1 And Samson {Shimshon: Sunlike Champion} went to Gaza {azatah: Philistine fortress}. He saw there a prostitute and went in to her.
2 It was told to the Gazites {la'azatim: residents of Gaza} that Samson has come here, so they surrounded and lay in wait for him at the city gate {sha'ar: entry point} throughout the night, remaining silent until dawn when they planned to kill him.
3 Samson {Shimshon: mighty deliverer} lay down until midnight, and then he arose and grasped the doors of the city gate along with the two doorposts, carried them together with the bolt, placed them on his shoulders, and brought them up to the top of the mountain that faces Hebron {Chevron: ancient city}.
4 And it happened after this that he loved a woman {ishah: female partner} in the valley {benachal: valley region} of Sorek, and her name was Delilah.
5 The rulers {sarnei pelishtim: lordly chiefs} of the Philistines went up to her and said to her, “Entice {pattî: cleverly seduce} him and see by what his strength is great and by what we may prevail against him; then we will bind him to afflict him.” And we will each give you one thousand one hundred pieces of silver.
6 And Delilah said to Samson, “Please tell me by what means your strength {kochacha: power} is so great, and by what you can be bound to be afflicted {le’anotekha: brought low}?”
7 And Samson said to her, “If they bind me with seven fresh bowstrings {yetarim: twisted cords} that have not been dried, then I will become weak and will be like any other man {adam: ordinary human}.”
8 Then the rulers of the Philistines brought up to her seven fresh {lachim: still moist} bowstrings {yeterim: cords for bows} that had not been dried, and she bound him with them.
9 Now men lying in wait {ha’orev: those set to ambush} were staying for her in the chamber, and she said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” And he snapped the cords {hatarim: binding strands} as a thread of tow snaps when it comes near fire, and his strength was not known.
10 And Delilah said to Samson, “Behold, you have mocked me {hetalta: intense mockery} and spoken lies to me; now please tell me {haggidah-na: urgent plea}—by what can you be bound?”
11 And he said to her, “If they bind me with new cords {avotim: braided ropes} that have never borne labor {melakhah: sustained service}, then I will become weak and be like any other man.”
12 So Delilah took new ropes {avotim: sturdy ropes} and bound him with them. Then she said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” Meanwhile, the ambush lay hidden in the room. But he tore them from his arms {zero’otav: arm strength} like a thread.
13 And Delilah said to Samson, “Until now you have mocked {hetalta: made sport of} me and told me lies. Tell me how you may be bound.” And he said to her, “If you weave the seven locks {machlefot: braided strands} of my head with the loom fabric, I will be bound.”
14 And she fastened it with the pin and said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson.” And he awoke from his sleep and pulled out the pin{yated: fastening peg} of the loom and the fabric{masakhet: woven web}.
15 And she said to him, “How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when your heart{lev: the seat of emotion and will} is not with me? This is the third time you have deceived me, and you have not told me by what your strength{koach: might and inward power} is so great.”
16 And it came to pass, when she oppressed {hetsikah: wearied by persistent pressure} him with her words all the days and compelled him, that his soul {nafsho: inner being} grew faint unto death.
17 And he told her all his heart and said to her, “A razor has never come upon my head, for I am a Nazirite of God{Elohim, Set-Apart One} from my mother’s womb; if I am shaved, then my strength{koach: mighty ability} would leave me, and I would become weak and be like any other man.”
18 And Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, and she sent and called for the lords of the Philistines, saying, “Come up this time {ha-paam: this occasion}, for he has told me all his heart.” Then the lords of the Philistines went up to her, and they brought the silver {kesef: payment} in their hand.
19 And she made him sleep on her knees; then she called for a man and shaved off the seven locks of his head {rosho: His Head}. She then began to afflict him {le’anoto: Cause Suffering}, and his strength departed from him.
20 And she said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” And he awoke from his sleep {mishnato: his sleep}, and he said, “I will go out time after time and shake myself free.” But he did not know that the LORD {YHWH, Strength Giver} had departed from him.
21 And the Philistines {Pelishtim: sea peoples} seized him, gouged out his eyes, brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with bronze shackles. He became a grinder {tochen: forced laborer} in the house of the prisoners.
22 But the hair of his head began {wayyachel: resumed development} to grow again after it was shaved {gullach: removed by shaving}.
23 And the princes of the Philistines gathered to offer a great sacrifice {zevach-gadol: communal worship meal} to Dagon {dagon: chief deity} and to rejoice; and they said, "Our god has given Samson, our enemy, into our hand."
24 And when the people saw him, they praised their God {eloheihem, perceived deliverer}, for they said, “Our God {eloheinu, chief deity of the Philistines} has given our enemy into our hand, even the one who devastated {maḥārîv: brought ruin to} our land and who multiplied our slain {ḥălālēnû: fallen ones}.”
25 And it came to pass, when their heart {libbam: inner inclination} was merry, they said, “Call Samson, that he may entertain us.” So they called Samson from the prison house, and he entertained them. Then they set him between the pillars {amudim: supporting columns}.
26 And Samson said to the youth {na’ar: court attendant} who was holding him by the hand, “Let me feel {hanichah: enable me to touch} the pillars {amudim: structural supports} on which the house stands, that I may lean on them.”
27 And the house was filled with men and women, and all the rulers {sarnei: leading authorities} of the Philistines were present, and on the roof there were about three thousand men and women watching Samson {shimshon: sunlike hero} in amusement.
28 And Samson called to the LORD {Adonai YHWH, Divine Restorer} and said, “O Lord GOD, remember me, please, and strengthen me, please, only this time, that I may with one vengeance {neqam: single retribution} take revenge on the Philistines for my two eyes.”
29 And Samson {Shimshon: consecrated judge} grasped the two central pillars {ammudei hattāwēḵ: structural supports} on which the house was established, and he braced himself upon them, one with his right hand and one with his left hand.
30 And Samson said, “Let my soul {nafesh: life-essence} die with the Philistines!” And he bent with strength {koach: full capacity}, and the house fell upon the rulers and upon all the people who were in it. So the dead whom he killed in his death were more than those whom he killed in his life.
31 Then his brothers and his father’s household {beit: family group} went down and carried him, and they brought him up and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the grave of Manoah his father. And he judged {shafat: governed and led} Israel for twenty years.