15 And she said to him, (A)“How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when your heart is not with me? You have mocked me these three times, and you have not told me where your great strength lies.” 16 And (B)when she pressed him hard with her words day after day, and urged him, his soul was vexed to death. 17 And he told her all his heart, and said to her, (C)“A razor has never come upon my head, for I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother's womb. If my head is shaved, then my strength will leave me, and I shall become weak and be like any other man.”

18 When Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called the lords of the Philistines, saying, “Come up again, for he has told me all his heart.” Then the lords of the Philistines came up to her and brought (D)the money in their hands. 19 She made him sleep on her knees. And she called a man and had him shave off the seven locks of his head. Then she began (E)to torment him, and his strength left him. 20 And she said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” And he awoke from his sleep and said, “I will go out as at other times and shake myself free.” But he did not know that (F)the Lord had left him. 21 And the Philistines seized him and gouged out his eyes and brought him down to Gaza and bound him with bronze shackles. (G)And he ground at the mill in the prison.

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15 Then she said to him, “How can you say, ‘I love you,’(A) when you won’t confide in me? This is the third time(B) you have made a fool of me and haven’t told me the secret of your great strength.(C) 16 With such nagging she prodded him day after day until he was sick to death of it.

17 So he told her everything.(D) “No razor has ever been used on my head,” he said, “because I have been a Nazirite(E) 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.”

18 When Delilah saw that he had told her everything, she sent word to the rulers of the Philistines(F), “Come back once more; he has told me everything.” So the rulers of the Philistines returned with the silver in their hands.(G) 19 After 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.[a] And his strength left him.(H)

20 Then she called, “Samson, the Philistines are upon you!”(I)

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.(J)

21 Then the Philistines(K) seized him, gouged out his eyes(L) and took him down to Gaza.(M) Binding him with bronze shackles, they set him to grinding grain(N) in the prison.

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Footnotes

  1. Judges 16:19 Hebrew; some Septuagint manuscripts and he began to weaken