Parallel Bible results for "judges 16"

Judges 16

Third Millennium Bible TMB

1 Then went Samson to Gaza and saw there a harlot, and went in unto her.

2 And it was told the Gazites, saying, "Samson has come hither." And they compassed him in, and lay in wait for him all night in the gate of the city, and were quiet all the night, saying, "In the morning when it is day, we shall kill him."

3 And Samson lay till midnight, and arose at midnight and took the doors of the gate of the city and the two posts, and went away with them, bar and all, and put them upon his shoulders and carried them up to the top of a hill that is before Hebron.

4 And it came to pass afterward, that he loved a woman in the Valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah.

5 And the lords of the Philistines came up unto her and said unto her, "Entice him, and see wherein his great strength lieth and by what means we may prevail against him, that we may bind him to afflict him; and we will give thee every one of us eleven hundred pieces of silver."

6 And Delilah said to Samson, "Tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength lieth, and wherewith thou mightest be bound to afflict thee."

7 And Samson said unto her, "If they bind me with seven green withes that were never dried, then shall I be weak and be as another man."

8 Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven green withes which had not been dried, and she bound him with them.

9 Now there were men lying in wait, abiding with her in the chamber. And she said unto him, "The Philistines be upon thee, Samson." And he broke the withes as a thread of tow is broken when it toucheth the fire. So his strength was not known.

10 And Delilah said unto Samson, "Behold, thou hast mocked me and told me lies. Now tell me, I pray thee, wherewith thou mightest be bound."

11 And he said unto her, "If they bind me fast with new ropes wherewith work hath not been done, then shall I be weak and be as another man."

12 Delilah therefore took new ropes and bound him therewith, and said unto him, "The Philistines be upon thee, Samson." And there were liersinwait abiding in the chamber. And he broke them from off his arms like a thread.

13 And Delilah said unto Samson, "Hitherto thou hast mocked me and told me lies. Tell me wherewith thou mightest be bound." And he said unto her, "If thou weavest the seven locks of my head with the web."

14 And she fastened it with the pin, and said unto him, "The Philistines be upon thee, Samson." And he awakened out of his sleep, and went away with the pin of the beam and with the web.

15 And she said unto him, "How canst thou say, `I love thee,' when thine heart is not with me? Thou hast mocked me these three times, and hast not told me wherein thy great strength lieth."

16 And it came to pass, when she pressed him daily with her words and urged him, so that his soul was vexed unto death,

17 that he told her all his heart and said unto her, "There hath not come a razor upon mine head, for I have been a Nazirite unto God from my mother's womb. If I be shaven, then my strength will go from me, and I shall become weak and be like any other man."

18 And when Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called for the lords of the Philistines, saying, "Come up this once, for he hath shown me all his heart." Then the lords of the Philistines came up unto her and brought money in their hand.

19 And she made him sleep upon her knees. And she called for a man, and she caused him to shave off the seven locks of his head; and she began to afflict him, and his strength went from him.

20 And she said, "The Philistines be upon thee, Samson." And he awoke out of his sleep and said, "I will go out as at other times before, and shake myself." And he knew not that the LORD had departed from him.

21 But the Philistines took him and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza and bound him with fetters of brass; and he did grinding in the prison house.

22 However the hair of his head began to grow again after he was shaven.

23 Then the lords of the Philistines gathered together to offer a great sacrifice unto Dagon their god and to rejoice, for they said, "Our god hath delivered Samson our enemy into our hand!"

24 And when the people saw him, they praised their god; for they said, "Our god hath delivered into our hands our enemy, and the destroyer of our country who slew many of us."

25 And it came to pass, when their hearts were merry, that they said, "Call for Samson, that he may make sport for us." And they called for Samson out of the prison house, and they made sport of him and they set him between the pillars.

26 And Samson said unto the lad who held him by the hand, "Suffer me that I may feel the pillars whereupon the house standeth, that I may lean upon them."

27 Now 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 who beheld while they made sport of Samson.

28 And Samson called unto the LORD 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 on the Philistines for my two eyes."

29 And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars upon which the house stood and on which it was borne up, the one with his right hand and the other with his left.

30 And 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 who were therein. So the dead which he slew at his death were more than those whom he slew in his life.

31 Then his brethren and all the house of his father came down and took him, and brought him up and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the burying place of Manoah his father. And he judged Israel twenty years.

GOD'S WORD Translation GW

1 Samson went to Gaza. There he saw a prostitute and slept with her.

2 The people of Gaza were told, "Samson's here!" So they surrounded the place and waited all night at the city gate to ambush him. They were quiet all night. They thought, "We'll kill him at dawn."

3 But Samson was in bed [with the prostitute] only until midnight. Then he got up, took hold of the doors, door posts, and bar of the city gate and pulled them out. He carried them on his shoulders to the top of the hill facing Hebron.

4 After [leaving Gaza], he fell in love with a woman in the Sorek Valley. Her name was Delilah.

5 The Philistine rulers came to her and said, "Trick him, and find out what makes him so strong. Find out how we can overpower him. We want to tie him up in order to torture him. Each of us will give you 1,100 pieces of silver."

6 So Delilah said to Samson, "Please tell me what makes you so strong. How can you be tied up so that someone could torture you?"

7 Samson told her, "If someone ties me up with seven new bowstrings that are not dried out, I will be like any other man."

8 The Philistine rulers brought her seven new bowstrings that were not dried out. She tied Samson up with them.

9 Some men were hiding in the bedroom waiting for her [to tie him up]. Then she said to him, "Samson, the Philistines are attacking!" Samson snapped the bowstrings as a thread snaps when it touches fire. So no one found out why he was so strong.

10 Delilah told Samson, "Look, you're making fun of me by telling me lies. Now, tell me how you can be tied up."

11 Samson told her, "If someone ties me up tightly with new ropes that have never been used, I will be like any other man."

12 So Delilah took some new ropes and tied him up with them. Then she said to him, "Samson, the Philistines are attacking!" Some men were in her bedroom waiting to ambush him. But Samson tore the ropes off his arms as though they were strings.

13 Delilah told Samson, "You're still making fun of me by telling me lies. Tell me how you can be tied up." Samson replied, "Just weave the seven braids of my hair with the other threads in the loom."

14 So Delilah tied his braids to the loom shuttle. Then she said to him, "Samson, the Philistines are attacking!" But Samson woke up and tore his braids and the threads out of the loom shuttle.

15 Delilah said to Samson, "How can you say that you love me when your heart isn't mine? You've made fun of me three times now, but you still haven't told me what makes you so strong."

16 Every day she made his life miserable with her questions. She pestered him until he wished he were dead.

17 Finally, he told her the truth. He told her, "Because I'm a Nazirite, no one has ever cut the hair on my head. I was dedicated to God before I was born. If my hair is ever shaved off, my strength will leave me. Then I'll be like any other man."

18 When Delilah realized that he had told her everything, she sent a message to the Philistine rulers, "Come here once more." (She did this because Samson had told her everything.) So the Philistine rulers arrived with the money in their hands.

19 Delilah put Samson to sleep on her lap. She called for a man to shave off his seven braids. Then she began to torture him because his strength had left him.

20 She said, "Samson, the Philistines are attacking!" Samson woke up. He thought, "I'll get out of this as usual and shake myself free." (He didn't realize that the LORD had left him.)

21 The Philistines grabbed him. They poked out his eyes and took him to the prison in Gaza. They tied him up with double chains and made him grind grain in the mill there.

22 But his hair started to grow back as soon as it was shaved off.

23 Now, the Philistine rulers gathered together to offer a great sacrifice to their god Dagon and to celebrate. They said, "Our god handed Samson, our enemy, over to us."

24 When the people saw him, they praised their god. They said, "Our god gave our enemy, destroyer of our land and killer of so many, into our very hand!"

25 When all the Philistines were enjoying themselves, they said, "Call Samson in to entertain us." Samson was called from the prison, and he made them laugh. They made him stand between two columns.

26 Samson told the young man who was leading him by the hand, "Let me rest. Let me touch the columns on which the building stands so that I can lean against them."

27 The building was filled with people. All the Philistine rulers were there. On the roof there were about three thousand men and women who watched Samson entertain them.

28 Then Samson called to the LORD, "Almighty LORD, please remember me! God, give me strength just one more time! Let me get even with the Philistines for at least one of my two eyes."

29 Samson felt the two middle columns on which the building stood. With his right hand on one column and his left on the other, he pushed hard against them.

30 "Let me die with the Philistines," he said. With that, he pushed with all his might, and the building fell on the rulers and everyone in it. So he killed more Philistines when he died than he had when he was alive.

31 Then his relatives and his father's whole family went to Gaza. They took Samson and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of his father Manoah. Samson had judged Israel for 20 years.