him.

And Samson said unto them: I will give you a riddle. If ye will tell me, and come to the seven days of the marriage, I will give you thirty shirts, and thirty garments for a feast.

But if ye cannot guess, then ye shall give me thirty shirts, and thirty ceremonial garments.
And they said unto him, Give up thy riddle, and let us hear.

And he said unto them, Food came from the eater, and sweetness from the strong. And they could not guess the riddle in three days.

And on the seventh day they said unto Samson’s wife: Persuade thy husband to tell us the riddle, or we will burn thee and thy father’s house with fire. Did ye bring us hither to make us poor, or not?

And Samson’s wife wept before him, and said, Thou art angry with me, and lovest me not.
Thou hast set a riddle before the children of my people, and hast not told it. And he said unto her, Behold, I have not told my father nor my mother, and should I tell thee?

And she wept before him seven days, because they were married. But on the seventh day he
told her, because she drove him in. And she told the riddle of her people unto her children.

Then said the men of the city unto him the seventh day, before the sun went down: What is sweeter than honey? What is stronger than the lion? But he said unto them: If ye had not plowed with my calf, ye would not have met my riddle.

And the Spirit of the LORD was upon him, and he went down to Asklon, and smote thirty men of them, and took their raiment, and gave garments of feasting unto them that had guessed the riddle. And he was wroth in his anger, and went up to his father’s house.

But Samson’s wife was given to one of his fellows that belonged to him.
(Judges)
Chapter 15
Samson does harm to the Philistines by the foxes and the ass’s chin.

And it came to pass after certain days, about the time of wheat harvest, that Samson went to visit his wife with a kid. And when he thought, I will go into my wife’s chamber, her father would not let him in.

And said: I thought thou hadst been angry with her, and have given her to thy friend. But she hath a younger sister more fair than she: let her be thine for this.

Then said Samson unto them: For once I have a right cause against the Philistines; I will do you harm.

And Samson went and caught three hundred foxes, and took fires, and turned every tail to the other, and put a fire between every two tails.

And they set them on fire, and let them go among the corn of the Philistines: and they set on fire the almonds, and the standing corn, and the vineyards, and the oliveyards.

And the Philistines said, Who hath done this? And they said, Samson the son in law of the Thimnite, because he took his wife from him, and gave her to his friend: And the Philistines went up, and burned her and her father with fire.

And Samson said unto them, Though ye have done this already, yet will I take vengeance on you myself, and will cease afterward.

And smote them sore, both in the shoulders and in the loins. And he went down, and dwelt in the cleft of the stone at Etam.

And the Philistines went up, and besieged Judah, and settled in Lehi.

But they of Judah said: Why are ye come up against us? And they answered: We are come up to bind Samson, that we may do unto him as he hath done unto us.

And three thousand men of Judah went down to the valley of Etam, and said unto Samson, Knowest thou not that the Philistines reign over us? Why then hast thou done this thing unto us? And he said unto them: As they have done it unto me, so have I done it unto them.

And they said unto him, We are come down to bind thee, and to deliver thee into the hand of the Philistines. And Samson said unto them, Swear unto me that ye will not resist me.

And they answered him, We will not resist thee, but will bind thee, and deliver thee into their hand, and will not kill thee. And they bound him with two new cords, and brought him up from the rock.

And when he was come to Lehi, the Philistines shouted unto him. And the Spirit of the LORD was upon him, and the cords of his arms were as the cords of the fire: and the bands of his hands were melted.

And he found a rotten ass’s jawbone; and he put forth his hand, and took it, and smote a thousand men therewith.

And Samson said, There they lie in heaps: by the jaws of an ass have I smitten a thousand men.

And when he had spoken it, he cast out the jaw of his hand, and called the name of the place Ramath-lehi.

And when he thirsted greatly, he called upon the LORD, and said, Thou hast given great salvation by the hand of thy servant; but now I must die of thirst, and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised.

And God split a molar in the jaw, and water came out. And when he drank, his spirit
returned, and was refreshed. Therefore the name of the fountain of the caller, which was in the jaw, is called unto this day.

And he judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years.
(Judges)
Chapter 16
Simson’s fall, misery and final revenge.

Samson went to Gasa, and there he saw a harlot, and lay with her.

And it was told the Gasites, saying, Samson is come in. And they compassed him about, and lay wait for him all night in the gate of the city: and they were silent all night, and said: Wait!
And it shall come to pass in the morning, when it is light, that we will slay him.

And Samson lay till midnight. And he arose on the north side, and took both the doors of the gate of the city, and the two posts thereof, and lifted them up with the bars thereof, and put them upon his shoulders, and carried them up to the top of the hill that is before Hebron.

And afterward he loved a woman by the brook Sorek, whose name was Delilah.

And the lords of the Philistines came up, and said unto her, Persuade him, and see wherein he hath great power, and wherewith we prevail against him, to bind him, and to compel him; and we will give thee every one a thousand and an hundred shekels of silver.

And Delilah said unto Samson, Tell me, my son, wherein is thy great strength, and wherewith thou mayest be bound to be compelled.

And Samson said unto her, If they would bind me with seven ropes of fresh bast, which are not yet withered, I should be weak, and be as another man.

And the princes of the Philistines brought up unto her seven ropes of fresh bast, which were not yet withered: and she bound him therewith.

And they waited for him with her in the chamber: and she said unto him, The Philistines are upon thee, Samson. And he rent the ropes, as a cord of brass is rent when it toucheth the fire: and he knew not where his strength was.

And Delilah said unto Samson, Behold, thou hast deceived me, and lied unto me: now therefore tell me, wherewith can thou be bound?

And he said unto her, If they bind me with new cords, lest any work be done, I shall be weak, and like another man.

And Delilah took new cords, and bound him therewith, and said, Philistines upon thee, Samson. (And they were kept upon him in the chamber.) – And he rent them from his arms like a thread.

And Delilah said unto him, Thou hast yet deceived me, and told me a lie. Tell me, my lord, wherewith can I bind thee? And he said unto her, If thou shalt braid seven locks of my head with a plaited band, and fasten them with a nail.

And she said unto him, Philistines upon thee, Samson. And he awoke from his sleep, and drew out his braided locks with nail and braid.

And she said unto him, How canst thou say that thou lovest me, when thine heart is not with me? Thrice hast thou deceived me, and hast not told me wherein is thy great strength.

And when she had driven him with her words all the days, and afflicted him, his soul was weary unto death.

And he told her his whole heart, and said unto her, There never came a razor upon my head: for I am the betrothed of God from my mother’s womb. When thou shalt adjure me, let my strength depart from me, and I shall be weak, and like all men.

And when Delilah saw that he had revealed all his heart unto her, she sent and called the lords of the Philistines, saying, Come up again; for he hath revealed all his heart unto me. So the lords of the Philistines came up to her and brought the money in their hands.

And she left him asleep in her bosom, and called for one that should cut off the seven locks of his head. And she began to compel him. And his strength was gone out of him.

And she said unto him, Philistines upon thee, Samson. And when he was awake from his sleep, he said,