Then the Philistines came up and encamped in Judah and (A)made a raid on (B)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 3,000 men of Judah went down to the cleft of the rock of Etam, and said to Samson, “Do you not know that (C)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 attack me yourselves.” 13 They said to him, “No; we will only bind you and give you into their hands. We will surely not kill you.” So they bound him with two (D)new ropes and brought him up from the rock.

14 When he came to Lehi, the Philistines came shouting to meet him. (E)Then the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon him, and the ropes that 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 a donkey, and put out his hand and took it, (F)and with it he struck 1,000 men. 16 And Samson said,

“With the jawbone of a donkey,
    heaps upon heaps,
with the jawbone of a donkey
    have I struck down a thousand men.”

17 As soon as he had finished speaking, he threw away the jawbone out of his hand. And that place (G)was called Ramath-lehi.[a]

18 And he was very thirsty, and he called upon the Lord and said, (H)“You have granted this great salvation by the hand of your 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 (I)at Lehi, and water came out from it. And when he drank, (J)his spirit returned, and he revived. Therefore the name of it was called En-hakkore;[b] it is at Lehi to this day. 20 And he judged Israel (K)in the days of the Philistines twenty years.

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Footnotes

  1. Judges 15:17 Ramath-lehi means the hill of the jawbone
  2. Judges 15:19 En-hakkore means the spring of him who called

The Philistines went up, camped in Judah, and raided Lehi. 10 So the men of Judah said, “Why have you attacked us?”

They replied, “We have come to arrest Samson and pay him back for what he did to us.”

11 Then 3,000 men of Judah went to the cave at the rock of Etam, and they asked Samson, “Don’t you realize that the Philistines rule over us?(A) What have you done to us?”

“I have done to them what they did to me,” he answered.[a]

12 They said to him, “We’ve come to arrest you and hand you over to the Philistines.”

Then Samson told them, “Swear to me that you yourselves won’t kill me.”

13 “No,” they said,[b] “we won’t kill you, but we will tie you up securely and hand you over to them.” So they tied him up with two new ropes(B) and led him away from the rock.

14 When he came to Lehi, the Philistines came to meet him shouting. The Spirit of the Lord took control of[c] him, and the ropes that were on his arms became like burnt flax and his bonds fell off his wrists. 15 He found a fresh jawbone of a donkey, reached out his hand, took it, and killed 1,000 men with it. 16 Then Samson said:

With the jawbone of a donkey
I have piled them in a heap.
With the jawbone of a donkey
I have killed 1,000 men.

17 When he finished speaking, he threw away the jawbone and named that place Ramath-lehi.[d] 18 He became very thirsty and called out to the Lord: “You have accomplished this great victory through[e] Your servant. Must I now die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?” 19 So God split a hollow place in the ground at Lehi, and water came out of it. After Samson drank, his strength returned, and he revived.(C) That is why he named it En-hakkore,[f] which is in Lehi to this day. 20 And he judged Israel 20 years in the days of the Philistines.

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Footnotes

  1. Judges 15:11 Lit answered them
  2. Judges 15:13 Lit said to him
  3. Judges 15:14 Lit Lord rushed on
  4. Judges 15:17 = High Place of the Jawbone
  5. Judges 15:18 Lit through the hand of
  6. Judges 15:19 = Spring of the One Who Cried Out