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Samson’s Vengeance on the Philistines
15 Later on, at the time of wheat harvest,g Samsonh took a young goati and went to visit his wife. He said, “I’m going to my wife’s room.”j But her father would not let him go in.
2 “I was so sure you hated her,” he said, “that I gave her to your companion.k Isn’t her younger sister more attractive? Take her instead.”
3 Samson said to them, “This time I have a right to get even with the Philistines; I will really harm them.” 4 So he went out and caught three hundred foxesl and tied them tail to tail in pairs. He then fastened a torchm to every pair of tails, 5 lit the torchesn and let the foxes loose in the standing grain of the Philistines. He burned up the shockso and standing grain, together with the vineyards and olive groves.
6 When the Philistines asked, “Who did this?” they were told, “Samson, the Timnite’s son-in-law, because his wife was given to his companion.p”
So the Philistines went up and burned herq and her father to death.r 7 Samson said to them, “Since you’ve acted like this, I swear that I won’t stop until I get my revenge on you.” 8 He attacked them viciously and slaughtered many of them. Then he went down and stayed in a cave in the rocks of Etam.t
9 The Philistines went up and camped in Judah, spreading out near Lehi.u 10 The people of Judah asked, “Why have you come to fight us?”
“We have come to take Samson prisoner,” they answered, “to do to him as he did to us.”
11 Then three thousand men from Judah went down to the cave in the rock of Etam and said to Samson, “Don’t you realize that the Philistines are rulers over us?v What have you done to us?”
He answered, “I merely did to them what they did to me.”
12 They said to him, “We’ve come to tie you up and hand you over to the Philistines.”
Samson said, “Swear to mew that you won’t kill me yourselves.”
13 “Agreed,” they answered. “We will only tie you up and hand you over to them. We will not kill you.” So they bound him with two new ropesx and led him up from the rock. 14 As he approached Lehi,y the Philistines came toward him shouting. The Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon him.z The ropes on his arms became like charred flax,a and the bindings dropped from his hands. 15 Finding a fresh jawbone of a donkey, he grabbed it and struck down a thousand men.b
“With a donkey’s jawbone
I have made donkeys of them.a c
With a donkey’s jawbone
I have killed a thousand men.”
17 When he finished speaking, he threw away the jawbone; and the place was called Ramath Lehi.b d
18 Because he was very thirsty, he cried out to the Lord,e “You have given your servant this great victory.f Must I now die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?” 19 Then God opened up the hollow place in Lehi, and water came out of it. When Samson drank, his strength returned and he revived.g So the springh was called En Hakkore,c and it is still there in Lehi.
20 Samson ledd Israel for twenty yearsi in the days of the Philistines.
16 One day Samsonj went to Gaza,k where he saw a prostitute.l He went in to spend the night with her. 2 The people of Gaza were told, “Samson is here!” So they surrounded the place and lay in wait for him all night at the city gate.m They made no move during the night, saying, “At dawnn we’ll kill him.”
3 But Samson lay there only until the middle of the night. Then he got up and took hold of the doors of the city gate, together with the two posts, and tore them loose, bar and all. He lifted them to his shoulders and carried them to the top of the hill that faces Hebron.o
4 Some time later, he fell in lovep with a woman in the Valley of Sorek whose name was Delilah.q 5 The rulers of the Philistinesr went to her and said, “See if you can lures him into showing you the secret of his great strengtht and how we can overpower him so we may tie him up and subdue him. Each one of us will give you eleven hundred shekelsa of silver.”u
6 So Delilahv said to Samson, “Tell me the secret of your great strength and how you can be tied up and subdued.”
7 Samson answered her, “If anyone ties me with seven fresh bowstrings that have not been dried, I’ll become as weak as any other man.”
8 Then the rulers of the Philistines brought her seven fresh bowstrings that had not been dried, and she tied him with them. 9 With men hidden in the room,w she called to him, “Samson, the Philistines are upon you!”x But he snapped the bowstrings as easily as a piece of string snaps when it comes close to a flame. So the secret of his strength was not discovered.
10 Then Delilah said to Samson, “You have made a fool of me;y you lied to me. Come now, tell me how you can be tied.”
11 He said, “If anyone ties me securely with new ropesz that have never been used, I’ll become as weak as any other man.”
12 So Delilah took new ropes and tied him with them. Then, with men hidden in the room, she called to him, “Samson, the Philistines are upon you!”a But he snapped the ropes off his arms as if they were threads.
13 Delilah then said to Samson, “All this time you have been making a fool of me and lying to me. Tell me how you can be tied.”
He replied, “If you weave the seven braids of my head into the fabric on the loom and tighten it with the pin, I’ll become as weak as any other man.” So while he was sleeping, Delilah took the seven braids of his head, wove them into the fabric 14 andb tightened it with the pin.
Again she called to him, “Samson, the Philistines are upon you!”b He awoke from his sleep and pulled up the pin and the loom, with the fabric.
15 Then she said to him, “How can you say, ‘I love you,’c when you won’t confide in me? This is the third timed you have made a fool of me and haven’t told me the secret of your great strength.e” 16 With such nagging she prodded him day after day until he was sick to death of it.
17 So he told her everything.f “No razor has ever been used on my head,” he said, “because I have been a Naziriteg dedicated to God from my mother’s womb. If my head were shaved, my strength would leave me, and I would become as weak as any other man.”
18 When Delilah saw that he had told her everything, she sent word to the rulers of the Philistinesh, “Come back once more; he has told me everything.” So the rulers of the Philistines returned with the silver in their hands.i 19 After putting him to sleep on her lap, she called for someone to shave off the seven braids of his hair, and so began to subdue him.c And his strength left him.j
20 Then she called, “Samson, the Philistines are upon you!”k
He awoke from his sleep and thought, “I’ll go out as before and shake myself free.” But he did not know that the Lord had left him.l
21 Then the Philistinesm seized him, gouged out his eyesn and took him down to Gaza.o Binding him with bronze shackles, they set him to grinding grainp in the prison. 22 But the hair on his head began to grow again after it had been shaved.
23 Now the rulers of the Philistines assembled to offer a great sacrifice to Dagonq their god and to celebrate, saying, “Our god has delivered Samson, our enemy, into our hands.”
24 When the people saw him, they praised their god,r saying,
“Our god has delivered our enemy
into our hands,s
the one who laid waste our land
and multiplied our slain.”
25 While they were in high spirits,t they shouted, “Bring out Samson to entertain us.” So they called Samson out of the prison, and he performed for them.
When they stood him among the pillars, 26 Samson said to the servant who held his hand, “Put me where I can feel the pillars that support the temple, so that I may lean against them.” 27 Now the temple was crowded with men and women; all the rulers of the Philistines were there, and on the roofu were about three thousand men and women watching Samson perform. 28 Then Samson prayed to the Lord,v “Sovereign Lord, remember me. Please, God, strengthen me just once more, and let me with one blow get revengew on the Philistines for my two eyes.” 29 Then Samson reached toward the two central pillars on which the temple stood. Bracing himself against them, his right hand on the one and his left hand on the other, 30 Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines!” Then he pushed with all his might, and down came the temple on the rulers and all the people in it. Thus he killed many more when he died than while he lived.
31 Then his brothers and his father’s whole family went down to get him. They brought him back and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of Manoahx his father. He had ledd y Israel twenty years.z
17 Now a man named Micaha from the hill country of Ephraim 2 said to his mother, “The eleven hundred shekelsa of silver that were taken from you and about which I heard you utter a curse—I have that silver with me; I took it.”
Then his mother said, “The Lord bless you,b my son!”
3 When he returned the eleven hundred shekels of silver to his mother, she said, “I solemnly consecrate my silver to the Lord for my son to make an image overlaid with silver.c I will give it back to you.”
4 So after he returned the silver to his mother, she took two hundred shekelsb of silver and gave them to a silversmith, who used them to make the idol.d And it was put in Micah’s house.
5 Now this man Micah had a shrine,e and he made an ephodf and some household godsg and installedh one of his sons as his priest.i 6 In those days Israel had no king;j everyone did as they saw fit.k
7 A young Levitel from Bethlehem in Judah,m who had been living within the clan of Judah, 8 left that town in search of some other place to stay. On his wayc he came to Micah’s house in the hill country of Ephraim.
9 Micah asked him, “Where are you from?”
“I’m a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah,n” he said, “and I’m looking for a place to stay.”
10 Then Micah said to him, “Live with me and be my fathero and priest,p and I’ll give you ten shekelsd of silver a year, your clothes and your food.” 11 So the Levite agreed to live with him, and the young man became like one of his sons to him. 12 Then Micah installedq the Levite, and the young man became his priestr and lived in his house. 13 And Micah said, “Now I know that the Lord will be good to me, since this Levite has become my priest.”s
18 In those days Israel had no king.t
And in those days the tribe of the Danites was seeking a place of their own where they might settle, because they had not yet come into an inheritance among the tribes of Israel.u 2 So the Danitesv sent five of their leading menw from Zorah and Eshtaol to spy outx the land and explore it. These men represented all the Danites. They told them, “Go, explore the land.”y
So they entered the hill country of Ephraim and came to the house of Micah,z where they spent the night. 3 When they were near Micah’s house, they recognized the voice of the young Levite;a so they turned in there and asked him, “Who brought you here? What are you doing in this place? Why are you here?”
4 He told them what Micah had done for him, and said, “He has hired me and I am his priest.b”
5 Then they said to him, “Please inquire of Godc to learn whether our journey will be successful.”
6 The priest answered them, “Go in peaced. Your journey has the Lord’s approval.”
7 So the five mene left and came to Laish,f where they saw that the people were living in safety, like the Sidonians, at peace and secure.g And since their land lacked nothing, they were prosperous.a Also, they lived a long way from the Sidoniansh and had no relationship with anyone else.b
8 When they returned to Zorah and Eshtaol, their fellow Danites asked them, “How did you find things?”
9 They answered, “Come on, let’s attack them! We have seen the land, and it is very good. Aren’t you going to do something? Don’t hesitate to go there and take it over.i 10 When you get there, you will find an unsuspecting people and a spacious land that God has put into your hands, a land that lacks nothingj whatever.k”
11 Then six hundred menl of the Danites,m armed for battle, set out from Zorah and Eshtaol. 12 On their way they set up camp near Kiriath Jearimn in Judah. This is why the place west of Kiriath Jearim is called Mahaneh Danc o to this day. 13 From there they went on to the hill country of Ephraim and came to Micah’s house.p
14 Then the five men who had spied out the land of Laishq said to their fellow Danites, “Do you know that one of these houses has an ephod,r some household gods and an image overlaid with silver?s Now you know what to do.” 15 So they turned in there and went to the house of the young Levite at Micah’s place and greeted him. 16 The six hundred Danites,t armed for battle, stood at the entrance of the gate. 17 The five men who had spied out the land went inside and took the idol, the ephod and the household godsu while the priest and the six hundred armed menv stood at the entrance of the gate.
18 When the five men went into Micah’s house and tookw the idol, the ephod and the household gods,x the priest said to them, “What are you doing?”
19 They answered him, “Be quiet!y Don’t say a word. Come with us, and be our father and priest.z Isn’t it better that you serve a tribe and clana in Israel as priest rather than just one man’s household?” 20 The priest was very pleased. He took the ephod, the household gods and the idol and went along with the people. 21 Putting their little children, their livestock and their possessions in front of them, they turned away and left.
22 When they had gone some distance from Micah’s house, the men who lived near Micah were called together and overtook the Danites. 23 As they shouted after them, the Danites turned and said to Micah, “What’s the matter with you that you called out your men to fight?”
24 He replied, “You tookb the gods I made, and my priest, and went away. What else do I have? How can you ask, ‘What’s the matter with you?’ ”
25 The Danites answered, “Don’t argue with us, or some of the men may get angry and attack you, and you and your family will lose your lives.” 26 So the Danites went their way, and Micah, seeing that they were too strong for him,c turned around and went back home.
27 Then they took what Micah had made, and his priest, and went on to Laish, against a people at peace and secure.d They attacked them with the sword and burnede down their city.f 28 There was no one to rescue them because they lived a long way from Sidong and had no relationship with anyone else. The city was in a valley near Beth Rehob.h
The Danites rebuilt the city and settled there. 29 They named it Dani after their ancestor Dan, who was born to Israel—though the city used to be called Laish.j 30 There the Danites set up for themselves the idol, and Jonathan son of Gershom,k the son of Moses,d and his sons were priests for the tribe of Dan until the time of the captivity of the land. 31 They continued to use the idol Micah had made,l all the time the house of Godm was in Shiloh.n
19 In those days Israel had no king.
Now a Levite who lived in a remote area in the hill country of Ephraimo took a concubine from Bethlehem in Judah.p 2 But she was unfaithful to him. She left him and went back to her parents’ home in Bethlehem, Judah. After she had been there four months, 3 her husband went to her to persuade her to return. He had with him his servant and two donkeys. She took him into her parents’ home, and when her father saw him, he gladly welcomed him. 4 His father-in-law, the woman’s father, prevailed on him to stay; so he remained with him three days, eating and drinking,q and sleeping there.
5 On the fourth day they got up early and he prepared to leave, but the woman’s father said to his son-in-law, “Refresh yourselfr with something to eat; then you can go.” 6 So the two of them sat down to eat and drink together. Afterward the woman’s father said, “Please stay tonight and enjoy yourself.s” 7 And when the man got up to go, his father-in-law persuaded him, so he stayed there that night. 8 On the morning of the fifth day, when he rose to go, the woman’s father said, “Refresh yourself. Wait till afternoon!” So the two of them ate together.
9 Then when the man, with his concubine and his servant, got up to leave, his father-in-law, the woman’s father, said, “Now look, it’s almost evening. Spend the night here; the day is nearly over. Stay and enjoy yourself. Early tomorrow morning you can get up and be on your way home.” 10 But, unwilling to stay another night, the man left and went toward Jebust (that is, Jerusalem), with his two saddled donkeys and his concubine.
11 When they were near Jebus and the day was almost gone, the servant said to his master, “Come, let’s stop at this city of the Jebusitesu and spend the night.”
12 His master replied, “No. We won’t go into any city whose people are not Israelites. We will go on to Gibeah.” 13 He added, “Come, let’s try to reach Gibeah or Ramahv and spend the night in one of those places.” 14 So they went on, and the sun set as they neared Gibeah in Benjamin.w 15 There they stopped to spend the night.x They went and sat in the city square,y but no one took them in for the night.
16 That eveningz an old man from the hill country of Ephraim,a who was living in Gibeah (the inhabitants of the place were Benjamites), came in from his work in the fields. 17 When he looked and saw the traveler in the city square, the old man asked, “Where are you going? Where did you come from?”b
18 He answered, “We are on our way from Bethlehem in Judah to a remote area in the hill country of Ephraim where I live. I have been to Bethlehem in Judah and now I am going to the house of the Lord.a c No one has taken me in for the night. 19 We have both straw and fodderd for our donkeyse and bread and winef for ourselves your servants—me, the woman and the young man with us. We don’t need anything.”
20 “You are welcome at my house,” the old man said. “Let me supply whatever you need. Only don’t spend the night in the square.” 21 So he took him into his house and fed his donkeys. After they had washed their feet, they had something to eat and drink.g
22 While they were enjoying themselves,h some of the wicked meni of the city surrounded the house. Pounding on the door, they shouted to the old man who owned the house, “Bring out the man who came to your house so we can have sex with him.j”
23 The owner of the house went outsidek and said to them, “No, my friends, don’t be so vile. Since this man is my guest, don’t do this outrageous thing.l 24 Look, here is my virgin daughter,m and his concubine. I will bring them out to you now, and you can use them and do to them whatever you wish. But as for this man, don’t do such an outrageous thing.”
25 But the men would not listen to him. So the man took his concubine and sent her outside to them, and they raped hern and abused hero throughout the night, and at dawn they let her go. 26 At daybreak the woman went back to the house where her master was staying, fell down at the door and lay there until daylight.
27 When her master got up in the morning and opened the door of the house and stepped out to continue on his way, there lay his concubine, fallen in the doorway of the house, with her hands on the threshold. 28 He said to her, “Get up; let’s go.” But there was no answer. Then the man put her on his donkey and set out for home.
29 When he reached home, he took a knifep and cut up his concubine, limb by limb, into twelve parts and sent them into all the areas of Israel.q 30 Everyone who saw it was saying to one another, “Such a thing has never been seen or done, not since the day the Israelites came up out of Egypt.r Just imagine! We must do something! So speak up!s”
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