Then the wife went and told her husband, saying, "A man of God came unto me, and the fashion of him was like the fashion of an Angel of God, exceeding fearful. But I asked him not whence he was, neither told he me his name.

And he said unto me, 'Behold, thou shalt be with child and bear a son, and now drink no wine nor strong drink, neither eat any unclean thing: for the lad shall be an abstainer to God even from his birth to the day of his death.'"

Then Manoah made intercession to the LORD, and said, "I pray thee, my LORD, let the man of God which thou sentest come once more unto us and teach us what we shall do unto the lad when he is born."

And Manoah arose and went after his wife and came to the man and said unto him, "Art thou the man that spakest unto my wife?" And he said, "Yea."

And the Angel of the LORD said unto Manoah, "Thy wife must abstain from all that I said unto her:

she may eat of nothing that cometh of the vine tree, nor drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing: But must observe all that I bade her."

Then said Manoah unto the Angel of the LORD, "Grant us to tarry until we have made ready a kid and have set it before thee."

And the angel of the LORD said unto Manoah, "Though thou make me abide, I will not eat of thy meat. And moreover, if thou wilt prepare a burnt offering, that thou must offer unto the LORD." For Manoah wist not that it was an angel of the LORD.

And Manoah said unto the angel of the LORD, "What is thy name, that when thy saying is come to pass, we may do thee some worship?"

And Manoah took a kid with a meat offering and offered it upon a rock unto the LORD. And the angel did wonderfully, Manoah and his wife looking upon.

and said unto his wife, "We shall surely die, because we have seen God!"

But his wife said unto him, "If the LORD would kill us, he would not have received a burnt offering and a meat offering of our hands; neither would he have showed us all these things, nor would have told us as he hath of things to come."

And the wife bare a son, and called his name Samson. And the lad grew, and the LORD blessed him.

Samson went down to Timnah, and saw a woman in Timnah of the daughters of the Philistines,

and came up and told his father and his mother, and said, "I have seen a woman in Timnah of the daughters of the Philistines. And now give her me to wife."

Then his father and mother said unto him, "Is there never a woman of the daughters of thy brethren, among all my people: but that thou must go and fetch a wife of the uncircumcised Philistines?" And Samson said unto his father, "Give me this woman for she pleaseth me well."

Then went Samson and his father and his mother down to Timnah. And when they came to the vineyards of Timnah, behold, a young lion roared upon him.

And the spirit of the LORD came upon him. And he tare him, as a man would rent a kid, and yet had nothing in his hand. Nevertheless he told not his father and mother what he had done.

And within a short space after, as he went thither again to take her to wife, he turned out of the way, to see the carcass of the Lion. And behold, there was a swarm of bees in the carcass of the Lion and honey.

And when his father was come unto the woman, Samson made there a feast, for so used the young men to do.

And Samson said unto them, "I will put forth a riddle unto you. And if you can declare it within seven days of the feast and find it out, I will give you thirty shirts and thirty changes of garments:

But and if you cannot declare it me, then shall ye give me thirty shirts and thirty changes of garments." And they answered him, "Put forth thy riddle and let us hear it."

And when the seventh day was come, they said unto Samson's wife, "Flatter with thine husband, that he may declare us thy riddle, or else we will burn thee and thy father's house with fire: have ye called us to make us beggars? Or not?"

Then Samson's wife wept unto him and said, "It cannot be but that thou hatest me and lovest me not: for thou hast put forth a riddle unto the children of my folk and wilt not tell me what it meaneth." And he said, "Behold, I have not told it my father, nor my mother, and should I tell it thee?"

And the men of the city said unto him the seventh day before the sun went down, "What is sweeter than honey? And what is stronger than a Lion?" Then said he unto them, "If ye had not ploughed with my calf, ye had not found out my riddle."

But it chanced, within a while after, even in the time of wheat harvest, that Samson visited his wife with a Kid. And when he supposed to have gone in unto his wife into the chamber, her father would not suffer him to go in,

but said, "I thought that thou hadst hated her, and therefore gave I her unto one of thy companions. Howbeit her younger sister is fairer than she. Take her instead of the other."

Then said Samson unto them, "Now I am blameless concerning the Philistines, though I do them evil."

And Samson went out and caught three hundred foxes, and took firebrands, and fastened tail to tail, and put a firebrand in the midst between two tails.

Then the Philistines asked who had done that. And it was told them that Samson, the son-in-law of the Timnite, because he had taken his wife and given her to one of his companions. And the Philistines came and burnt her and her father with fire.

And Samson said unto them, "Should ye do so? For I will surely be avenged of you; and then I will cease."

And he smote them leg and thigh with a mighty plague. And then he went and dwelt in the cave of the rock Etam.

And the men of Judah said, "Why are ye come against us?" And they answered, "To bind Samson are we come, even to do him as he hath done to us."

Then three thousand men of Judah went down to the cave of the rock Etam, and said to Samson, "Knowest thou not that the Philistines are rulers over us? Wherefore then hast thou served us thus?" And he answered them, "As they served me, so have I served them."

And they said unto him, "We are come to bind thee and to deliver thee into the hands of the Philistines." And Samson said unto them, "Sware unto me, that ye shall not hurt me yourselves."

And they said, "We will not hurt thee, save only bind thee and deliver thee unto their hands: But we will not kill thee." And so they bound him with two new cords and brought him up from the rock.

And he found a jawbone of a ratten ass, and put forth his hand and caught it, and slew a thousand men therewith.

And Samson said, "With the jaw of an ass, have I made heaps: with the jaw of an ass have I slain a thousand men!"

And when he had left speaking he cast away the jaw out of his hand and called the place Ramathlehi.

And he was sore a thirst, and called on the LORD and said, "Thou LORD hath given this great victory, through the hand of thy servant. And now I must die for thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised."

But God brake a great tooth that was in the jaw, and there came water thereout. And when he had drunk, his spirit came again, and he was refreshed, wherefore the name thereof was called the Well of the Caller-on, which is in Lehi unto this day.

And it was told the Gazites, that Samson was come thither. And they went about and laid a wait for him all night in the gate of the city, but were still all the night, saying, "Tarry till the morning that it be day, and then let us kill him."

And Samson took his rest till midnight, and arose at midnight took the doors of the gate of the city, and the two side posts, and rent them off, bars and all, and put them upon his shoulders, and carried them up to the top of a hill that lieth before Hebron.

And after that he loved a woman, upon the river of Sorek, called Delilah

- unto whom came the lords of the Philistines, and said unto her, "Flatter with him, and see wherein his great strength lieth, and by what means we may have power over him, that we may bind him, to bring him under, and we will give every man eleven hundred silverlings."

And Delilah said to Samson, "Oh, tell me where thy great strength lieth, and if thou were bound wherewith men might constrain thee."

And Samson said unto her, "If men bound me with seven ropes of fresh sinews that were never dried, I should be weak and as another man."

Notwithstanding, she had men lying in wait with her in the chamber. And she said unto him, "The Philistines be upon thee, Samson." And he brake the cords as a string of tow breaketh, when it feeleth fire. And so his strength was not known.

Then said Delilah to Samson, "See: thou hast mocked me and told me lies. Now yet tell me, I pray thee, wherewith thou mightest be bound."

And he said, "If I were bound with new ropes that never were occupied, then should I be weak, and as another man."

And Delilah took new ropes and bound him therewith, and said unto him, "The Philistines be upon thee, Samson." And there were layers of wait in the chamber. And he brake them from off his arms, as they had been but a thread.

And Delilah said unto Samson, "Hitherto, thou hast beguiled me and told me lies: I pray thee yet, tell me wherewith men may bind thee." And he said unto her, "If thou plaitedest the seven locks of my head with a hair lace and fastenedest them with a nail."

And she said unto him, "The Philistines be upon thee, Samson." And he awaked out of his sleep, and plucked and went away with the nail that was in the plaiting and with the hair lace.

And he told her all his heart, and said unto her, "There never came razor nor shears upon mine head, for I have been an abstainer to God even from my mother's womb. If mine hair were cut off, my strength would go from me, and I should wax and be like all other men."

And she made him sleep upon her lap, and sent for a man, and cut off the seven locks of his head and began to vex him. But his strength was gone from him.

Then the lords of the Philistines gathered them together, for to offer a solemn offering unto Dagon their god, and to rejoice: for they said, "Our god hath delivered Samson our enemy into our hands."

And Samson said unto the lad that led him by the hand, "Set me that I may touch the pillars that the house stands upon, and that I may lean to them."

And the house was full of men and women. And there was all the lords of the Philistines. And there were upon the roof a three thousand men and women, that beheld how Samson played.

And Samson called unto the LORD, and said, "My Lord Jehovah think upon me, and strengthen me at this time only, O God, that I may be avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes."

There was a man in mount Ephraim, named Micah,

which said unto his mother, "The eleven hundred silverlings that were taken from thee, about which thou cursedst and saidst in mine ears: Behold, the silver is with me for I took it away." Then said his mother, "Blessed be thou my son, in the LORD."

And so he restored the eleven hundred silverlings to his mother again. And his mother said, "I vowed the silver unto the LORD of mine hand for my son: to make a graven image and an image of metal. Now therefore I give it thee again."

And he restored the money again unto his mother. Then his mother took two hundred silverlings and put them to a goldsmith, to make thereof a graven image and a image of metal, which remained in the house of Micah.

And the man Micah had a chapel of gods, and made an ephod and images, and filled the hand of one of his sons which became his priest.

And there was a young man out of Bethlehem Judah, and out of the kindreds of Judah: which young man was a Levite and sojourned there.

And the man departed out of the city of Bethlehem Judah, to go dwell where he could find a place. And he came to mount Ephraim, and to the house of Micah as he journeyed.

And Micah said unto him, "Whence comest thou?" And the Levite answered him, "I am of Bethlehem Judah, and go to dwell where I may find a place."

And Micah said unto him, "Dwell with me, and be unto me a father and a priest. And I will give thee ten silverlings by year and raiment of all sorts, and thy meat and drink."

Then said Micah, "Now I am sure that the LORD will be good unto me, seeing I have a Levite to my priest."

And when they were come unto the house of Micah, they knew the voice of the young man the Levite, and turned in thither, and said unto him, "Who brought thee hither? And what makest thou in this place? And what hast thou here?"

And they said unto him, "Ask of God, I pray thee, that we may know whether the way which we go, shall be prosperous or no."

And the priest said unto them, "Go in peace, for the way which ye go is before the LORD."

And they came unto their brethren, to Zorah, and Eshtaol. And their brethren said unto them, "What tidings bring you?"

And they said, "Up, and let us go unto them, for we have seen the land, that it is very good. Haste therefore and be not slothful to depart and go and conquer the land.

When ye be come, ye shall come unto a people that casteth no perils, and unto a large country: for God hath given into your hands a place wherein is no lack of anything that is in the world."

Then answered the five men that went to spy out the country of Laish, and said unto their brethren, "Know ye not that there is in these houses an ephod and images; and a graven image and an image of metal? Now therefore consider what ye have to do."

while the other went to Micah's house, and fetched the carved image, the ephod, the graven image and the image of metal. Then said the priest unto them, "What do ye?"

And they answered him, "Hold thy peace, and put thine hand upon thy mouth, and come with us, and be unto us a father and a priest. Whether is it better for thee to be a priest? Unto the house of one man, or to be priest unto a tribe or a kindred in Israel?"

When they were a good way from the house of Micah, the men that were in the houses that were by Micah's house, made an outcry, and followed after the children of Dan and called unto them.

And he said, "Ye have taken away my gods which I made, and also the priest, and go your ways with them! And what have I more? How then say ye unto me, 'What aileth thee?'"

And they took the things which Micah had made, and the priest which he had, and went unto Laish, even unto a people that were at rest and without mistrust, and smote them with the edge of the sword and burnt the city with fire.

And the children of Dan set them up the graven image. And Jonathan the son of Gershon, the son of Manasseh and his sons were the priests unto the tribe of the Danites, until they were carried away out of the land captive.

It chanced in those days, when there was no king in Israel, that a certain Levite dwelling on the side of mount Ephraim, took to wife a concubine out of Bethlehem Judah:

which concubine played the whore in his house, and went away from him, unto her father's house to Bethlehem Judah, and there continued four months.

And her husband arose and went after her, to speak friendly unto her, and to bring her home again; and his lad with him and a couple of asses. And she brought him unto her father's house, and when the father of the damsel saw him, he rejoiced of his coming.

The fourth day they arose early in the morning, and the man stood up to depart. But the damsel's father said unto his son-in-law, "Comfort thine heart with a morsel of bread and then go your way."

And they sat down and did eat and drink both of them together. Then said the damsel's father unto the man, "Go to, I pray thee, and tarry all night and let thine heart be merry."

And then the man arose to depart with his concubine and his lad. But his father-in-law, the damsel's father, said unto him, "Behold, the day goeth fast away and draweth toward even. Tarry all night: at the least way tarry this day here and let thine heart be merry. And tomorrow get you early upon your way and get thee to thy tent."

And when they were fast by Jebus, the day was sore spent and the young man said unto his master, "Come I pray thee and let us turn in, into this city of the Jebusites and lodge all night there."

But his master said unto him, "We will not turn in to a strange city that are not of the children of Israel: we will go forth to Gibeah."

And he said unto his lad, "Go forward, and we shall come to one place or other and shall lodge all night in Gibeah or in Ramah."

And they went forward upon their way, and the sun went down upon them when they were fast by Gibeah which is in Benjamin.

And they turned thitherward to go and lodge all night in Gibeah. And when they came in, they sat them down in a street of the city, for there was no man took them in to lodge.

But behold, there came an old man from his work, out of the fields, at even - which was also of mount Ephraim, and but a stranger in Gibeah, for the men of the place were of the children of Benjamin.

And when he had lifted up his eyes, and saw a wayfaring man in the streets of the city he said, "Whither goest thou? And whence comest thou?"

And the other answered him, "We come from Bethlehem Judah toward the side of mount Ephraim: from thence am I, and went to Bethlehem Judah and go now to the house of the LORD. But there is no man that receiveth me to house:

and yet I have straw and provender for our asses, and bread and wine for me and thy handmaid, and thy lad that are with thy servant, and lack nothing."

And as they were making their hearts merry, the men of the city which were wicked, set the house round about, and thrust at the door, and spake to the man of the house, the old man, saying, "Bring forth the man that came into thine house, that we may know him."

But the man of the house went out to them and said unto them, "Oh, nay my brethren, do not so wickedly seeing that this man is come into mine house: do not this folly.

Behold my daughter, yet a virgin, and this man's concubine: them I will bring out unto you, and humble them, and do with them what seemeth you good: but unto this man, do not this folly."