Judges 16:1-12
Samson’s Downfall
16:1 Samson went to Gaza. There he saw a prostitute and went in to have sex with her.
16:2 The Gazites were told, “Samson has come here!” So they surrounded the town and hid all night at the city gate, waiting for him to leave. They relaxed all night, thinking, “He will not leave until morning comes; then we will kill him!”
16:3 Samson spent half the night with the prostitute; then he got up in the middle of the night and left. He grabbed the doors of the city gate, as well as the two posts, and pulled them right off, bar and all. He put them on his shoulders and carried them up to the top of a hill east of Hebron.
16:4 After this Samson fell in love with a woman named Delilah, who lived in the Sorek Valley.
16:5 The rulers of the Philistines went up to visit her and said to her, “Trick him! Find out what makes him so strong and how we can subdue him and humiliate him. Each one of us will give you eleven hundred silver pieces.”
16:6 So Delilah said to Samson, “Tell me what makes you so strong and how you can be subdued and humiliated.”
16:7 Samson said to her, “If they tie me up with seven fresh bowstrings that have not been dried, I will become weak and be just like any other man.”
16:8 So the rulers of the Philistines brought her seven fresh bowstrings which had not been dried and they tied him up with them.
16:9 They hid in the bedroom and then she said to him, “The Philistines are here, Samson!” He snapped the bowstrings as easily as a thread of yarn snaps when it is put close to fire. The secret of his strength was not discovered.
16:10 Delilah said to Samson, “Look, you deceived me and told me lies! Now tell me how you can be subdued.”
16:11 He said to her, “If they tie me tightly with brand new ropes that have never been used, I will become weak and be just like any other man.”
16:12 So Delilah took new ropes and tied him with them and said to him, “The Philistines are here, Samson!” (The Philistines were hiding in the bedroom.) But he tore the ropes from his arms as if they were a piece of thread.