Old Testament

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Judges 16:1-12 Catholic Public Domain Version (CPDV)

1. He also went into Gaza. And there he saw a harlot woman, and he entered to her.

2. And when the Philistines had heard of this, and it had become well known among them, that Samson had entered the city, they surrounded him, placing guards at the gate of the city. And there they were keeping watch all night in silence, so that, in the morning, they might kill him as he was going out.

3. But Samson slept until the middle of the night, and rising up from there, he took both doors from the gate, with their posts and bars. And laying them upon his shoulders, he carried them to the top of the hill that looks toward Hebron.

4. After these things, he loved a woman who was living in the valley of Sorek. And she was called Delilah.

5. And the leaders of the Philistines went to her, and they said: "Deceive him, and learn from him wherein lies his great strength, and how we may be able to overcome him and to impose restraints on him. And if you will do this, each one of us will give you one thousand one hundred silver coins."

6. Therefore, Delilah said to Samson, "Tell me, I beg you, wherein lies your very great strength, and with what might you be bound, so that you could not break free?"

7. And Samson answered her, "If I will be bound with seven cords, made of sinews not yet dry, but still damp, I will be weak like other men."

8. And the princes of the Philistines brought to her seven cords, such as he had described. And she bound him with these.

9. And so, those hiding in ambush with her, in the bedroom, were expecting the end of the matter. And she cried out to him, "The Philistines are upon you, Samson!" And he broke the cords, as one would break a thread of flax, twisted for cutting and singed by fire. And so it was not known wherein lay his strength.

10. And Delilah said to him: "Behold, you have mocked me, and you have spoken a falsehood. But at least now, tell me with what you may be bound."

11. And he answered her, "If I will be bound with new cords, which have never been used, I will be weak and like other men."

12. Again, Delilah tied him with these, and she cried out, "The Philistines are upon you, Samson!" For an ambush had been prepared in the bedroom. But he broke the bindings like the filaments of a web.

Read complete chapter Judges 16