Beginning
16 Then Samson went to Gaza, and saw a harlot there, and went in to her.
2 And it was told to the Gazites, “Samson has come here.” And they went around and laid wait for him all night in the gate of the city, and were quiet all night, saying, “Wait until the early morning and we shall kill him.”
3 And Samson slept until midnight and arose at midnight and took the doors of the gates of the city and the two posts and lifted them away, with the bars, and put them upon his shoulders and carried them up to the top of the mountain that is before Hebron.
4 And after this, he loved a woman by the river of Sorek, whose name was Delilah,
5 to whom came the princes of the Philistines. And they said to her, “Entice him and see wherein his great strength lies, and by what means we may overcome him, so that we may bind him and punish him. And every one of us shall give you eleven hundred shekels of silver.”
6 And Delilah said to Samson, “Tell me, please, wherein your great strength lies, and with what you might be bound, to do you harm.”
7 Then Samson answered her, “If they bind me with seven green cords that were never dried, then I shall be weak and be as another man.”
8 And the princes of the Philistines brought her seven green cords that were not dry, and she bound him with them.
9 And she had men lying in wait with her in the chamber. Then she said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” And he broke the cords, as a thread of yarn is broken when it feels fire. So, his strength was not known.
10 Afterward, Delilah said to Samson, “See, you have mocked me and told me lies. I ask you now, please tell me with what you might be bound.
11 Then he answered her, “If they bind me with new ropes that never were used, then shall I be weak and be as another man.”
12 Delilah, therefore, took new ropes and bound him with them, and said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” And men lay in wait in the chamber, and he broke them from his arms, as a thread.
13 Afterward Delilah said to Samson, “Up to now you have beguiled me, and told me lies. Tell me how you might be bound.” And he said to her, “If you weave the seven locks of my head with the threads of the woof.
14 And she fastened it with a pin and said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” And he awoke out of his sleep and went away with the pin of the web and the woof.
15 Again, she said to him, “How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when your heart is not with me? You have mocked me these three times and have not told me wherein your great strength lies.”
16 And because she pressed him with her words continually, and pestered him, his soul was pained to the death.
17 Therefore, he told her all his heart and said to her, “There has never come a razor upon my head; for I am a Nazirite to God from my mother’s womb. Therefore, if I am shaved, my strength will go from me and I shall be weak and be like all men.”
18 And when Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent, and called for the princes of the Philistines, saying, “Come up once again; for he has shown me all his heart.” Then the princes of the Philistines came up to her and brought the money in their hands.
19 And she made him sleep upon her knees. And she called a man and made him shave off the seven locks of his head. And she began to subdue him; for his strength had gone from him.
20 Then she said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” And he awoke out of his sleep, and thought, “I will go out now, as at other times, and shake myself.” But he did not know that the LORD had departed from him.
21 Therefore, the Philistines took him and put out his eyes and brought him down to Gaza and bound him with chains. And he was a grinder in the prison house.
22 And the hair of his head began to grow again after it was shaved.
23 Then, the princes of the Philistines gathered themselves together to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon, their god, and to rejoice. For they said, “Our god has delivered Samson, our enemy, into our hands!”
24 Also when the people saw him, they praised their god. For they said, “Our god has delivered our enemy and the destroyer of our country, who has killed many of us, into our hands!”
25 And when their hearts were merry, they said, “Call Samson, so that he may perform for us!” So, they called Samson out of the prison house. And he was a laughingstock to them. And they set him between the pillars.
26 Then, Samson said to the servant who led him by the hand, “Lead me, so that I may touch the pillars that the house stands upon, and so that I may lean on them.”
27 Now, the house was full of men and women. And all the princes of the Philistines were there. Also, there were about three thousand men and women on the roof who watched while Samson performed.
28 Then, Samson called to the LORD, and said, “O Lord GOD! Think upon me, I pray! O God, I beg You, strengthen me just this one time, so that I may, at once, be avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes!”
29 And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars upon which the house stood and upon which it was held up, one on his right and the other on his left.
30 Then Samson said, “Let me lose my life with the Philistines!” And he flexed with all his might; and the house fell upon the princes and upon all the people who were inside. So, the dead which he killed at his death, were more than those whom he had killed in his life.
31 Then, his brethren and all the House of his father came down and took him and brought him up and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol, in the sepulcher of Manoah, his father. Now, he had judged Israel for twenty years.
17 There was a man of Mount Ephraim whose name was Micah.
2 And he said to his mother, “The eleven hundred shekels of silver that were taken from you (on which you spoke a curse within my hearing), behold, the silver is with me. I took it.” Then his mother said, “Blessed be my son by the LORD!”
3 And when he had restored the eleven hundred shekels of silver to his mother, his mother said, “I had dedicated the silver to the LORD from my hand for my son, to make a graven and molten image. Now, therefore, I will give it to you again.”
4 And when he had restored the money to his mother, his mother took two hundred shekels of silver and gave them to the founder, who made a graven and molten image from it. And it was in the house of Micah.
5 And this man, Micah, had a house of gods, and made an ephod and teraphim, and consecrated one of his sons, who was his priest.
6 In those days, there was no king in Israel. Every man did that which was good in his own eyes.
7 There was also a young man from Bethlehem, Judah, of the family of Judah, who was a Levite and had sojourned there.
8 And the man departed out of the city, out of Bethlehem, Judah, to dwell wherever he could find. And as he journeyed, he came to Mount Ephraim, to the house of Micah.
9 And Micah said to him, “Where have you come from?” And the Levite answered him, “I came from Bethlehem, Judah, and go to dwell wherever I may find.”
10 Then Micah said to him, “Dwell with me; and be to me a father and a priest. And I will give you ten shekels of silver per year, and a suit of clothes, and your food and drink.” So, the Levite went in.
11 And the Levite was content to dwell with the man. And the young man was to him as one of his own sons.
12 And Micah consecrated the Levite. And the young man was his priest and was in the house of Micah.
13 Then Micah said, “Now I know that the LORD will be good to me, seeing I have a Levite as my priest.”
18 In those days, there was no king in Israel. And at the same time, the tribe of Dan sought an inheritance for themselves to dwell in. For up to that time, their inheritance had not fallen to them among the tribes of Israel.
2 Therefore, the children of Dan sent from their family five men of their territory, men expert in war, out of Zorah and Eshtaol, to view the land and spy it out. And they said to them, “Go! Spy out the land!” Then they came to Mount Ephraim, to the house of Micah and lodged there.
3 When they were in the house of Micah, they recognized the voice of the young man, the Levite. And turning aside, they said to him, “Who brought you here? What do you make in this place? What are you doing here?”
4 And he answered them, “Micah has dealt thus and so with me…He has hired me. I am his priest.”
5 Again, they said to him, “Ask counsel now of God, so that we may know whether the way which we go shall be prosperous.”
6 And the priest said to them, “Go in peace. For the LORD guides your way which you go.”
7 Then the five men departed and came to Laish and saw the people who were there, who dwelt securely, just as the Sidonians, quiet and sure, because no man made any trouble in the land or usurped any dominion. Also, they were far from the Sidonians and had no business with anyone.
8 So, they came back to their brethren, to Zorah and Eshtaol. And their brethren said to them, “What have you to say?”
9 And they answered, “Arise, so that we may go up against them. For we have seen the land and surely it is very good. And do you sit still? Do not be slothful to go and enter to possess the land.
10 “If you will go, you shall come to a carefree people and a large country. For God has given it into your hand, a place which lacks nothing that is in the world.”
11 Then, there departed from there of the family of the Danites, from Zorah and from Eshtaol, six hundred men appointed with instruments of war.
12 And they went up and camped in Kirjath Jearim in Judah. Therefore, they called that place Mahaneh Dan to this day. And it is behind Kirjath Jearim.
13 And they went there, to Mount Ephraim, and came to the house of Micah.
14 Then the five men who went to spy out the country of Laish answered and said to their brethren, “Do you not know that there is, in these houses, an ephod and teraphim and a graven and a molten image? Now, therefore, consider what you have to do.”
15 And they turned that way and came to the house of the young Levite man, to the house of Micah, and greeted him peaceably.
16 And the six hundred men, appointed with their weapons of war, which were of the children of Dan, stood by the entrance of the gate.
17 Then the five men who went to spy out the land went in there and took the graven image and the ephod and the teraphim and the molten image. And the priest stood in the entrance of the gate, with the six hundred men who were appointed with weapons of war.
18 And the other went into Micah’s house and fetched the graven image, the ephod and the teraphim, and the molten image. Then the priest said to them, “What are you doing?”
19 And they answered him, “Hold your peace. Lay your hand upon your mouth and come with us to be our father and priest. Which is better: that you should be a priest to the house of one man or that you should be a priest to a tribe and to a family in Israel?”
20 And the priest’s heart was glad. And he took the ephod and the teraphim and the graven image and went among the people.
21 And they turned and departed and put the children and the cattle and the substance before them.
22 When they were far away from the house of Micah, the men who were in the houses near Micah’s house gathered together and pursued after the children of Dan
23 and cried to the children of Dan, who turned their faces and said to Micah, “What ails you that you make such an outcry?”
24 And he said, “You have taken away my gods which I made, and the priest, and have gone your ways. And what more do I have? How, then, can you say to me, ‘What ails you?’”
25 And the children of Dan said to him, “Do not let your voice be heard among us, lest our angry friends run upon you, and you lose your life with the lives of your household.”
26 So the children of Dan went their ways. And when Micah saw that they were too strong for him, he turned and went back to his house.
27 And they took the things which Micah had made, and the priest which he had, and came to Laish, to that quiet and trusting people, and struck them with the edge of the sword, and burnt the city with fire.
28 And there was no one to help, because Laish was far from Sidon, and they had no business with anyone. Also, it was in the valley that lies by Beth Rehob. Afterward, they built the city and dwelt in it,
29 and called the name of the city Dan, after the name of Dan their father, who was born to Israel. However, the name of the city was Laish at the beginning.
30 Then the children of Dan set up the graven image for themselves. And Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Manasseh, and his sons, were the priests in the tribe of the Danites until the day of the captivity of the land.
31 So, they set up the graven image for themselves which Micah had made during the whole time the House of God was in Shiloh.
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