1Then one day Samson went to Gaza, where he saw a harlot; and went in to spend the night with her. 2And the men of Gaza were told, “Samson has come here.” So they surrounded him, and quietly laid wait all night for him at the gate of the city, saying, “At dawn, we shall kill him.” 3And Samson lay till midnight, then arose and tore the doors of the city gate, with its two posts - bars and all - and put them on his shoulders, and went away, carrying them up to the top of a hill that faced Hebron. (a distance of 37 miles, as the crow flies.)

4And sometime afterward, he fell in love with a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah. 5And the lords of the Philistines came to her, and said, “Try to entice him to fell where all his great strength lies, and by what means we may overpower him, bind and subdue him; and each of us will give you eleven hundred pieces of silver.” 6And so Delilah said to Samson, “Tell me the secret of your great strength, and how you might be bound and subdued.” 7And Samson said to her, “If they bind me with seven green cords that were never dried, then I shall be as weak as any other man.” 8Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven fresh (green) cords which had not been dried, and she bound him with them. 9Now there were men lying in wait, hiding in her chamber. And she said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” And he broke the cords like a strand of thread is broken when it touches the fire. So the source of his strength was still not known. 10And Delilah said to Samson, “You have mocked me, and told me lies; now please tell me how you can be restrained.” 11And he said to her, “If they bind me securely with new ropes that never were used, then I shall be as weak as any other man.” 12Delilah, therefore, took new ropes, bound him with them, and said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” And again, there were those lying in wait in the chamber. And he snapped them off his arms like a thread. 13And Delilah said to Samson, “All this time you have mocked me, and told me lies; now tell me how you might be restrained.” And he said to her, “If you weave the seven locks of my head into a web and tighten it with a pin.” 14And so she did that, and fastened it with a loom shuttle, and said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” And he awoke from his sleep, and went away with the pin of the loom, and with the web. 15And she said to him, “How can you say, ‘I love you’, when your heart is not with me? You have mocked me these three times, and still have not told me where your great strength lies.” 16And so she pressed him daily with her words, and urged him, until he was so sick of her nagging, 17That he told her all his heart: “There has never been a razor touch my head; for I have been a Nazirite unto God from my mother's womb: if my head is shaved, then my strength will depart from me, and I shall become as weak as any other man.”

18And when Delilah realized that he had finally told her the truth, she sent and called for the Philistines lords, saying, “Come up just once more, for he has bared all his heart.” Then the lords of the Philistines came up to her, and brought the reward money with them. 19And after she had lulled him to sleep upon her knees, she called for a man to shave off all seven locks of his head; and she began to torment him, and his strength had left him. 20And she said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” And he awoke from his sleep, and thought, “I will do as I did before, and shake myself free.” And he was not aware that the LORD had left him. 21Then Philistines took him, gouged out his eyes, took him down to Gaza, bound him with fetters of bronze; and set him to grinding grain in the prison. 22But over time, the hair of his head began to grow back, after having been shaved.

23Then the lords of the Philistines gathered to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon, their god, and to rejoice: for they said, “Our god has delivered Samson, our enemy, into our hand.”

24And when the people saw Samson, they praised their god; saying, “Our god has delivered our enemy, the destroyer of our country, who killed many of us, into our hands.” 25And when their hearts were merry, they said, “Call for Samson, so that he may entertain us.” And they brought Samson from the prison, so that he might perform for them; and they stood him between the supporting pillars. 26And Samson said to the lad that held his hand, “Lead me to where I can feel the pillars that support the entire building, so that I may lean against them.” 27Now the temple was full of men and women; and all the lords of the Philistines were there; and up on the roof there were about three thousand more men and women, who watched while Samson made sport. 28And Samson prayed unto the LORD, and said, “O LORD God, remember me, I pray You, and strengthen me, I pray You, just this once, O God, that I may have revenge upon the Philistines for my two eyes.” 29And Samson grasped the two middle pillars upon which the temple stood, and by which it was held up - one with his right hand, and the other with his left. 30And Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines.” And he bowed himself with all his might; and the house fell upon the lords, and upon all the people who were inside it. So that those whom he killed at his death were more than all those he killed in his life. 31Then his brothers and all those of his father’s family came down, brought his body up, and buried it between Zorah and Eshtaol in the burying place of Manoah, his father. And Samson had judged Israel twenty years.