "The Philistines are upon you, Samson!" But he snapped the strings as a thread of tow is severed by a whiff of flame; and the secret of his strength remained unknown.
10 Dixitque ad eum Dalila : Ecce illusisti mihi, et falsum locutus es : saltem nunc indica mihi quo ligari debeas.	10 Delilah said to Samson, "You have mocked me and told me lies. Now tell me how you may be bound."
11 Cui ille respondit : Si ligatus fuero novis funibus, qui numquam fuerunt in opere, infirmus ero, et aliorum hominum similis.	11 "If they bind me tight with new ropes, with which no work has been done," he answered her, "I shall be as weak as any other man."
12 Quibus rursum Dalila vinxit eum, et clamavit : Philisthiim super te, Samson : in cubiculo insidiis præparatis. Qui ita rupit vincula quasi fila telarum.	12 So Delilah took new ropes and bound him with them. Then she said to him, "The Philistines are upon you, Samson!" For there were men lying in wait in the chamber. But he snapped them off his arms like thread.
13 Dixitque Dalila rursum ad eum : Usquequo decipis me, et falsum loqueris ? ostende quo vinciri debeas. Cui respondit Samson : Si septem crines capitis mei cum licio plexueris, et clavum his circumligatum terræ fixeris, infirmus ero.	13 Delilah said to Samson again, "Up to now you have mocked me and told me lies. Tell me how you may be bound." He said to her, "If you weave my seven locks of hair into the web and fasten them with the pin, I shall be as weak as any other man."
14 Quod cum fecisset Dalila, dixit ad eum : Philisthiim super te, Samson. Qui consurgens de somno extraxit clavum cum crinibus et licio.	14 So while he slept, Delilah wove his seven locks of hair into the web, and fastened them in with the pin. Then she said, "The Philistines are upon you, Samson!" Awakening from his sleep, he pulled out both the weaver's pin and the web.
15 Dixitque ad eum Dalila : Quomodo dicis quod amas me, cum animus tuus non sit mecum ? Per tres vices mentitus es mihi, et noluisti dicere in quo sit maxima fortitudo tua.	15 Then she said to him, "How can you say that you love me when you do not confide in me? Three times already you have mocked me, and not told me the secret of your great strength!"
16 Cumque molesta esset ei, et per multos dies jugiter adhæreret, spatium ad quietem non tribuens, defecit anima ejus, et ad mortem usque lassata est.	16 She importuned him continually and vexed him with her complaints till he was deathly weary of them.
17 Tunc aperiens veritatem rei, dixit ad eam : Ferrum numquam ascendit super caput meum, quia nazaræus, id est, consecratus Deo, sum de utero matris meæ : si rasum fuerit caput meum, recedet a me fortitudo mea, et deficiam, eroque sicut ceteri homines.	17 So he took her completely into his confidence and told her, "No razor has touched my head, for I have been consecrated to God from my mother's womb. If I am shaved, my strength will leave me, and I shall be as weak as any other man."
18 Vidensque illa quod confessus ei esset omnem animum suum, misit ad principes Philisthinorum ac mandavit : Ascende adhuc semel, quia nunc mihi aperuit cor suum. Qui ascenderunt assumpta pecunia, quam promiserant.	18 When Delilah saw that he had taken her completely into his confidence, she summoned the lords of the Philistines, saying, "Come up this time, for he has opened his heart to me." So the lords of the Philistines came and brought up the money with them.
19 At illa dormire eum fecit super genua sua, et in sinu suo reclinare caput. Vocavitque tonsorem, et rasit septem crines ejus, et cœpit abigere eum, et a se repellere : statim enim ab eo fortitudo discessit.	19 She had him sleep on her lap, and called for a man who shaved off his seven locks of hair. Then she began to mistreat him, for his strength had left him.
20 Dixitque : Philisthiim super te, Samson. Qui de somno consurgens, dixit in animo suo : Egrediar sicut ante feci, et me excutiam : nesciens quod recessisset ab eo Dominus.	20 When she said, "The Philistines are upon you, Samson!", and he woke from his sleep, he thought he could make good his escape as he had done time and again, for he did not realize that the LORD had left him.
21 Quem cum apprehendissent Philisthiim, statim eruerunt oculos ejus, et duxerunt Gazam vinctum catenis, et clausum in carcere molere fecerunt.	21 But the Philistines seized him and gouged out his eyes. Then they brought him down to Gaza and bound him with bronze fetters, and he was put to grinding in the prison.
22 Jamque capilli ejus renasci cœperunt.	22 But the hair of his head began to grow as soon as it was shaved off.
23 Et principes Philisthinorum convenerunt in unum ut immolarent hostias magnificas Dagon deo suo, et epularentur, dicentes : Tradidit deus noster inimicum nostrum Samson in manus nostras.	23 The lords of the Philistines assembled to offer a great sacrifice to their god Dagon and to make merry. They said,
24 Quod etiam populus videns, laudabat deum suum, eademque dicebat : Tradidit deus noster adversarium nostrum in manus nostras, qui delevit terram nostram, et occidit plurimos.	24 When the people saw him, they praised their god.
25 Lætantesque per convivia, sumptis jam epulis, præceperunt ut vocaretur Samson, et ante eos luderet. Qui adductus de carcere ludebat ante eos, feceruntque eum stare inter duas columnas.	25 When their spirits were high, they said, "Call Samson that he may amuse us." So they called Samson from the prison, and he played the buffoon before them.
26 Qui dixit puero regenti gressus suos : Dimitte me, ut tangam columnas, quibus omnis imminet domus, et recliner super eas, et paululum requiescam.	26 Samson said to the attendant who was holding his hand, "Put me where I may touch the columns that support the temple and may rest against them."
27 Domus autem erat plena virorum ac mulierum, et erant ibi omnes principes Philisthinorum, ac de tecto et solario circiter tria millia utriusque sexus spectantes ludentem Samson.	27 The temple was full of men and women: all the lords of the Philistines were there, and from the roof about three thousand men and women looked on as Samson provided amusement.
28 At ille invocato Domino ait : Domine Deus, memento mei, et redde mihi nunc fortitudinem pristinam, Deus meus, ut ulciscar me de hostibus meis, et pro amissione duorum luminum unam ultionem recipiam.	28 Samson cried out to the LORD and said, "O Lord GOD, remember me! Strengthen me, O God, this last time that for my two eyes I may avenge myself once and for all on the Philistines."
29 Et apprehendens ambas columnas quibus innitebatur domus, alteramque earum dextera et alteram læva tenens,	29 Samson grasped the two middle columns on which the temple rested and braced himself against them, one at his right hand, the other at his left.
30 ait : Moriatur anima mea cum Philisthiim. Concussisque fortiter columnis, cecidit domus super omnes principes, et ceteram multitudinem quæ ibi erat : multoque plures interfecit moriens, quam ante vivus occiderat.	30 And Samson said, "Let me die with the Philistines!" He pushed hard, and the temple fell upon the lords and all the people who were in it. Those he killed at his death were more than those he had killed during his lifetime.
31 Descendentes autem fratres ejus et universa cognatio, tulerunt corpus ejus, et sepelierunt inter Saraa et Esthaol in sepulchro patris sui Manue : judicavitque Israël viginti annis.	31 All his family and kinsmen went down and bore him up for burial in the grave of his father Manoah between Zorah and Eshtaol. He had judged Israel for twenty years.