And the woman bore a son, and called his name Samson. And the child grew, and the LORD blessed him.

And Samson went down to Timnath, and saw a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines.

Then his father and his mother said to him, Is there not a woman among the daughters of thy brethren, or among all my people, that thou goest to take a wife of the uncircumcised Philistines? And Samson said to his father, Get her for me; for she pleaseth me well.

Then went Samson down, and his father and his mother, to Timnath, and came to the vineyards of Timnath: and behold, a young lion roared against him.

And he went down, and talked with the woman; and she pleased Samson well.

So his father went down to the woman: and Samson made there a feast; for so used the young men to do.

And Samson said to them, I will now propose a riddle to you: if ye can certainly declare it me within the seven days of the feast, and find it out, then I will give you thirty sheets and thirty change of garments:

And it came to pass on the seventh day, that they said to Samson's wife, Entice thy husband, that he may declare to us the riddle, lest we burn thee and thy father's house with fire: have ye called us to take what we possess? is it not so?

And Samson's wife wept before him, and said, Thou dost but hate me, and lovest me not: thou hast proposed a riddle to the children of my people, and hast not told it to me. And he said to her, Behold, I have not told it to my father nor to my mother, and shall I tell it to thee?

But Samson's wife was given to his companion, whom he had used as his friend.

But it came to pass after a while, in the time of wheat-harvest, that Samson visited his wife with a kid; and he said, I will go in to my wife into the chamber. But her father would not suffer him to go in.

And Samson said concerning them, Now shall I be more blameless than the Philistines, though I do them a displeasure.

And Samson went and caught three hundred foxes, and took fire-brands, and turned tail to tail, and put a fire-brand in the midst between two tails.

Then the Philistines said, Who hath done this? And they answered, Samson, the son-in-law of the Timnite, because he had taken his wife, and given her to his companion. And the Philistines came up, and burnt her and her father with fire.

And Samson said to them, Though ye have done this, yet will I be avenged of you, and after that I will cease.

And the men of Judah said, Why have ye come up against us? And they answered, We have come to bind Samson, to do to him as he hath done to us.

Then three thousand men of Judah went to the top of the rock Etam, and said to Samson, Knowest thou not that the Philistines are rulers over us? what is this that thou hast done to us? And he said to them, As they did to me, so have I done to them.

And they said to him, We have come down to bind thee, that we may deliver thee into the hand of the Philistines. And Samson said to them, Swear to me, that ye will not fall upon me yourselves.

And Samson said, With the jaw-bone of an ass, heaps upon heaps, with the jaw of an ass have I slain a thousand men.

Then went Samson to Gaza, and saw there a harlot, and went in to her.

And it was told the Gazites, saying, Samson is come hither. And they encompassed him, 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.

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 a hill that is before Hebron.

And Delilah said to Samson, Tell me, I pray thee, in what thy great strength lieth, and with what thou mayest be bound to afflict thee.

And Samson said to her, If they bind me with seven green withs, that were never dried, then shall I be weak, and be as another man.

(Now there were men lying in wait, abiding with her in the chamber.) And she said to him, The Philistines are upon thee, Samson. And he broke the withs as a thread of tow is broken when it toucheth the fire. So his strength was not known.

And Delilah said to Samson, Behold, thou hast mocked me, and told me lies: now tell me, I pray thee, with what thou mayest be bound.

Delilah therefore took new ropes, and bound him with them, and said to him, The Philistines are upon thee, Samson. (And there were liers in wait abiding in the chamber.) And he broke them from off his arms like a thread.

And Delilah said to Samson, hitherto thou hast mocked me, and told me lies: tell me with what thou mayest be bound. And he said to her, If thou weavest the seven locks of my head with the web.

And she fastened it with the pin, and said to him, The Philistines are upon thee, Samson. And he awaked out of his sleep, and went away with the pin of the beam, and with the web.

And she said, the Philistines are 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 knew not that the LORD had departed from him.

Then the lords of the Philistines assembled to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god, and to rejoice: for they said, Our god hath delivered Samson our enemy into our hand.

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.

And Samson said to the lad that held him by the hand, Suffer me that I may feel the pillars upon which the house standeth, that I may lean upon them.

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.

And Samson called to 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.

And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars upon which the house stood, and on which it was supported, of the one with his right hand, and of the other with his left.

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 in it. So the dead which he slew at his death were more than they which he slew in his life.