Judges 15:9-20
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
9 Then the Philistines came up and encamped in Judah and made a raid on Lehi.(A) 10 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 three thousand men of Judah went down to the cleft of the rock of Etam, and they said to Samson, “Do you not know that the Philistines are rulers over us? What then have you done to us?” He replied, “As they did to me, so I have done to them.”(B) 12 They said to him, “We have come down to bind you, so that we may give you into the hands of the Philistines.” Samson answered them, “Swear to me that you yourselves will not attack me.” 13 They said to him, “No, we will only bind you and give you into their hands; we will not kill you.” So they bound him with two new ropes and brought him up from the rock.
14 When he came to Lehi, the Philistines came shouting to meet him, and the spirit of the Lord rushed on him, and the ropes that were on his arms became like flax that has caught fire, and his bonds melted off his hands.(C) 15 Then he found a fresh jawbone of a donkey, reached down and took it, and with it he killed a thousand men.(D) 16 And Samson said,
“With the jawbone of a donkey,
heaps upon heaps,
with the jawbone of a donkey
I have slain a thousand men.”
17 When he had finished speaking, he threw away the jawbone, and that place was called Ramath-lehi.[a]
18 By then he was very thirsty, and he called on the Lord, saying, “You have granted this great victory by the hand of your servant. Am I now to die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?”(E) 19 So God split open the hollow place that is at Lehi, and water came from it. When he drank, his spirit returned, and he revived. Therefore it was named En-hakkore,[b] which is at Lehi to this day.(F) 20 And he judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years.(G)
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Judges 15:9-20
Common English Bible
9 The Philistines marched up, made camp in Judah, and released their forces on Lehi. 10 The people of Judah asked, “Why have you marched up against us?”
“We’ve marched up to take Samson prisoner,” they replied, “and to do to him just what he did to us.”
11 So three thousand people from Judah traveled down to the cave in the rock at Etam and said to Samson, “Don’t you realize that the Philistines rule over us? What have you done to us?”
But he told them, “I did to them just what they did to me.”
12 Then the people of Judah said to him, “We’ve come down to take you prisoner so we can turn you over to the Philistines.”
Samson responded to them, “Just promise that you won’t attack me yourselves.”
13 “We won’t,” they said to him. “We’ll only take you prisoner so we can turn you over to them. We won’t kill you.” Then they tied him up with two new ropes, and brought him up from the rock.
14 When Samson arrived at Lehi, the Philistines met him and came out shouting. The Lord’s spirit rushed over him, the ropes on his arms became like burned-up linen, and the ties melted right off his hands. 15 He found a donkey’s fresh jawbone, picked it up, and used it to attack one thousand men. 16 Samson said,
“With a donkey’s jawbone,
stacks on stacks!
With a donkey’s jawbone,
I’ve killed one thousand men.”
17 When he finished speaking, he tossed away the jawbone. So that place became known as Ramath-lehi.[a]
18 Now Samson was very thirsty, so he called out to the Lord, “You are the one who allowed this great victory to be accomplished by your servant’s hands. Am I now going to die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?” 19 So God split open the hollow rock in Lehi, and water flowed out of it. When Samson drank, his energy returned and he was recharged. Thus that place is still called by the name En-hakkore[b] in Lehi today.
20 Samson led Israel for twenty years during the time of the Philistines.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Judges 15:17 Or Jawbone Hill
- Judges 15:19 Or Caller’s Spring
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible