| NET Bible | New International Version |
| 1Sometime later, during the wheat harvest, Samson took a young goat as a gift and went to visit his bride. He said to her father, "I want to have sex with my bride in her bedroom!" But her father would not let him enter. | 1Later on, at the time of wheat harvest, Samson took a young goat and went to visit his wife. He said, "I'm going to my wife's room." But her father would not let him go in. |
| 2Her father said, "I really thought you absolutely despised her, so I gave her to your best man. Her younger sister is more attractive than she is. Take her instead!" | 2"I was so sure you hated her," he said, "that I gave her to your companion. Isn't her younger sister more attractive? Take her instead." |
| 3Samson said to them, "This time I am justified in doing the Philistines harm!" | 3Samson said to them, "This time I have a right to get even with the Philistines; I will really harm them." |
| 4Samson went and captured three hundred jackals and got some torches. He tied the jackals in pairs by their tails and then tied a torch to each pair. | 4So he went out and caught three hundred foxes and tied them tail to tail in pairs. He then fastened a torch to every pair of tails, |
| 5He lit the torches and set the jackals loose in the Philistines' standing grain. He burned up the grain heaps and the standing grain, as well as the vineyards and olive groves. | 5lit the torches and let the foxes loose in the standing grain of the Philistines. He burned up the shocks and standing grain, together with the vineyards and olive groves. |
| 6The Philistines asked, "Who did this?" They were told, "Samson, the Timnite's son-in-law, because the Timnite took Samson's bride and gave her to his best man." So the Philistines went up and burned her and her father. | 6When the Philistines asked, "Who did this?" they were told, "Samson, the Timnite's son-in-law, because his wife was given to his companion." So the Philistines went up and burned her and her father to death. |
| 7Samson said to them, "Because you did this, I will get revenge against you before I quit fighting." | 7Samson said to them, "Since you've acted like this, I swear that I won't stop until I get my revenge on you." |
| 8He struck them down and defeated them. Then he went down and lived for a time in the cave in the cliff of Etam. | 8He attacked them viciously and slaughtered many of them. Then he went down and stayed in a cave in the rock of Etam. |
| 9The Philistines went up and invaded Judah. They arrayed themselves for battle in Lehi. | 9The Philistines went up and camped in Judah, spreading out near Lehi. |
| 10The men of Judah said, "Why are you attacking us?" The Philistines said, "We have come up to take Samson prisoner so we can do to him what he has done to us." | 10The people of Judah asked, "Why have you come to fight us?" "We have come to take Samson prisoner," they answered, "to do to him as he did to us." |
| 11Three thousand men of Judah went down to the cave in the cliff of Etam and said to Samson, "Do you not know that the Philistines rule over us? Why have you done this to us?" He said to them, "I have only done to them what they have done to me." | 11Then three thousand men from Judah went down to the cave in the rock of Etam and said to Samson, "Don't you realize that the Philistines are rulers over us? What have you done to us?" He answered, "I merely did to them what they did to me." |
| 12They said to him, "We have come down to take you prisoner so we can hand you over to the Philistines." Samson said to them, "Promise me you will not kill me." | 12They said to him, "We've come to tie you up and hand you over to the Philistines." Samson said, "Swear to me that you won't kill me yourselves." |
| 13They said to him, "We promise! We will only take you prisoner and hand you over to them. We promise not to kill you." They tied him up with two brand new ropes and led him up from the cliff. | 13"Agreed," they answered. "We will only tie you up and hand you over to them. We will not kill you." So they bound him with two new ropes and led him up from the rock. |
| 14When he arrived in Lehi, the Philistines shouted as they approached him. But the LORD's spirit empowered him. The ropes around his arms were like flax dissolving in fire, and they melted away from his hands. | 14As he approached Lehi, the Philistines came toward him shouting. The Spirit of the LORD came powerfully upon him. The ropes on his arms became like charred flax, and the bindings dropped from his hands. |
| 15He happened to see a solid jawbone of a donkey. He grabbed it and struck down a thousand men. | 15Finding a fresh jawbone of a donkey, he grabbed it and struck down a thousand men. |
| 16Samson then said, "With the jawbone of a donkey I have left them in heaps; with the jawbone of a donkey I have struck down a thousand men!" | 16Then Samson said, "With a donkey's jawbone I have made donkeys of them. With a donkey's jawbone I have killed a thousand men." |
| 17When he finished speaking, he threw the jawbone down and named that place Ramath Lehi. | 17When he finished speaking, he threw away the jawbone; and the place was called Ramath Lehi. |
| 18He was very thirsty, so he cried out to the LORD and said, "You have given your servant this great victory. But now must I die of thirst and fall into hands of the Philistines?" | 18Because he was very thirsty, he cried out to the LORD, "You have given your servant this great victory. Must I now die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?" |
| 19So God split open the basin at Lehi and water flowed out from it. When he took a drink, his strength was restored and he revived. For this reason he named the spring En Hakkore. It remains in Lehi to this very day. | 19Then God opened up the hollow place in Lehi, and water came out of it. When Samson drank, his strength returned and he revived. So the spring was called En Hakkore, and it is still there in Lehi. |
| 20Samson led Israel for twenty years during the days of Philistine prominence. | 20Samson led Israel for twenty years in the days of the Philistines. |
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