1
And Shimshon went to Azzah, and saw there an ishah, a prostitute, and went in to her.
2
And it was declared to the Azzatim, saying, “Shimshon has come here.” And they surrounded him and lay in wait for him all night at the gate of the city. And they kept silent all the night, saying, “At the light of morning, then we will kill him.”
3
And Shimshon lay until midnight. And at midnight he rose and seized the doors of the gate of the city and the two gateposts, and pulled them up together with the bar. And he placed them upon his shoulders and carried them up to the top of the mountain that is before Chevron.
4
And it came to pass after this that he loved an ishah in the wadi of Soreq, and her name was Delilah.
5
And the rulers of the Pelishtim went up to her and said to her, “Entice him, and see in what his great strength is, and by what we may prevail against him, that we may bind him to afflict him. And we will give you, each ish, eleven hundred pieces of silver.”
6
And Delilah said to Shimshon, “Please declare to me in what your great strength is, and with what you may be bound to afflict you.”
7
And Shimshon said to her, “If they bind me with seven fresh bowstrings that have not been dried, then I shall become weak and be as another Adam.”
8
And the rulers of the Pelishtim brought up to her seven fresh bowstrings that had not been dried, and she bound him with them.
9
And the ambush was sitting with her in the inner chamber. And she said to him, “The Pelishtim are upon you, Shimshon!” And he broke the bowstrings as a strand of tow breaks when it touches fire. And the source of his strength was not known.
10
And Delilah said to Shimshon, “See, you have mocked me and spoken lies to me. And now, please declare to me with what you may be bound.”
11
And he said to her, “If binding, they bind me with new ropes with which no work has been done, then I shall become weak and be as another Adam.”
12
And Delilah took new ropes and bound him with them, and said to him, “The Pelishtim are upon you, Shimshon!” And the ambush was sitting in the inner chamber. And he broke them from upon his arms like a thread.
13
And Delilah said to Shimshon, “Until now you have mocked me and spoken lies to me. Declare to me with what you may be bound.” And he said to her, “If you weave the seven locks of my head with the web.”
14
And she fastened it with the pin and said to him, “The Pelishtim are upon you, Shimshon!” And he awoke from his sleep and pulled out the pin of the loom and the web.
15
And she said to him, “How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when your heart is not with me? These three times you have mocked me and have not declared to me in what your great strength is.”
16
And it came to pass, when she pressed him with her words all the days and urged him, that his being was shortened to death.
17
And he declared to her all his heart and said to her, “A razor has never gone up upon my head, for I have been a Nazir of Elohim from the womb of my mother. If I am shaved, then my strength will depart from me, and I shall become weak and be as every Adam.”
18
And Delilah saw that he had declared to her all his heart, and she sent and called the rulers of the Pelishtim, saying, “Come up this time, for he has declared to me all his heart.” And the rulers of the Pelishtim went up to her and brought the silver in their hand.
19
And she caused him to sleep upon her knees, and called for an ish, and caused him to shave off the seven locks of his head. And she began to afflict him, and his strength departed from upon him.
20
And she said, “The Pelishtim are upon you, Shimshon!” And he awoke from his sleep and said, “I will go out as time after time and shake myself free.” But he did not know that Yahuah had departed from upon him.
21
And the Pelishtim seized him and gouged out his eyes. And they brought him down to Azzah and bound him with bronze chains, and he became one who ground in the house of prisoners.
22
But the hair of his head began to grow again after it had been shaved.
23
And the rulers of the Pelishtim gathered together to sacrifice a great sacrifice to Dagon their elohim and to rejoice. And they said, “Our elohim has given Shimshon our enemy into our hand.”
24
And the people saw him and praised their elohim, for they said: “Our elohim has given into our hand our enemy, the destroyer of our land, who multiplied our slain.”
25
And it came to pass, when their heart was good, that they said, “Call Shimshon, and let him amuse us.” And they called Shimshon from the house of prisoners, and he amused them. And they caused him to stand between the pillars.
26
And Shimshon said to the young man who held him by the hand, “Let me rest, and let me feel the pillars upon which the house is established, that I may lean upon them.”
27
And the house was full of ish and ishah. And all the rulers of the Pelishtim were there, and upon the roof were about three thousand ish and ishah, who were looking on while Shimshon amused them.
28
And Shimshon called to Yahuah and said, “Adonai Yahuah, please remember me. And please strengthen me only this once, O Elohim, that I may be avenged with one vengeance upon the Pelishtim for my two eyes.”
29
And Shimshon grasped the two middle pillars upon which the house was established and leaned upon them, one with his right hand and one with his left.
30
And Shimshon said, “Let my being die with the Pelishtim.” And he bowed himself with strength, and the house fell upon the rulers and upon all the people who were in it. And the dead whom he put to death in his death were more than those whom he had put to death in his life.
31
And his brothers and all the house of his father went down and lifted him up, and brought him up and buried him between Tzorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of Manoach his father. And he judged Yisra’el twenty years.