18. Delilah realized that he was telling the truth. So she sent someone to tell the Philistine rulers, “Come to my house one more time. Samson has finally told me the truth.”The Philistine rulers went to Delilah's house, and they brought along the silver they had promised her.
19. Delilah had lulled Samson to sleep with his head resting in her lap. She signalled to one of the Philistine men as she began cutting off Samson's seven braids. And by the time she had finished, Samson's strength was gone. Delilah tied him up
20. and shouted, “Samson, the Philistines are attacking!”Samson woke up and thought, “I'll break loose and escape, just as I always do.” He did not realize that the Lord had stopped helping him.
21. The Philistines grabbed Samson and put out his eyes. They took him to the prison in Gaza and chained him up. Then they put him to work, turning a millstone to grind grain.
22. But they didn't cut his hair any more, so it started growing back.
23. The Philistine rulers threw a big party and sacrificed a lot of animals to their god Dagon. The rulers said:Samson was our enemy,but our god Dagonhelped us capture him!
24-25. Everyone there was having a good time, and they shouted, “Bring out Samson—he's still good for a few more laughs!”The rulers had Samson brought from the prison, and when the people saw him, this is how they praised their god:Samson ruined our cropsand killed our people.He was our enemy,but our god helped uscapture him.They made fun of Samson for a while, then they told him to stand near the columns that supported the roof.
26. A young man was leading Samson by the hand, and Samson said to him, “I need to lean against something. Take me over to the columns that hold up the roof.”
27. The Philistine rulers were celebrating in a temple packed with people and with three thousand more on the flat roof. They had all been watching Samson and making fun of him.
28. Samson prayed, “Please remember me, Lord God. The Philistines put out my eyes, but make me strong one last time, so I can take revenge for at least one of my eyes!”
29. Samson was standing between the two middle columns that held up the roof. He felt around and found one column with his right hand, and the other with his left hand.
30. Then he shouted, “Let me die with the Philistines!” He pushed against the columns as hard as he could, and the temple collapsed with the Philistine rulers and everyone else still inside. Samson killed more Philistines when he died than he had killed during his entire life.
31. His brothers and the rest of his family went to Gaza and took his body back home. They buried him in his father's tomb, which was between Zorah and Eshtaol.Samson was a leader of Israel for twenty years.