16
And
1when she pressed him hard with her words day after day, and urged him, his soul was vexed to death.
17
And he told her all his heart, and said to her,
2"A razor has never come upon my head, for I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother's womb. If my head is shaved, then my strength will leave me, and I shall become weak and be like any other man."
18
When Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called the lords of the Philistines, saying, "Come up again, for he has told me all his heart." Then the lords of the Philistines came up to her and brought
3the money in their hands.
19
She made him sleep on her knees. And she called a man and had him shave off the seven locks of his head. Then she began
4to torment him, and his strength left him.
20
And she said, "The Philistines are upon you, Samson!" And he awoke from his sleep and said, "I will go out as at other times and shake myself free." But he did not know that
5the LORD had left him.
21
And the Philistines seized him and gouged out his eyes and brought him down to Gaza and bound him with bronze shackles.
6And he ground at the mill in the prison.
22
But the hair of his head began to grow again after it had been shaved.
The Death of Samson
23 Now the lords of the Philistines gathered to offer a great sacrifice to
7Dagon their god and to rejoice, and they said, "Our god has given Samson our enemy into our hand."
24
And when the people saw him,
8they praised their god. For they said, "Our god has given our enemy into our hand, the ravager of our country, who has killed many of us."
25
And
9when their hearts were merry, they said, "Call Samson, that he may entertain us." So they called Samson out of the prison, and he entertained them. They made him stand between the pillars.
26
And Samson said to the young man who held him by the hand, "Let me feel the pillars on which the house rests, that I may lean against them."