Samson and Delilah
1One day Samsona went to Gaza,b where he saw a prostitute.c He went in to spend the night with her. 2The people of Gaza were told, “Samson is here!” So they surrounded the place and lay in wait for him all night at the city gate.d They made no move during the night, saying, “At dawne we’ll kill him.”
3But Samson lay there only until the middle of the night. Then he got up and took hold of the doors of the city gate, together with the two posts, and tore them loose, bar and all. He lifted them to his shoulders and carried them to the top of the hill that faces Hebron.f Photo
4Some time later, he fell in loveg with a woman in the Valley of Sorek whose name was Delilah.h 5The rulers of the Philistinesi went to her and said, “See if you can lurej him into showing you the secret of his great strengthk and how we can overpower him so we may tie him up and subdue him. Each one of us will give you eleven hundred shekels1 of silver.”l
6So Delilahm said to Samson, “Tell me the secret of your great strength and how you can be tied up and subdued.”
7Samson answered her, “If anyone ties me with seven fresh bowstrings that have not been dried, I’ll become as weak as any other man.”
8Then the rulers of the Philistines brought her seven fresh bowstrings that had not been dried, and she tied him with them. 9With men hidden in the room,n she called to him, “Samson, the Philistines are upon you!”o But he snapped the bowstrings as easily as a piece of string snaps when it comes close to a flame. So the secret of his strength was not discovered.
10Then Delilah said to Samson, “You have made a fool of me;p you lied to me. Come now, tell me how you can be tied.”
11He said, “If anyone ties me securely with new ropesq that have never been used, I’ll become as weak as any other man.”
12So Delilah took new ropes and tied him with them. Then, with men hidden in the room, she called to him, “Samson, the Philistines are upon you!”r But he snapped the ropes off his arms as if they were threads.
13Delilah then said to Samson, “All this time you have been making a fool of me and lying to me. Tell me how you can be tied.”
He replied, “If you weave the seven braids of my head into the fabric on the loom and tighten it with the pin, I’ll become as weak as any other man.” So while he was sleeping, Delilah took the seven braids of his head, wove them into the fabric 14and2 tightened it with the pin.
Again she called to him, “Samson, the Philistines are upon you!”s He awoke from his sleep and pulled up the pin and the loom, with the fabric.
15Then she said to him, “How can you say, ‘I love you,’t when you won’t confide in me? This is the third timeu you have made a fool of me and haven’t told me the secret of your great strength.v” 16With such nagging she prodded him day after day until he was sick to death of it.
17So he told her everything.w “No razor has ever been used on my head,” he said, “because I have been a Naziritex dedicated to God from my mother’s womb. If my head were shaved, my strength would leave me, and I would become as weak as any other man.”
18When Delilah saw that he had told her everything, she sent word to the rulers of the Philistinesy, “Come back once more; he has told me everything.” So the rulers of the Philistines returned with the silver in their hands.z 19After putting him to sleep on her lap, she called for someone to shave off the seven braids of his hair, and so began to subdue him.3 And his strength left him.a
20Then she called, “Samson, the Philistines are upon you!”b
He awoke from his sleep and thought, “I’ll go out as before and shake myself free.” But he did not know that the LORD had left him.c
21Then the Philistinesd seized him, gouged out his eyese and took him down to Gaza.f Binding him with bronze shackles, they set him to grinding graing in the prison. 22But the hair on his head began to grow again after it had been shaved.
The Death of Samson
23Now the rulers of the Philistines assembled to offer a great sacrifice to Dagonh their god and to celebrate, saying, “Our god has delivered Samson, our enemy, into our hands.”
24When the people saw him, they praised their god,i saying,
“Our god has delivered our enemy
into our hands,j
the one who laid waste our land
and multiplied our slain.”
25While they were in high spirits,k they shouted, “Bring out Samson to entertain us.” So they called Samson out of the prison, and he performed for them.
When they stood him among the pillars, 26Samson said to the servant who held his hand, “Put me where I can feel the pillars that support the temple, so that I may lean against them.” 27Now the temple was crowded with men and women; all the rulers of the Philistines were there, and on the roofl were about three thousand men and women watching Samson perform. 28Then Samson prayed to the LORD,m “Sovereign LORD, remember me. Please, God, strengthen me just once more, and let me with one blow get revengen on the Philistines for my two eyes.” 29Then Samson reached toward the two central pillars on which the temple stood. Bracing himself against them, his right hand on the one and his left hand on the other, 30Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines!” Then he pushed with all his might, and down came the temple on the rulers and all the people in it. Thus he killed many more when he died than while he lived.
31Then his brothers and his father’s whole family went down to get him. They brought him back and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of Manoaho his father. He had led4p Israel twenty years.q
Micah’s Idols
1Now a man named Micaha from the hill country of Ephraim 2said to his mother, “The eleven hundred shekels1 of silver that were taken from you and about which I heard you utter a curse—I have that silver with me; I took it.”
Then his mother said, “The LORD bless you,b my son!”
3When he returned the eleven hundred shekels of silver to his mother, she said, “I solemnly consecrate my silver to the LORD for my son to make an image overlaid with silver.c I will give it back to you.”
4So after he returned the silver to his mother, she took two hundred shekels2 of silver and gave them to a silversmith, who used them to make the idol.d And it was put in Micah’s house.
5Now this man Micah had a shrine,e and he made an ephodf and some household godsg and installedh one of his sons as his priest.i 6In those days Israel had no king;j everyone did as they saw fit.k
7A young Levitel from Bethlehem in Judah,m who had been living within the clan of Judah, 8left that town in search of some other place to stay. On his way3 he came to Micah’s house in the hill country of Ephraim.
9Micah asked him, “Where are you from?”
“I’m a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah,n” he said, “and I’m looking for a place to stay.”
10Then Micah said to him, “Live with me and be my fathero and priest,p and I’ll give you ten shekels4 of silver a year, your clothes and your food.” 11So the Levite agreed to live with him, and the young man became like one of his sons to him. 12Then Micah installedq the Levite, and the young man became his priestr and lived in his house. 13And Micah said, “Now I know that the LORD will be good to me, since this Levite has become my priest.”s
The Danites Settle in Laish
1In those days Israel had no king.a
And in those days the tribe of the Danites was seeking a place of their own where they might settle, because they had not yet come into an inheritance among the tribes of Israel.b 2So the Danitesc sent five of their leading mend from Zorah and Eshtaol to spy oute the land and explore it. These men represented all the Danites. They told them, “Go, explore the land.”f
So they entered the hill country of Ephraim and came to the house of Micah,g where they spent the night. 3When they were near Micah’s house, they recognized the voice of the young Levite;h so they turned in there and asked him, “Who brought you here? What are you doing in this place? Why are you here?”
4He told them what Micah had done for him, and said, “He has hired me and I am his priest.i”
5Then they said to him, “Please inquire of Godj to learn whether our journey will be successful.”
6The priest answered them, “Go in peacek. Your journey has the LORD’s approval.”
7So the five menl left and came to Laish,m where they saw that the people were living in safety, like the Sidonians, at peace and secure.n And since their land lacked nothing, they were prosperous.1 Also, they lived a long way from the Sidonianso and had no relationship with anyone else.2
8When they returned to Zorah and Eshtaol, their fellow Danites asked them, “How did you find things?”
9They answered, “Come on, let’s attack them! We have seen the land, and it is very good. Aren’t you going to do something? Don’t hesitate to go there and take it over.p 10When you get there, you will find an unsuspecting people and a spacious land that God has put into your hands, a land that lacks nothingq whatever.r”
11Then six hundred mens of the Danites,t armed for battle, set out from Zorah and Eshtaol. 12On their way they set up camp near Kiriath Jearimu in Judah. This is why the place west of Kiriath Jearim is called Mahaneh Dan3v to this day. 13From there they went on to the hill country of Ephraim and came to Micah’s house.w
14Then the five men who had spied out the land of Laishx said to their fellow Danites, “Do you know that one of these houses has an ephod,y some household gods and an image overlaid with silver?z Now you know what to do.” 15So they turned in there and went to the house of the young Levite at Micah’s place and greeted him. 16The six hundred Danites,a armed for battle, stood at the entrance of the gate. 17The five men who had spied out the land went inside and took the idol, the ephod and the household godsb while the priest and the six hundred armed menc stood at the entrance of the gate.
18When the five men went into Micah’s house and tookd the idol, the ephod and the household gods,e the priest said to them, “What are you doing?”
19They answered him, “Be quiet!f Don’t say a word. Come with us, and be our father and priest.g Isn’t it better that you serve a tribe and clanh in Israel as priest rather than just one man’s household?” 20The priest was very pleased. He took the ephod, the household gods and the idol and went along with the people. 21Putting their little children, their livestock and their possessions in front of them, they turned away and left.
22When they had gone some distance from Micah’s house, the men who lived near Micah were called together and overtook the Danites. 23As they shouted after them, the Danites turned and said to Micah, “What’s the matter with you that you called out your men to fight?”
24He replied, “You tooki the gods I made, and my priest, and went away. What else do I have? How can you ask, ‘What’s the matter with you?’ ”
25The Danites answered, “Don’t argue with us, or some of the men may get angry and attack you, and you and your family will lose your lives.” 26So the Danites went their way, and Micah, seeing that they were too strong for him,j turned around and went back home.
27Then they took what Micah had made, and his priest, and went on to Laish, against a people at peace and secure.k They attacked them with the sword and burnedl down their city.m 28There was no one to rescue them because they lived a long way from Sidonn and had no relationship with anyone else. The city was in a valley near Beth Rehob.o
The Danites rebuilt the city and settled there. 29They named it Danp after their ancestor Dan, who was born to Israel—though the city used to be called Laish.q 30There the Danites set up for themselves the idol, and Jonathan son of Gershom,r the son of Moses,4 and his sons were priests for the tribe of Dan until the time of the captivity of the land. 31They continued to use the idol Micah had made,s all the time the house of Godt was in Shiloh.u
A Levite and His Concubine
1In those days Israel had no king.
Now a Levite who lived in a remote area in the hill country of Ephraima took a concubine from Bethlehem in Judah.b 2But she was unfaithful to him. She left him and went back to her parents’ home in Bethlehem, Judah. After she had been there four months, 3her husband went to her to persuade her to return. He had with him his servant and two donkeys. She took him into her parents’ home, and when her father saw him, he gladly welcomed him. 4His father-in-law, the woman’s father, prevailed on him to stay; so he remained with him three days, eating and drinking,c and sleeping there.
5On the fourth day they got up early and he prepared to leave, but the woman’s father said to his son-in-law, “Refresh yourselfd with something to eat; then you can go.” 6So the two of them sat down to eat and drink together. Afterward the woman’s father said, “Please stay tonight and enjoy yourself.e” 7And when the man got up to go, his father-in-law persuaded him, so he stayed there that night. 8On the morning of the fifth day, when he rose to go, the woman’s father said, “Refresh yourself. Wait till afternoon!” So the two of them ate together.
9Then when the man, with his concubine and his servant, got up to leave, his father-in-law, the woman’s father, said, “Now look, it’s almost evening. Spend the night here; the day is nearly over. Stay and enjoy yourself. Early tomorrow morning you can get up and be on your way home.” 10But, unwilling to stay another night, the man left and went toward Jebusf (that is, Jerusalem), with his two saddled donkeys and his concubine.
11When they were near Jebus and the day was almost gone, the servant said to his master, “Come, let’s stop at this city of the Jebusitesg and spend the night.”
12His master replied, “No. We won’t go into any city whose people are not Israelites. We will go on to Gibeah.” 13He added, “Come, let’s try to reach Gibeah or Ramahh and spend the night in one of those places.” 14So they went on, and the sun set as they neared Gibeah in Benjamin.i 15There they stopped to spend the night.j They went and sat in the city square,k but no one took them in for the night.
16That eveningl an old man from the hill country of Ephraim,m who was living in Gibeah (the inhabitants of the place were Benjamites), came in from his work in the fields. 17When he looked and saw the traveler in the city square, the old man asked, “Where are you going? Where did you come from?”n
18He answered, “We are on our way from Bethlehem in Judah to a remote area in the hill country of Ephraim where I live. I have been to Bethlehem in Judah and now I am going to the house of the LORD.1o No one has taken me in for the night. 19We have both straw and fodderp for our donkeysq and bread and winer for ourselves your servants—me, the woman and the young man with us. We don’t need anything.”
20“You are welcome at my house,” the old man said. “Let me supply whatever you need. Only don’t spend the night in the square.” 21So he took him into his house and fed his donkeys. After they had washed their feet, they had something to eat and drink.s
22While they were enjoying themselves,t some of the wicked menu of the city surrounded the house. Pounding on the door, they shouted to the old man who owned the house, “Bring out the man who came to your house so we can have sex with him.v”
23The owner of the house went outsidew and said to them, “No, my friends, don’t be so vile. Since this man is my guest, don’t do this outrageous thing.x 24Look, here is my virgin daughter,y and his concubine. I will bring them out to you now, and you can use them and do to them whatever you wish. But as for this man, don’t do such an outrageous thing.”
25But the men would not listen to him. So the man took his concubine and sent her outside to them, and they raped herz and abused hera throughout the night, and at dawn they let her go. 26At daybreak the woman went back to the house where her master was staying, fell down at the door and lay there until daylight.
27When her master got up in the morning and opened the door of the house and stepped out to continue on his way, there lay his concubine, fallen in the doorway of the house, with her hands on the threshold. 28He said to her, “Get up; let’s go.” But there was no answer. Then the man put her on his donkey and set out for home.
29When he reached home, he took a knifeb and cut up his concubine, limb by limb, into twelve parts and sent them into all the areas of Israel.c 30Everyone who saw it was saying to one another, “Such a thing has never been seen or done, not since the day the Israelites came up out of Egypt.d Just imagine! We must do something! So speak up!e”
The Israelites Punish the Benjamites
1Then all Israela from Dan to Beershebab and from the land of Gilead came together as onec and assembledd before the LORD in Mizpah.e 2The leaders of all the people of the tribes of Israel took their places in the assembly of God’s people, four hundred thousand menf armed with swords. 3(The Benjamites heard that the Israelites had gone up to Mizpah.) Then the Israelites said, “Tell us how this awful thing happened.”
4So the Levite, the husband of the murdered woman, said, “I and my concubine came to Gibeahg in Benjamin to spend the night.h 5During the night the men of Gibeah came after me and surrounded the house, intending to kill me.i They raped my concubine, and she died.j 6I took my concubine, cut her into pieces and sent one piece to each region of Israel’s inheritance,k because they committed this lewd and outrageous actl in Israel. 7Now, all you Israelites, speak up and tell me what you have decided to do.m”
8All the men rose up together as one, saying, “None of us will go home. No, not one of us will return to his house. 9But now this is what we’ll do to Gibeah: We’ll go up against it in the order decided by casting lots.n 10We’ll take ten men out of every hundred from all the tribes of Israel, and a hundred from a thousand, and a thousand from ten thousand, to get provisions for the army. Then, when the army arrives at Gibeah1 in Benjamin, it can give them what they deserve for this outrageous act done in Israel.” 11So all the Israelites got together and united as one against the city.o
12The tribes of Israel sent messengers throughout the tribe of Benjamin, saying, “What about this awful crime that was committed among you?p 13Now turn those wicked menq of Gibeah over to us so that we may put them to death and purge the evil from Israel.r”
But the Benjamites would not listen to their fellow Israelites. 14From their towns they came together at Gibeah to fight against the Israelites. 15At once the Benjamites mobilized twenty-six thousand swordsmen from their towns, in addition to seven hundred able young men from those living in Gibeah. 16Among all these soldiers there were seven hundred select troops who were left-handed,s each of whom could sling a stone at a hair and not miss.
17Israel, apart from Benjamin, mustered four hundred thousand swordsmen, all of them fit for battle.
18The Israelites went up to Bethel2t and inquired of God.u They said, “Who of us is to go up firstv to fightw against the Benjamites?”
The LORD replied, “Judahx shall go first.”
19The next morning the Israelites got up and pitched camp near Gibeah. 20The Israelites went out to fight the Benjamites and took up battle positions against them at Gibeah. 21The Benjamites came out of Gibeah and cut down twenty-two thousand Israelitesy on the battlefield that day. 22But the Israelites encouraged one another and again took up their positions where they had stationed themselves the first day. 23The Israelites went up and wept before the LORDz until evening,a and they inquired of the LORD.b They said, “Shall we go up again to fightc against the Benjamites, our fellow Israelites?”
The LORD answered, “Go up against them.”
24Then the Israelites drew near to Benjamin the second day. 25This time, when the Benjamites came out from Gibeah to oppose them, they cut down another eighteen thousand Israelites,d all of them armed with swords.
26Then all the Israelites, the whole army, went up to Bethel, and there they sat weeping before the LORD.e They fastedf that day until evening and presented burnt offeringsg and fellowship offeringsh to the LORD.i 27And the Israelites inquired of the LORD.j (In those days the ark of the covenant of Godk was there, 28with Phinehas son of Eleazar,l the son of Aaron, ministering before it.)m They asked, “Shall we go up again to fight against the Benjamites, our fellow Israelites, or not?”
The LORD responded, “Go, for tomorrow I will give them into your hands.n”
29Then Israel set an ambusho around Gibeah. 30They went up against the Benjamites on the third day and took up positions against Gibeah as they had done before. 31The Benjamites came out to meet them and were drawn awayp from the city. They began to inflict casualties on the Israelites as before, so that about thirty men fell in the open field and on the roads—the one leading to Bethelq and the other to Gibeah. 32While the Benjamites were saying, “We are defeating them as before,”r the Israelites were saying, “Let’s retreat and draw them away from the city to the roads.”
33All the men of Israel moved from their places and took up positions at Baal Tamar, and the Israelite ambush charged out of its places on the west3 of Gibeah.4 34Then ten thousand of Israel’s able young men made a frontal attack on Gibeah. The fighting was so heavy that the Benjamites did not realizet how near disaster was.u 35The LORD defeated Benjaminv before Israel, and on that day the Israelites struck down 25,100 Benjamites, all armed with swords. 36Then the Benjamites saw that they were beaten.
Now the men of Israel had given wayw before Benjamin, because they relied on the ambushx they had set near Gibeah. 37Those who had been in ambush made a sudden dash into Gibeah, spread out and put the whole city to the sword.y 38The Israelites had arranged with the ambush that they should send up a great cloud of smokez from the city,a 39and then the Israelites would counterattack.
The Benjamites had begun to inflict casualties on the Israelites (about thirty), and they said, “We are defeating them as in the first battle.”b 40But when the column of smoke began to rise from the city, the Benjamites turned and saw the whole city going up in smoke.c 41Then the Israelites counterattacked,d and the Benjamites were terrified, because they realized that disaster had comee on them. 42So they fled before the Israelites in the direction of the wilderness, but they could not escape the battle. And the Israelites who came out of the towns cut them down there. 43They surrounded the Benjamites, chased them and easily5 overran them in the vicinity of Gibeah on the east. 44Eighteen thousand Benjamites fell, all of them valiant fighters.f 45As they turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon,g the Israelites cut down five thousand men along the roads. They kept pressing after the Benjamites as far as Gidom and struck down two thousand more.
46On that day twenty-five thousand Benjamiteh swordsmen fell, all of them valiant fighters. 47But six hundred of them turned and fled into the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon, where they stayed four months. 48The men of Israel went back to Benjamin and put all the towns to the sword, including the animals and everything else they found. All the towns they came across they set on fire.i
Wives for the Benjamites
1The men of Israel had taken an oatha at Mizpah:b “Not one of us will givec his daughter in marriage to a Benjamite.”
2The people went to Bethel,1 where they sat before God until evening, raising their voices and weeping bitterly. 3“LORD, God of Israel,” they cried, “why has this happened to Israel? Why should one tribe be missingd from Israel today?”
4Early the next day the people built an altar and presented burnt offerings and fellowship offerings.e
5Then the Israelites asked, “Who from all the tribes of Israelf has failed to assemble before the LORD?” For they had taken a solemn oath that anyone who failed to assemble before the LORD at Mizpah was to be put to death.
6Now the Israelites grieved for the tribe of Benjamin, their fellow Israelites. “Today one tribe is cut off from Israel,” they said. 7“How can we provide wives for those who are left, since we have taken an oathg by the LORD not to give them any of our daughters in marriage?” 8Then they asked, “Which one of the tribes of Israel failed to assemble before the LORD at Mizpah?” They discovered that no one from Jabesh Gileadh had come to the camp for the assembly. 9For when they counted the people, they found that none of the people of Jabesh Gilead were there.
10So the assembly sent twelve thousand fighting men with instructions to go to Jabesh Gilead and put to the sword those living there, including the women and children. 11“This is what you are to do,” they said. “Kill every malei and every woman who is not a virgin.j” 12They found among the people living in Jabesh Gilead four hundred young women who had never slept with a man, and they took them to the camp at Shilohk in Canaan.
13Then the whole assembly sent an offer of peacel to the Benjamites at the rock of Rimmon.m 14So the Benjamites returned at that time and were given the women of Jabesh Gilead who had been spared. But there were not enough for all of them.
15The people grieved for Benjamin,n because the LORD had made a gap in the tribes of Israel. 16And the elders of the assembly said, “With the women of Benjamin destroyed, how shall we provide wives for the men who are left? 17The Benjamite survivors must have heirs,” they said, “so that a tribe of Israel will not be wiped out.o 18We can’t give them our daughters as wives, since we Israelites have taken this oath:p ‘Cursed be anyone who givesq a wife to a Benjamite.’ 19But look, there is the annual festival of the LORD in Shiloh,r which lies north of Bethels, east of the road that goes from Bethel to Shechem,t and south of Lebonah.”
20So they instructed the Benjamites, saying, “Go and hide in the vineyards 21and watch. When the young women of Shiloh come out to join in the dancing,u rush from the vineyards and each of you seize one of them to be your wife. Then return to the land of Benjamin. 22When their fathers or brothers complain to us, we will say to them, ‘Do us the favor of helping them, because we did not get wives for them during the war. You will not be guilty of breaking your oath because you did not givev your daughters to them.’ ”
23So that is what the Benjamites did. While the young women were dancing,w each man caught one and carried her off to be his wife. Then they returned to their inheritancex and rebuilt the towns and settled in them.y
24At that time the Israelites left that place and went home to their tribes and clans, each to his own inheritance.
25In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit.z