Judges 16

vayyelekh shimshon azzatah vayyar-sham isha zonah vayyavo eleha

Once Samson went to Gaza; there he met a prostitute and slept with her.

la'azzatim lemor ba shimshon hennah vayyasobbu vayye'ervu-lo khol-hallaylah besha'ar ha'ir vayyitkhareshu khol-hallaylah lemor ad-or habboqer vaharagnuhu

The Gazites [learned] that Samson had come there, so they gathered and lay in ambush for him in the town gate the whole night; and all night long they kept whispering to each other, “When daylight comes, we’ll kill him.”

vayyishkav shimshon ad-khatsi hallaylah vayyaqom bakhatsi hallaylah vayye'ekhoz bedaltot sha'ar-ha'ir uvishte hammezuzot vayyissa'em im-habberiakh vayyasem al-ketefayw vayya'alem el-rosh hahar asher al-pene khevron

But Samson lay in bed only till midnight. At midnight he got up, grasped the doors of the town gate together with the two gateposts, and pulled them out along with the bar. He placed them on his shoulders and carried them off to the top of the hill that is near Hebron.

vayehi akhare-khen vayye'ehav isha benakhal soreq ushemah delilah

After that, he fell in love with a woman in the Wadi Sorek, named Delilah.

vayya'alu eleha sarne felishtim vayyomeru lah patti oto ure'i bammeh kokho gadol uvammeh nukhal lo va'asarnuhu le'annoto va'anakhnu nittan-lakh ish elef ume'ah kasef

The lords of the Philistines went up to her and said, “Coax him and find out what makes him so strong, and how we can overpower him, tie him up, and make him helpless; and we’ll each give you eleven hundred shekels of silver.”

vattomer delilah el-shimshon haggidah-nna li bammeh kokhakha gadol uvammeh te'aser le'annotekha

So Delilah said to Samson, “Tell me, what makes you so strong? And how could you be tied up and made helpless?”

vayyomer eleha shimshon im-ya'asruni beshivah yetarim lakhim asher lo-khoravu vekhaliti vehayiti ke'akhad ha'adam

Samson replied, “If I were to be tied with seven fresh tendons that had not been dried, I should become as weak as an ordinary man.”

vayya'alu-lah sarne felishtim shivah yetarim lakhim asher lo-khoravu vatta'asrehu bahem

So the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven fresh tendons that had not been dried. She bound him with them,

veha'orev yoshev lah bakheder vattomer elayw pelishtim alekha shimshon vayenatteq et-hayetarim ka'asher yinnateq petil-hanne'oret baharikho esh velo noda kokho

while an ambush was waiting in her room. Then she called out to him, “Samson, the Philistines are upon you!” Whereupon he pulled the tendons apart, as a strand of tow comes apart at the touch of fire. So the secret of his strength remained unknown.

vattomer delilah el-shimshon hinneh hetalta bi vattedabber elay kezavim attah haggidah-nna li bammeh te'aser

Then Delilah said to Samson, “Oh, you deceived me; you lied to me! Do tell me now how you could be tied up.”

vayyomer eleha im-asor ya'asruni ba'avotim khadashim asher lo-na'asah vahem melakhah vekhaliti vehayiti ke'akhad ha'adam

He said, “If I were to be bound with new ropes that had never been used, I would become as weak as an ordinary man.”

vattiqqakh delilah avotim khadashim vatta'asrehu vahem vattomer elayw pelishtim alekha shimshon veha'orev yoshev bekhader vayenatteqem me'al zero'otayw kakhut

So Delilah took new ropes and bound him with them, while an ambush was waiting in a room. And she cried, “Samson, the Philistines are upon you!” But he tore them off his arms like a thread.

vattomer delilah el-shimshon ad-hennah hetalta bi vattedabber elay kezavim haggidah li bammeh te'aser vayyomer eleha im-ta'argi et-sheva makhlefot roshi im-hammassakhet

Then Delilah said to Samson, “You have been deceiving me all along; you have been lying to me! Tell me, how could you be tied up?” He answered her, “If you weave seven locks of my head into the web.”

vattitqa bayyated vattomer elayw pelishtim alekha shimshon vayyiqats mishenato vayyissa et-hayetad ha'ereg ve'et-hammassakhet

And she pinned it with a peg and cried to him, “Samson, the Philistines are upon you!” Awaking from his sleep, he pulled out the peg, the loom, and the web.

vattomer elayw ekh tomar ahavtikh velibbekha en itti zeh shalosh pe'amim hetalta bi velo-higgadta li bammeh kokhakha gadol

Then she said to him, “How can you say you love me, when you don’t confide in me? This makes three times that you’ve deceived me and haven’t told me what makes you so strong.”

vayehi ki-hetsiqah lo vidvareha kol-hayyamim vatte'altsehu vattiqtsar nafsho lamut

Finally, after she had nagged him and pressed him constantly, he was wearied to death

vayyagged-lah et-kol-libbo vayyomer lah morah lo-alah al-roshi ki-nezir elohim ani mibbeten immi im-gullakhti vesar mimmenni khokhi vekhaliti vehayiti kekhol-ha'adam

and he confided everything to her. He said to her, “No razor has ever touched my head, for I have been a nazirite to God since I was in my mother’s womb. If my hair were cut, my strength would leave me and I should become as weak as an ordinary man.”

vattere delilah ki-higgid lah et-kol-libbo vattishlakh vattiqra lesarne felishtim lemor alu happa'am ki-higgid (lh) [li] et-kol-libbo ve'alu eleha sarne felishtim vayya'alu hakkesef beyadam

Sensing that he had confided everything to her, Delilah sent for the lords of the Philistines, with this message: “Come up once more, for he has confided everything to me.” And the lords of the Philistines came up and brought the money with them.

vatteyashenehu al-birkeha vattiqra la'ish vattegallakh et-sheva makhlefot rosho vattakhel le'annoto vayyasar kokho me'alayw

She lulled him to sleep on her lap. Then she called in someone else, and she had him cut off the seven locks of his head; thus she weakened him and made him helpless: his strength slipped away from him.

vattomer pelishtim alekha shimshon vayyiqats mishenato vayyomer etse kefa'am befa'am ve'inna'er vehu lo yada ki Adonai sar me'alayw

She cried, “Samson, the Philistines are upon you!” And he awoke from his sleep, thinking he would break loose and shake himself free as he had the other times. For he did not know that GOD had departed from him.

vayyokhazuhu felishtim vayenaqqeru et-enayw vayyoridu oto azzatah vayya'asruhu bankhushtayim vayehi tokhen bevet (hsyrym) [ha'asurim]

The Philistines seized him and gouged out his eyes. They brought him down to Gaza and shackled him in bronze fetters, and he became a mill slave in the prison.

vayyakhel se'ar-rosho letsammeakh ka'asher gullakh

After his hair was cut off, it began to grow back.

vesarne felishtim ne'esfu lizboakh zevakh-gadol ledagon elohehem ulesimkhah vayyomeru natan elohenu beyadenu et shimshon oyevenu

Now the lords of the Philistines gathered to offer a great sacrifice to their god Dagon and to make merry. They chanted, “Our god has delivered into our hands Our enemy Samson.”

vayyiru oto ha'am vayehalelu et-elohehem ki ameru natan elohenu veyadenu et-oyevenu ve'et makhariv artsenu va'asher hirbah et-khalalenu

When the people saw him, they sang praises to their god, chanting, “Our god has delivered into our hands The enemy who devastated our land, And who slew so many of us.”

vayehi (khy tvv) [ketov] libbam vayyomeru qiru leshimshon visakheq-lanu vayyiqre'u leshimshon mibbet (hsyrym) [ha'asurim] vayetsakheq lifnehem vayya'amidu oto ben ha'ammudim

As their spirits rose, they said, “Call Samson here and let him dance for us.” Samson was fetched from the prison, and he danced for them. Then they put him between the pillars.

vayyomer shimshon el-hanna'ar hammakhaziq beyado hannikhah oti (vhymshny) [vahamisheni] et-ha'ammudim asher habbayit nakhon alehem ve'esha'en alehem

And Samson said to the boy who was leading him by the hand, “Let go of me and let me feel the pillars that the temple rests upon, that I may lean on them.”

vehabbayit male ha'anashim vehannashim veshammah kol sarne felishtim ve'al-haggag kishloshet alafim ish ve'isha haro'im biskhoq shimshon

Now the temple was full of men and women; all the lords of the Philistines were there, and there were some three thousand men and women on the roof watching Samson dance.

vayyiqra shimshon el-Adonai vayyomar adonay Elohim zokhreni na vekhazzeqeni na akh happa'am hazzeh ha'elohim ve'innaqemah neqam-akhat mishete enay mippelishtim

Then Samson called to GOD, “O Sovereign GOD! Please remember me, and give me strength just this once, O God, to take revenge of the Philistines, if only for one of my two eyes.”

vayyilpot shimshon et-shene ammude hattavekh asher habbayit nakhon alehem vayyissamekh alehem ekhad bimino ve'ekhad bismolo

He embraced the two middle pillars that the temple rested upon, one with his right arm and one with his left, and leaned against them;

vayyomer shimshon tamot nafshi im-pelishtim vayyet bekhoakh vayyippol habbayit al-hasseranim ve'al-kol-ha'am asher-bo vayyihyu hammetim asher hemit bemoto rabbim me'asher hemit bekhayyayw

Samson cried, “Let me die with the Philistines!” and he pulled with all his might. The temple came crashing down on the lords and on all the people in it. Those who were slain by him as he died outnumbered those who had been slain by him when he lived.

vayyeredu ekhayw vekhol-bet avihu vayyisu oto vayya'alu vayyiqberu oto ben tsorah uven eshta'ol beqever manoakh aviv vehu shafat et-yisra'el esrim shanah

His brothers and all his father’s household came down and carried him up and buried him in the tomb of his father Manoah, between Zorah and Eshtaol. He had led Israel for twenty years.