Judg. 14:1‑15:20• 1And Samson went down to Timnath, and saw a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines,
2and he came up, and told his father and his mother, and said, I have seen a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines: now therefore get her for me to wife.
3{i}And his father and his mother said to him,{/i} Is there never a woman among the daughters of thy brethren, or among all my people, that thou goest to take a wife of the uncircumcised Philistines? And Samson said unto his father, Get her for me; for she pleaseth me well.
4But his father and his mother knew not that it was of Jehovah, that he sought an occasion against the Philistines? for at that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel.
5Then went Samson down, and his father and his mother, to Timnath, and came to the vineyards of Timnath: and, behold, a young lion roared against him.
6And the Spirit of Jehovah came mightily upon him, and he rent him as he would have rent a kid, and he had nothing in his hand. {i}And he did not tell his father or his mother what he had done.{/i}
7{i}And he went down and talked with the woman; and she pleased Samson well.{/i}
8And after a time he returned to take her, and he turned aside to see the carcass of the lion: and, behold, there was a swarm of bees and honey in the carcass of the lion.
9And he took thereof in his bands, and went on eating, and came to his father and mother, and he gave them, and they did eat: but he told not them that he had taken the honey out of the carcass of the lion.
10So his father went down unto the woman: and Samson made there a feast; for so used the young men to do.
11{i}And it came to pass when they saw him, that they brought thirty companions, and they were with him.{/i}
12{i}And Samson said to them, Let me now propound a riddle to you; if ye clearly explain it to me within the seven days of the feast, and find it out, then I will give you thirty shirts, and thirty changes of garments.{/i}
13{i}But if ye cannot explain it to me, then shall ye give me thirty shirts, and thirty changes of garments. And they said to him, Propound thy riddle, that we may hear it.{/i}
14{i}And he said to them,{HR}Out of the eater came forth food,{HR}And out of the strong came forth sweetness.{/i}
15{i}And it came to pass on the seventh day, that they said to Samson's wife, Persuade thy husband, that he may explain to us the riddle, lest we burn thee and thy father's house with fire. Have ye invited us to impoverish us, —is it not so?{/i}
16{i}And Samson's wife wept before him, and said, Thou dost but hate me, and lovest me not. Thou hast propounded the riddle to the children of my people, and hast not explained it to me. And he said to her, Behold, I have not explained it to my father nor my mother, and shall I explain it to thee?{/i}
17{i}And she wept before him the seven days, while they had the feast. And it came to pass on the seventh day, that he explained it to her, for she pressed him. And she explained the riddle to the children of her people.{/i}
18{i}And the men of the city said to him on the seventh day before the sun went down,{HR}What is sweeter than honey,{HR}And what stronger than a lion?{HR}And he said to them, If ye had not ploughed with my heifer, Ye had not found out my riddle.{/i}
19{i}And the Spirit of Jehovah came upon him, and he went down to Ashkelon, and slew of them thirty men, and took their spoil, and gave the changes of garments unto them that explained the riddle. And his anger was kindled, and he went up to his father's house.{/i}
20{i}And Samson's wife was given to his companion, whom he had made his friend.{/i}
1{i}And it came to pass after a time, in the days of the wheat-harvest, that Samson visited his wife with a kid of the goats. And he said, I will go in to my wife into the chamber; but her father would not suffer him to go in.{/i}
2{i}And her father said, I verily thought that thou didst utterly hate her; therefore I gave her to thy companion. Is not her younger sister fairer than she? Let her, I pray thee, be thine instead of her.{/i}
3{i}And Samson said to them, This time I am blameless toward the Philistines, though I do them harm.{/i}
4{i}And Samson went and caught three hundred jackals, and took torches, and turned tail to tail, and put a torch in the midst between the two tails.{/i}
5{i}And he set the torches on fire, and let them run into the standing corn of the Philistines, and burnt up both the shocks, and also the standing corn, and the olive gardens.{/i}
6{i}And the Philistines said, Who has done this? And they answered, Samson, the son-in-law of the Timnite, because he took his wife and gave her to his companion. And the Philistines came up, and burned her and her father with fire.{/i}
7{i}And Samson said to them, If ye act thus, for a certainty I will avenge myself on you, and then I will cease.{/i}
8{i}And he{/i} smote them hip and thigh with a great slaughter, and went down and dwelt at the top of the rock Etam.
9Then the Philistines went up, and pitched in Judah, and spread themselves in Lehi.
10And the men of Judah said, Why are ye come up against us? And they answered, To bind Samson are we come up, to do to him as he hath done to us.
11Then three thousand men of Judah went to the top of the rock Etam, and said to Samson, Knowest thou not that the. Philistines are rulers over us? What is this that thou hast done unto us? And he said unto them, As they did unto me, so have I done unto them.
12And they said unto him, We are come down to bind thee, that we may deliver thee into the hand of the Philistines. And Samson said unto them, Swear unto me, that ye will not fall upon me yourselves.
13And they spake unto him, saying, No; but we will bind thee fast, and deliver thee into their hand: but surely we will not kill thee. And they bound him with two new cords, and brought him up from the rock.
14And when he came unto Lehi, the Philistines shouted against him and the Spirit of Jehovah came mightily upon him, and the cords that were upon his arms became as flax that was burnt with fire, and his bands loosed from off his hands.
15And he found a new jawbone of an ass, and put forth his hand, and took it, and slew a thousand men therewith.
16And Samson said,{HR}With the jawbone of an ass, heaps upon heaps,{HR}With the jaw of an ass have I slain a thousand men.
17{i}And{/i} it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking, that he cast away the jawbone out of his hand, and called that place Ramath-lehi.
18And he was sore athirst, and called on Jehovah, and said, Thou hast given this great deliverance into the hand of thy servant: and now shall I die for thirst, and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised?
19But God clave an hollow place that was in the jaw, and there came water thereout; and when he had drunk, his spirit came again, and he revived: wherefore he called the name thereof En-hakkore, which is in Lehi unto this day.
20And he judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years. (Judg. 14:1‑15:20)
Judg. 16:22‑30• 22{i}But the hair of his head began to grow after he was shaved.{/i}
23{i}Then the lords of the Philistines gathered together to sacrifice a great sacrifice to Dagon their god, and to rejoice; for they said, Our god has given Samson our enemy into our hands.{/i}
24{i}And when the people saw him, they praised their god; for they said, Our god has given into our hands our enemy, and the destroyer of our country, even him who multiplied our slain.{/i}
25And it came to pass when their hearts were merry that they said, Call for Samson, that he may make us sport. And they called for Samson out of the prison house; and he made them sport: and they set him between the pillars.
26And Samson said unto the lad that held him by the hand, Suffer me that I may feel the pillars whereupon the house standeth, that I may lean upon them.
27Now the house was full of men and women; and all the lords of the Philistines were there; and there were upon the roof about three thousand men and women, that beheld while, Samson made sport.
28And Samson called unto Jehovah, and said, O Lord God, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, O God, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes.
29And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars upon which the house stood, and on which it was borne up, of the one with his right hand, and of the other with his left.
30And Samson said, Let me die with the Philistines. And he bowed himself with all his might; and the house fell upon the lords, and upon all the people that were therein. So the dead which he slew at his death were more than they which he slew in his life. (Judg. 16:22‑30)
Judg. 18:22‑31• 22{i}They were already far from the house of Micah, when the men that were in the houses near to Micah's house were gathered together, and overtook the children of Dan.{/i}
23{i}And they cried to the children of Dan. And they turned their faces, and said to Micah, What aileth thee, that thou comest with such a company?{/i}
24{i}And he said, Ye have taken away my gods which I made, and the priest, and ye are gone away; and what have I more? and what is this that ye say to me, What aileth thee?{/i}
25{i}And the children of Dan said to him, Let not thy voice be heard among us, lest men of exasperated spirit run upon you, and thou lose thy life and the lives of thy household.{/i}
26{i}And the children of Dan went their way; and Micah saw that they were too strong for him, and he turned and went back to his house.{/i}
27{i}And they took that which Micah had made, and the priest that he had had, and came upon Laish, upon a people quiet and secure; and they smote them with the edge of the sword, and burned the city with fire.{/i}
28{i}And there was no deliverer, for it was far from Zidon, and they had nothing to do with any man; and it lay in the valley that is by Beth-rehob. And they built the city and dwelt therein.{/i}
29{i}And they called the name of the city Dan, after the name of Dan their father, who was born to Israel; howbeit Laish was the name of the city at the first.{/i}
30{i}And the children of Dan set up the graven image; and Jehonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Moses; he and his sons were priests to the tribe of Dan until the day of the captivity of the land.{/i}
31{i}And they set up for themselves Micah's graven image, which he had made, all the time that the house of God was in Shiloh.{/i} (Judg. 18:22‑31)