New International Version | Christian Standard Bible |
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. | 1Later on, during the wheat harvest, Samson took a young goat as a gift and visited his wife. "I want to go to my wife in her room," he said. But her father would not let him enter. |
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." | 2"I was sure you hated her," her father said, "so I gave her to one of the men who accompanied you. Isn't her younger sister more beautiful than she is? Why not take her instead?" |
3Samson said to them, "This time I have a right to get even with the Philistines; I will really harm them." | 3Samson said to them, "This time I will be blameless when I harm the Philistines." |
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, | 4So he went out and caught three hundred foxes. He took torches, turned the foxes tail-to-tail, and put a torch between each pair of tails. |
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. | 5Then he ignited the torches and released the foxes into the standing grain of the Philistines. He burned the piles of grain and the standing grain as well as the vineyards and olive groves. |
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. | 6Then the Philistines asked, "Who did this?" They were told, "It was Samson, the Timnite's son-in-law, because he took Samson's wife and gave her to his companion." So the Philistines went to her and her father and burned them to death. |
7Samson said to them, "Since you've acted like this, I swear that I won't stop until I get my revenge on you." | 7Then Samson told them, "Because you did this, I swear that I won't rest until I have taken vengeance on you." |
8He attacked them viciously and slaughtered many of them. Then he went down and stayed in a cave in the rock of Etam. | 8He tore them limb from limb and then went down and stayed in the cave at the rock of Etam. |
9The Philistines went up and camped in Judah, spreading out near Lehi. | 9The Philistines went up, camped in Judah, and raided Lehi. |
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." | 10So the men of Judah said, "Why have you attacked us?" They replied, "We have come to tie Samson up and pay him back for what he did to us." |
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." | 11Then three thousand men of Judah went to the cave at the rock of Etam, and they asked Samson, "Don't you realize that the Philistines rule us? What have you done to us?" "I have done to them what they did to me," he answered. |
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." | 12They said to him, "We've come to tie you up and hand you over to the Philistines." Then Samson told them, "Swear to me that you yourselves won't kill me." |
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. | 13"No," they said, "we won't kill you, but we will tie you up securely and hand you over to them." So they tied him up with two new ropes and led him away from the rock. |
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. | 14When he came to Lehi, the Philistines came to meet him shouting. The Spirit of the LORD came powerfully on him, and the ropes that were on his arms and wrists became like burnt flax and fell off. |
15Finding a fresh jawbone of a donkey, he grabbed it and struck down a thousand men. | 15He found a fresh jawbone of a donkey, reached out his hand, took it, and killed a thousand men with it. |
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." | 16Then Samson said: With the jawbone of a donkey I have piled them in heaps. With the jawbone of a donkey I have killed a thousand men. |
17When he finished speaking, he threw away the jawbone; and the place was called Ramath Lehi. | 17When he finished speaking, he threw away the jawbone and named that place Ramath-lehi. |
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?" | 18He became very thirsty and called out to the LORD: "You have accomplished this great victory through your servant. Must I now die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?" |
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. | 19So God split a hollow place in the ground at Lehi, and water came out of it. After Samson drank, his strength returned, and he revived. That is why he named it En-hakkore, which is still in Lehi today. |
20Samson led Israel for twenty years in the days of the Philistines. | 20And he judged Israel twenty years in the days of the Philistines. |
New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. | The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. |
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