²³ Some time later, the Philistine officials got together to present a magnificent sacrifice to their god Dagon, and to throw a party, because they were claiming, “Our god has given Samson into our control!”

²⁴ When the people saw Samson,^[a] they praised their god, claiming:

²⁵ Because they all got good and drunk,^[b] they ordered, “Go get Samson, so he can entertain us.” So they called for Samson from the prison, and he entertained them while they made him stand between the pillars.

Samson Kills Himself and 3,000 Philistines

²⁶ Then Samson told the young man who had been leading him around by the hand, “Let me touch and feel the pillars on which this building rests, and I’ll support myself against them.” ²⁷ Now the building was full of men, women, and all the Philistine officials, with about 3,000 men and women on the roof watching Samson while he was entertaining them.

²⁸ Then Samson cried out to the Lord, “Lord God, please remember me. And please strengthen me this one time, God, so that I can repay the Philistines right now for my two eyes.” ²⁹ Then Samson grabbed the two middle pillars upon which the house rested and braced himself against them with one pillar in his right hand and the other in his left.

³⁰ Then Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines!” He strained with all his strength until the building collapsed on the officials and every person in it. As a result, the dead whom he killed at his death were more than those whom he killed during his lifetime. ³¹ Afterwards, his brothers and his father’s household servants^[c] came down, took him, brought him back, and buried him in his father Manoah’s tomb between Zorah and Eshtaol. He had governed Israel for 20 years.