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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 (A)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 [a]kill me.” 13 So they said to [b]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 (B)the Spirit of Yahweh [c]came upon him mightily so that the ropes that were on his arms were as flax that is burned with fire, and his bonds [d]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 (C)1,000 men with it. 16 Then Samson said,

“With the jawbone of a donkey,
[e]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 [f]Ramath-lehi. 18 Then he became very thirsty, and he (D)called to Yahweh and said, “You have given this great salvation by the hand of Your slave, but now [g]shall I die of thirst [h]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, (E)and his spirit returned, and he revived. Therefore he named it [i]En-hakkore, which is in Lehi to this day. 20 And (F)he judged Israel twenty years in (G)the days of the Philistines.

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Footnotes

  1. Judges 15:12 Lit fall upon me
  2. Judges 15:13 Lit him, saying
  3. Judges 15:14 Lit succeeded, rushed upon
  4. Judges 15:14 Lit were melted
  5. Judges 15:16 Lit Heap, two heaps; Heb is same root as donkey
  6. Judges 15:17 Lit the high place of the jawbone
  7. Judges 15:18 Or I shall...uncircumcised
  8. Judges 15:18 Or or
  9. Judges 15:19 Lit the spring of him who called

Now the Philistines went up, encamped in Judah, and deployed themselves (A)against Lehi. 10 And the men of Judah said, “Why have you come up against us?”

So they answered, “We have come up to [a]arrest Samson, to do to him as he has done 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 (B)rule over us? What is this you have done to us?”

And he said to them, “As they did to me, so I have done to them.”

12 But they said to him, “We have come down to arrest you, that we may deliver you into the hand of the Philistines.”

Then Samson said to them, “Swear to me that you will not kill me yourselves.”

13 So they spoke to him, saying, “No, but we will tie you securely and deliver you into their hand; but we will surely not kill you.” And they bound him with two (C)new ropes and brought him up from the rock.

14 When he came to Lehi, the Philistines came shouting against him. Then (D)the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him; and the ropes that were on his arms became like flax that is burned with fire, and his bonds [b]broke loose from his hands. 15 He found a fresh jawbone of a donkey, reached out his hand and took it, and (E)killed a thousand men with it. 16 Then Samson said:

“With the jawbone of a donkey,
Heaps upon heaps,
With the jawbone of a donkey
I have slain a thousand men!”

17 And so it was, when he had finished speaking, that he threw the jawbone from his hand, and called that place [c]Ramath Lehi.

18 Then he became very thirsty; so he cried out to the Lord and said, (F)“You have given this great deliverance by the hand of Your servant; and now shall I die of thirst and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised?” 19 So God split the hollow place that is in [d]Lehi, and water came out, and he drank; and (G)his spirit returned, and he revived. Therefore he called its name [e]En Hakkore, which is in Lehi to this day. 20 And (H)he judged Israel (I)twenty years (J)in the days of the Philistines.

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Footnotes

  1. Judges 15:10 Lit. bind
  2. Judges 15:14 Lit. were melted
  3. Judges 15:17 Lit. Jawbone Height
  4. Judges 15:19 Lit. Jawbone, Judg. 15:14
  5. Judges 15:19 Lit. Spring of the Caller