20. She said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson.”Then he awakened from his sleep and thought, “I will go out as before and shake myself free of them.” He did not know that the Lord had left him.
21. The Philistines seized him and gouged out his eyes. They took him down to Gaza, bound him with bronze chains, and he ground grain in prison.
22. Yet after it had been shaven, the hair on his head began to grow back.
23. The Philistine rulers gathered to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god and to celebrate. They said, “Our god has given Samson our enemy into our hands.”
24. The people saw him and praised their god, for they said, “Our god has given into our handsour enemy,the one who ruined our landand killed many of us.”