Add parallel Print Page Options

Samson and Delilah

16 Samson went down to Gaza; there he saw a prostitute and had sex with her.[a] The Gazites were told, “Samson has come here,” so they surrounded the place and lay in ambush for him all night at the city gate. They kept silent all night, saying, “We will wait until the morning light, and then we will kill him.” But Samson lay until the middle of the night; he got up in the middle of the night and took hold of the doors of the city gate and the two door posts, tore them loose with the bar, put them on his shoulders, and carried them up to the top of the hill that is in front of[b] Hebron.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Judges 16:1 Literally “went into her”
  2. Judges 16:3 Literally “on the face of”

Samson Carries Away Gaza’s Gates

16 One day Samson went to the Philistine town of Gaza and spent the night with a prostitute. Word soon spread[a] that Samson was there, so the men of Gaza gathered together and waited all night at the town gates. They kept quiet during the night, saying to themselves, “When the light of morning comes, we will kill him.”

But Samson stayed in bed only until midnight. Then he got up, took hold of the doors of the town gate, including the two posts, and lifted them up, bar and all. He put them on his shoulders and carried them all the way to the top of the hill across from Hebron.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 16:2 As in Greek and Syriac versions and Latin Vulgate; Hebrew lacks Word soon spread.