⁷ Samson said to them, “Since you’ve acted like this, I swear that I won’t stop until I get my revenge on you.”

¹⁹ Do not take revenge,^(A) my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,”^[a](B) says the Lord.

¹⁹ Then the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon him.^(A) He went down to Ashkelon,^(B) struck down thirty of their men, stripped them of everything and gave their clothes to those who had explained the riddle. Burning with anger,^(C) he returned to his father’s home.

⁴ (His parents did not know that this was from the Lord,^(A) who was seeking an occasion to confront the Philistines;^(B) for at that time they were ruling over Israel.)^(C)