Judges, Chapter 16:
publicidad
Verses from Judges, Chapter 16 of the book of Judges in the Bible.
Samson and Delilah
- 1. Once, Samson went to Gaza and there he found a prostitute with whom he spent the night.
- 2. When the people of Gaza heard this, they surrounded the place and waited for him all night, near the city gate. They planned to kill him at dawn.
- 3. But Samson only lay down until midnight. Then he got up, tore down the city gate with its two frames, and carried them to the top of the hill in Hebron.
- 4. After that, he fell in love with a woman named Delilah, who lived in the valley of Sorech.
- 5. The leaders of the Philistines came to her and said, “Persuade Samson to reveal the secret of his great strength, so that we can overpower him and bind him. Each of us will give you eleven kilograms of silver.”
- 6. Then Delilah said to Samson, “Please tell me what is the secret of your great strength and how you can be bound and weakened.”
- 7. Samson replied, “If they bind me with seven fresh ropes that have never been dried, I will be as weak as any man.”
- 8. The leaders of the Philistines brought the seven fresh ropes and Delilah tied him with them.
- 9. She had men hiding in the room, and then she shouted, “Samson, the Philistines are attacking you!” But he snapped the strings as if they were just a burnt thread.
- 10. Then Delilah said to Samson, “You deceived me and lied to me! Now please tell me how you can be tied up.”
- 11. He replied, “If you tie me with new ropes that have never been used before, I will become as weak as any man.”
- 12. Delilah tied him up with new ropes and hid men in the room. Again she shouted, “Samson, the Philistines are attacking you!” But he snapped the ropes on his arms as if they were just a strand of thread.
- 13. Then Delilah said to Samson, “Until now you have deceived me and lied to me. Please tell me how you can be tied up.”
- 14. He replied, “If you weave the seven braids of my hair into a weaver’s web and fasten it with a stake, I will be as weak as any man.” While he slept, Delilah did exactly as he said and tied her braids to a stake.
- 15. She shouted, “Samson, the Philistines are attacking you!” He woke up and pulled out the stake, along with the weaver's web.
- 16. Then Delilah said to Samson, “How can you say you love me if you don’t trust me? This is the third time you have deceived me and not told me the secret of your strength.” She continued to pester him every day until he was so exhausted that he almost died.
- 17. Finally, he told her the secret: “A razor has never been put on my head, because I am a Nazirite, consecrated to God from the womb. If my hair is cut, my strength will fail me and I will be as weak as any man.”
- 18. When Delilah realized that he had told her everything, she sent a message to the leaders of the Philistines saying, “Come again, for he has told me everything.” Then they returned, bringing the promised silver.
- 19. While Samson was sleeping on her lap, she called a man to cut off the seven braids of his hair. So they began to dominate him, and his strength left him.
- 20. Then she shouted, “Samson, the Philistines are attacking you!” He woke up and thought: “I will go out like before and get rid of them.” But he did not know that the Lord had abandoned him.
- 21. The Philistines seized him, put out his eyes, and took him to Gaza. They bound him with bronze chains and made him turn the millstone in prison.
- 22. However, his hair started to grow back.
Samson's death
- 23. The leaders of the Philistines gathered together to offer a great sacrifice to their god Dagon and celebrate, saying, “Our god has handed over Samson our enemy to us!”
- 24. When they saw him, they praised their god, saying: “Our god has handed over to us the one who devastated our land, the killer of our countrymen.”
- 25. They were filled with joy and shouted, “Bring Samson to entertain us!” Then they brought him out of prison, and he was placed between the pillars of the temple.
- 26. Samson said to the young man who was leading him by the hands, “Let me touch the pillars that support the temple, so that I can lean on them.”
- 27. There were about three thousand people on the upper floors, watching Samson as he entertained them. They were also there the leaders of the Philistines.
- 28. Then Samson cried out to the Lord, “O Sovereign Lord, remember me! I beg you, give me strength just one more time, O God, so that I can take revenge on the Philistines for the sake of my eyes!”
- 29. Then Samson pushed the two central columns that supported the temple. Leaning on them, with the right hand on one column and the left on the other,
- 30. he said, “May I die with the Philistines!” Then he pushed the columns with all his strength, and the temple collapsed on the leaders and all the people who were there. In his death, Samson killed more people than he had in his entire life.
- 31. Then his brothers and everyone in his family went to get him. They took him and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol, in the tomb of Manoah, his father. Samson led Israel for twenty years.
