1 Then went Samson
to Gaza, and saw there an harlot, and went in unto her.
2 And it was told the Gazites, saying, Samson is come hither.
And they compassed him in, and laid wait for him all night in
the gate of the city, and were quiet all the night, saying,
In the morning, when it is day, we shall kill him.
3 And Samson lay till midnight, and arose at midnight, and took
the doors of the gate of the city, and the two posts, and went
away with them, bar and all, and put them upon his shoulders,
and carried them up to the top of an hill that is before Hebron.
4 And it came to pass afterward, that he loved a woman in the
valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah.
5 And the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and said
unto her, Entice him, and see wherein his great strength lieth,
and by what means we may prevail against him, that we may bind
him to afflict him: and we will give thee every one of us eleven
hundred pieces of silver.
6 And Delilah said to Samson, Tell me, I pray thee, wherein
thy great strength lieth, and wherewith thou mightest be bound
to afflict thee.
7 And Samson said unto her, If they bind me with seven green
withs that were never dried, then shall I be weak, and be as
another man.
8 Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven
green withs which had not been dried, and she bound him with
them.
9 Now there were men lying in wait, abiding with her in the
chamber. And she said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee,
Samson. And he brake the withs, as a thread of tow is broken
when it toucheth the fire. So his strength was not known.
10 And Delilah said unto Samson, Behold, thou hast mocked me,
and told me lies: now tell me, I pray thee, wherewith thou mightest
be bound.
11 And he said unto her, If they bind me fast with new ropes
that never were occupied, then shall I be weak, and be as another
man.
12 Delilah therefore took new ropes, and bound him therewith,
and said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And
there were liers in wait abiding in the chamber. And he brake
them from off his arms like a thread.
13 And Delilah said unto Samson, Hitherto thou hast mocked me,
and told me lies: tell me wherewith thou mightest be bound.
And he said unto her, If thou weavest the seven locks of my
head with the web.
14 And she fastened it with the pin, and said unto him, The
Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awaked out of his sleep,
and went away with the pin of the beam, and with the web.
15 And she said unto him, How canst thou say, I love thee, when
thine heart is not with me? thou hast mocked me these three
times, and hast not told me wherein thy great strength lieth.
16 And it came to pass, when she pressed him daily with her
words, and urged him, so that his soul was vexed unto death;
17 That he told her all his heart, and said unto her. There
hath not come a razor upon mine head; for I have been a Nazarite
unto God from my mother's womb: if I be shaven, then my strength
will go from me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other
man.
18 And when Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart,
she sent and called for the lords of the Philistines, saying,
Come up this once, for he hath shewed me all his heart. Then
the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and brought money
in their hand.
19 And she made him sleep upon her knees; and she called for
a man, and she caused him to shave off the seven locks of his
head; and she began to afflict him, and his strength went from
him.
20 And she said, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he
awoke out of his sleep, and said, I will go out as at other
times before, and shake myself. And he wist not that the LORD
was departed from him.
21 But the Philistines took him, and put out his eyes, and brought
him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he
did grind in the prison house.
22 Howbeit the hair of his head began to grow again after he
was shaven.
23 Then the lords of the Philistines gathered them together
for to offer a great sacrifice unto Dagon their god, and to
rejoice: for they said, Our god hath delivered Samson our enemy
into our hand.
24 And when the people saw him, they praised their god: for
they said, Our god hath delivered into our hands our enemy,
and the destroyer of our country, which slew many of us.
25 And it came to pass, when their hearts were merry, that they
said, Call for Samson, that he may make us sport. And they called
for Samson out of the prison house; and he made them sport:
and they set him between the pillars.
26 And Samson said unto the lad that held him by the hand, Suffer
me that I may feel the pillars whereupon the house standeth,
that I may lean upon them.
27 Now the house was full of men and women; and all the lords
of the Philistines were there; and there were upon the roof
about three thousand men and women, that beheld while Samson
made sport.
28 And Samson called unto the LORD, and said, O Lord GOD, remember
me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once,
O God, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for
my two eyes.
29 And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars upon which
the house stood, and on which it was borne up, of the one with
his right hand, and of the other with his left.
30 And Samson said, Let me die with the Philistines. And he
bowed himself with all his might; and the house fell upon the
lords, and upon all the people that were therein. So the dead
which he slew at his death were more than they which he slew
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 burying place of Manoah his father. And he
judged Israel twenty years.
Chapter 17
1 And there was
a man of mount Ephraim, whose name was Micah.
2 And he said unto his mother, The eleven hundred shekels of
silver that were taken from thee, about which thou cursedst,
and spakest of also in mine ears, behold, the silver is with
me; I took it. And his mother said, Blessed be thou of the LORD,
my son.
3 And when he had restored the eleven hundred shekels of silver
to his mother, his mother said, I had wholly dedicated the silver
unto the LORD from my hand for my son, to make a graven image
and a molten image: now therefore I will restore it unto thee.
4 Yet he restored the money unto his mother; and his mother
took two hundred shekels of silver, and gave them to the founder,
who made thereof a graven image and a molten image: and they
were in the house of Micah.
5 And the man Micah had an house of gods, and made an ephod,
and teraphim, and consecrated one of his sons, who became his
priest.
6 In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did
that which was right in his own eyes.
7 And there was a young man out of Bethlehemjudah of the family
of Judah, who was a Levite, and he sojourned there.
8 And the man departed out of the city from Bethlehemjudah to
sojourn where he could find a place: and he came to mount Ephraim
to the house of Micah, as he journeyed.
9 And Micah said unto him, Whence comest thou? And he said unto
him, I am a Levite of Bethlehemjudah, and I go to sojourn where
I may find a place.
10 And Micah said unto him, Dwell with me, and be unto me a
father and a priest, and I will give thee ten shekels of silver
by the year, and a suit of apparel, and thy victuals. So the
Levite went in.
11 And the Levite was content to dwell with the man; and the
young man was unto him as one of his sons.
12 And Micah consecrated the Levite; and the young man became
his priest, and was in the house of Micah.
13 Then said Micah, Now know I that the LORD will do me good,
seeing I have a Levite to my priest.
Chapter 18
1 In those days
there was no king in Israel: and in those days the tribe of
the Danites sought them an inheritance to dwell in; for unto
that day all their inheritance had not fallen unto them among
the tribes of Israel.
2 And the children of Dan sent of their family five men from
their coasts, men of valour, from Zorah, and from Eshtaol, to
spy out the land, and to search it; and they said unto them,
Go, search the land: who when they came to mount Ephraim, to
the house of Micah, they lodged there.
3 When they were by the house of Micah, they knew the voice
of the young man the Levite: and they turned in thither, and
said unto him, Who brought thee hither? and what makest thou
in this place? and what hast thou here?
4 And he said unto them, Thus and thus dealeth Micah with me,
and hath hired me, and I am his priest.
5 And they said unto him, Ask counsel, we pray thee, of God,
that we may know whether our way which we go shall be prosperous.
6 And the priest said unto them, Go in peace: before the LORD
is your way wherein ye go.
7 Then the five men departed, and came to Laish, and saw the
people that were therein, how they dwelt careless, after the
manner of the Zidonians, quiet and secure; and there was no
magistrate in the land, that might put them to shame in any
thing; and they were far from the Zidonians, and had no business
with any man.
8 And they came unto their brethren to Zorah and Eshtaol: and
their brethren said unto them, What say ye?
9 And they said, Arise, that we may go up against them: for
we have seen the land, and, behold, it is very good: and are
ye still? be not slothful to go, and to enter to possess the
land.
10 When ye go, ye shall come unto a people secure, and to a
large land: for God hath given it into your hands; a place where
there is no want of any thing that is in the earth.
11 And there went from thence of the family of the Danites,
out of Zorah and out of Eshtaol, six hundred men appointed with
weapons of war.
12 And they went up, and pitched in Kirjath-jearim, in Judah:
wherefore they called that place Mahaneh-dan unto this day:
behold, it is behind Kirjath-jearim.
13 And they passed thence unto mount Ephraim, and came unto
the house of Micah.
14 Then answered the five men that went to spy out the country
of Laish, and said unto their brethren, Do ye know that there
is in these houses an ephod, and teraphim, and a graven image,
and a molten image? now therefore consider what ye have to do.
15 And they turned thitherward, and came to the house of the
young man the Levite, even unto the house of Micah, and saluted
him.
16 And the six hundred men appointed with their weapons of war,
which were of the children of Dan, stood by the entering of
the gate.
17 And the five men that went to spy out the land went up, and
came in thither, and took the graven image, and the ephod, and
the teraphim, and the molten image: and the priest stood in
the entering of the gate with the six hundred men that were
appointed with weapons of war.
18 And these went into Micah's house, and fetched the carved
image, the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image. Then
said the priest unto them, What do ye?
19 And they said unto him, Hold thy peace, lay thine hand upon
thy mouth, and go with us, and be to us a father and a priest:
is it better for thee to be a priest unto the house of one man,
or that thou be a priest unto a tribe and 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 in the midst of
the people.
21 So they turned and departed, and put the little ones and
the cattle and the carriage before them.
22 And when they were a good way from the house of Micah, the
men that were in the houses near to Micah's house were gathered
together, and overtook the children of Dan.
23 And they cried unto the children of Dan. And they turned
their faces, and said unto Micah, What aileth thee, that thou
comest with such a company?
24 And he said, Ye have taken away my gods which I made, and
the priest, and ye are gone away: and what have I more? and
what is this that ye say unto me, What aileth thee?
25 And the children of Dan said unto him, Let not thy voice
be heard among us, lest angry fellows run upon thee, and thou
lose thy life, with the lives of thy household.
26 And the children of Dan went their way: and when Micah saw
that they were too strong for him, he turned and went back unto
his house.
27 And they took the things which Micah had made, and the priest
which he had, and came unto Laish, unto a people that were at
quiet and secure: and they smote them with the edge of the sword,
and burnt the city with fire.
28 And there was no deliverer, because it was far from Zidon,
and they had no business with any man; and it was in the valley
that lieth by Beth-rehob. And they built a city, and dwelt therein.
29 And they called the name of the city Dan, after the name
of Dan their father, who was born unto Israel: howbeit the name
of the city was Laish at the first.
30 And the children of Dan set up the graven image: and Jonathan,
the son of Gershom, the son of Manasseh, he and his sons were
priests to the tribe of Dan until the day of the captivity of
the land.
31 And they set them up Micah's graven image, which he made,
all the time that the house of God was in Shiloh. |