²³ Now the lords of the Philistines assembled to offer a great sacrifice to ^(A)Dagon their god and to be glad; and they said,

²⁴ Then the people saw him and ^(B)praised their god, for they said,

²⁵ So it happened when their hearts were merry, that they said, “Call for Samson, that he may amuse us.” So they called for Samson from the prison, and he ^[a]entertained them. And they made him stand between the pillars. ²⁶ Then Samson said to the boy who was holding his hand, “Let me feel the pillars on which the house is established, that I may lean against them.” ²⁷ Now the house was full of men and women, and all the lords of the Philistines were there. And about 3,000 men and women were on the roof looking on while Samson was amusing them.

Samson’s Revenge

^28 (C)Then Samson called to Yahweh and said, “O Lord Yahweh, please remember me and please strengthen me just this time, O God, that I may at once ^(D)be avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes.” ²⁹ Samson grasped the two middle pillars on which the house was established and supported himself against them, the one with his right hand and the other with his left. ³⁰ And Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines!” And he bent with his strength so that the house fell on the lords and all the people who were in it. So the dead whom he put to death by his death were more than those whom he put to death in his life. ³¹ Then his brothers and all his father’s household came down, carried him, brought him up, and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol, in the tomb of Manoah his father. ^(E)Thus he had judged Israel twenty years.