Judges 14:8-20

Contemporary English Version

⁸ Later,^[a] Samson returned to Timnah for the wedding. And when he came near the place where the lion had attacked, he left the road to see what was left of the lion. He was surprised to see that bees were living in the lion's skeleton, and that they had made some honey. ⁹ He scooped up the honey in his hands and ate some of it as he walked along. When he got back to his parents, he gave them some of the honey, and they ate it too. But he didn't tell them he had found the honey in the skeleton of a lion.^[b]

¹⁰ While Samson's father went to make the final arrangements with the bride and her family, Samson threw a big party,^[c] as grooms^[d] usually did. ¹¹ When the Philistines saw what Samson was like, they told 30 of their young men to stay with him at the party.

¹² Samson told the 30 young men, “This party will last for seven days. Let's make a bet: I'll tell you a riddle, and if you can tell me the answer before the party is over, I'll give each of you a shirt and a full change of clothing. ¹³ But if you can't tell me the answer, then each of you will have to give me a shirt and a full change of clothing.”

“It's a bet!” the Philistines said. “Tell us the riddle.”

¹⁴ Samson said:

Three days went by, and the Philistine young men had not come up with the right answer. ¹⁵ Finally, on the seventh^[e] day of the party they went to Samson's bride and said, “You had better trick your husband into telling you the answer to his riddle. Have you invited us here just to rob us? If you don't find out the answer, we will burn you and your family to death.”

¹⁶ Samson's bride went to him and started crying in his arms. “You must really hate me,” she sobbed. “If you loved me at all, you would have told me the answer to your riddle.”

“But I haven't even told my parents the answer!” Samson replied. “Why should I tell you?”

¹⁷ For the entire seven days of the party, she had been whining and trying to get the answer from him. But that seventh day she put so much pressure on Samson that he finally gave in and told her the answer. She went straight to the young men and told them.

¹⁸ Before sunset that day, the men of the town went to Samson with this answer:

Samson replied,

¹⁹ Then the Lord's Spirit took control of Samson. He went to Ashkelon,^[f] where he killed 30 men and took their clothing. Samson then gave it to the 30 young men at Timnah and stormed back home to his own family.

²⁰ The father of the bride made Samson's wife marry one of the 30 young men that had been at Samson's party.^[g]