Chapter 16

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

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  And it was told the Gazites, saying, Samson is come hither. And they encompassed him, and laid 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.  

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  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.  

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

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  And the lords of the Philistines came to her, and said to her, Entice him, and see in what 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.  

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  And Delilah said to Samson, Tell me, I pray thee, in what thy great strength lieth, and with what thou mayest be bound to afflict thee.  

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

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

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

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  And Delilah said to Samson, Behold, thou hast mocked me, and told me lies: now tell me, I pray thee, with what thou mayest be bound.  

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  And he said to her, If they bind me fast with new ropes that never were used, then shall I be weak, and be as another man.  

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  Delilah therefore took new ropes, and bound him with them, and said to him, The Philistines are upon thee, Samson. (And there were liers in wait abiding in the chamber.) And he broke them from off his arms like a thread.  

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  And Delilah said to Samson, hitherto thou hast mocked me, and told me lies: tell me with what thou mayest be bound. And he said to her, If thou weavest the seven locks of my head with the web.  

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  And she fastened it with the pin, and said to him, The Philistines are upon thee, Samson. And he awaked out of his sleep, and went away with the pin of the beam, and with the web.  

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  And she said to him, How canst thou say, I love thee, when thy heart is not with me? Thou hast mocked me these three times, and hast not told me in what thy great strength lieth.  

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

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  That he told her all his heart, and said to her, There hath not come a razor upon my head; for I have been a Nazarite to God from my birth: if I be shaved, then my strength will go from me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man.  

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  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 disclosed to me all his heart. Then the lords of the Philistines came up to her and brought money in their hand.  

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  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.  

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  And she said, the Philistines are 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.  

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  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 grind in the prison-house.  

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

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  Then the lords of the Philistines assembled to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god, and to rejoice: for they said, Our god hath delivered Samson our enemy into our hand.  

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  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.  

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

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  And Samson said to the lad that held him by the hand, Suffer me that I may feel the pillars upon which the house standeth, that I may lean upon them.  

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  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, that beheld while Samson made sport.  

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  And Samson called to 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 of the Philistines for my two eyes.  

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

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  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 that were in it. So the dead which he slew at his death were more than they which he slew in his life.  

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  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.  

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