Judges 15
Legacy Standard Bible
Samson Strikes Down the Philistines
15 Now it happened that after a while, in the time of the wheat harvest, Samson visited his wife (A)with a young goat and said, “I will go in to my wife in her room.” But her father did not let him enter. 2 And her father said, “I really thought that you hated her intensely; so I (B)gave her to your companion. Is not her younger sister better than she? Please let her be yours [a]instead.” 3 Samson then said to them, “This time I shall be innocent in regard to the Philistines when I do them harm.” 4 So Samson went and caught 300 foxes and took torches and turned the foxes tail to tail and put one torch in the middle between two tails. 5 Then he set fire to the torches and sent [b]the foxes into the standing grain of the Philistines. So he caused both the shocks and the standing grain, along with the vineyards and groves, to burn. 6 Then the Philistines said, “Who did this?” And they said, “Samson, the son-in-law of the Timnite, because [c]he took his wife and gave her to his companion.” So the Philistines came up and (C)burned her and her father with fire. 7 Then Samson said to them, “If you act like this, then I will surely take revenge on you, but after that I will cease.” 8 And he struck them [d]ruthlessly with a great slaughter; and he went down and lived in the cleft of the rock of Etam.
9 Then the Philistines went up and camped in Judah and spread out in Lehi. 10 So the men of Judah said, “Why have you come up against us?” And they said, “We have come up to bind Samson in order to do to him as he did to us.” 11 Then 3,000 men of Judah went down to the cleft of the rock of Etam and said to Samson, “Do you not know (D)that the Philistines are rulers over us? What then is this that you have done to us?” And he said to them, “As they did to me, so I have done to them.” 12 And they said to him, “We have come down to bind you so that we may give you into the hand of the Philistines.” And Samson said to them, “Swear to me that you yourselves will not [e]kill me.” 13 So they said to [f]him, “No, but we will bind you fast and give you into their hands; yet surely we will not put you to death.” Then they bound him with two new ropes and brought him up from the rock.
14 When he came to Lehi, the Philistines shouted as they met him. And (E)the Spirit of Yahweh [g]came upon him mightily so that the ropes that were on his arms were as flax that is burned with fire, and his bonds [h]dropped from his hands. 15 And he found a fresh jawbone of a donkey, so he sent forth his hand and took it and struck down (F)1,000 men with it. 16 Then Samson said,
“With the jawbone of a donkey,
[i]Heaps upon heaps,
With the jawbone of a donkey
I have struck down 1,000 men.”
17 Now it happened that when he had finished speaking, he threw the jawbone from his hand; and he named that place [j]Ramath-lehi. 18 Then he became very thirsty, and he (G)called to Yahweh and said, “You have given this great salvation by the hand of Your slave, but now [k]shall I die of thirst [l]and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?” 19 So God split the hollow place that is in Lehi and water came out of it. Then he drank, (H)and his spirit returned, and he revived. Therefore he named it [m]En-hakkore, which is in Lehi to this day. 20 And (I)he judged Israel twenty years in (J)the days of the Philistines.
Footnotes
- Judges 15:2 Lit instead of her
- Judges 15:5 Lit them
- Judges 15:6 The Timnite
- Judges 15:8 Lit leg on thigh
- Judges 15:12 Lit fall upon me
- Judges 15:13 Lit him, saying
- Judges 15:14 Lit succeeded, rushed upon
- Judges 15:14 Lit were melted
- Judges 15:16 Lit Heap, two heaps; Heb is same root as donkey
- Judges 15:17 Lit the high place of the jawbone
- Judges 15:18 Or I shall...uncircumcised
- Judges 15:18 Or or
- Judges 15:19 Lit the spring of him who called
Judges 15
Revised Standard Version
Samson Defeats the Philistines
15 After a while, at the time of wheat harvest, Samson went to visit his wife with a kid; and he said, “I will go in to my wife in the chamber.” But her father would not allow him to go in. 2 And her father said, “I really thought that you utterly hated her; so I gave her to your companion. Is not her younger sister fairer than she? Pray take her instead.” 3 And Samson said to them, “This time I shall be blameless in regard to the Philistines, when I do them mischief.” 4 So Samson went and caught three hundred foxes, and took torches; and he turned them tail to tail, and put a torch between each pair of tails. 5 And when he had set fire to the torches, he let the foxes go into the standing grain of the Philistines, and burned up the shocks and the standing grain, as well as the olive orchards. 6 Then the Philistines said, “Who has done this?” And they said, “Samson, the son-in-law of the Timnite, because he has taken his wife and given her to his companion.” And the Philistines came up, and burned her and her father with fire. 7 And Samson said to them, “If this is what you do, I swear I will be avenged upon you, and after that I will quit.” 8 And he smote them hip and thigh with great slaughter; and he went down and stayed in the cleft of the rock of Etam.
9 Then the Philistines came up and encamped in Judah, and made a raid on Lehi. 10 And the men of Judah said, “Why have you come up against us?” They said, “We have come up to bind Samson, to do to him as he did to us.” 11 Then three thousand men of Judah went down to the cleft of the rock of Etam, and said to Samson, “Do you not know that the Philistines are rulers over us? What then is this that you have done to us?” And he said to them, “As they did to me, so have I done to them.” 12 And they said to him, “We have come down to bind you, that we may give you into the hands of the Philistines.” And Samson said to them, “Swear to me that you will not fall upon me yourselves.” 13 They said to him, “No; we will only bind you and give you into their hands; we will not kill you.” So they bound him with two new ropes, and brought him up from the rock.
14 When he came to Lehi, the Philistines came shouting to meet him; and the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him, and the ropes which were on his arms became as flax that has caught fire, and his bonds melted off his hands. 15 And he found a fresh jawbone of an ass, and put out his hand and seized it, and with it he slew a thousand men. 16 And Samson said,
“With the jawbone of an ass,
heaps upon heaps,
with the jawbone of an ass
have I slain a thousand men.”
17 When he had finished speaking, he threw away the jawbone out of his hand; and that place was called Ra′math-le′hi.[a]
18 And he was very thirsty, and he called on the Lord and said, “Thou hast granted this great deliverance by the hand of thy servant; and shall I now die of thirst, and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?” 19 And God split open the hollow place that is at Lehi, and there came water from it; and when he drank, his spirit returned, and he revived. Therefore the name of it was called En-hakkor′e;[b] it is at Lehi to this day. 20 And he judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years.
Footnotes
- Judges 15:17 That is The hill of the jawbone
- Judges 15:19 That is The spring of him who called
Legacy Standard Bible Copyright ©2021 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org For Permission to Quote Information visit https://www.LSBible.org.
Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1946, 1952, and 1971 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.