Judges 14:10-20

New International Reader's Version

¹⁰ Samson’s father went down to see the woman. Samson had a feast prepared there. He was following the practice of young men when they married their wives. ¹¹ When the people saw Samson, they gave him 30 men to be his companions.

¹² “Let me tell you a riddle,” Samson said to the companions. “The feast will last for seven days. Give me the answer to the riddle before the feast ends. If you do, I’ll give you 30 linen shirts. I’ll also give you 30 sets of clothes. ¹³ But suppose you can’t give me the answer. Then you must give me 30 linen shirts. You must also give me 30 sets of clothes.”

“Tell us your riddle,” they said. “Let’s hear it.”

¹⁴ Samson replied,

For three days they couldn’t give him the answer.

¹⁵ On the fourth day they spoke to Samson’s wife. “Get your husband to explain the riddle for us,” they said. “If you don’t, we’ll burn you to death. We’ll burn up everyone in your family. Did you invite us here to steal our property?”

¹⁶ Then Samson’s wife threw herself on him. She sobbed, “You hate me! You don’t really love me. You have given my people a riddle. But you haven’t told me the answer.”

“I haven’t even explained it to my father or mother,” he replied. “So why should I explain it to you?” ¹⁷ She cried during the whole seven days the feast was going on. So on the seventh day he finally told her the answer to the riddle. That’s because she kept on asking him to tell her. Then she explained the riddle to her people.

¹⁸ Before sunset on the seventh day of the feast the men of the town spoke to Samson. They said,

Samson said to them,

¹⁹ Then the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully on Samson. He went down to Ashkelon. He struck down 30 of their men. He took everything they had with them. And he gave their clothes to those who had explained the riddle. Samson was very angry as he returned to his father’s home. ²⁰ Samson’s wife was given to someone else. She was given to a companion of Samson. The companion had helped him at the feast.