Samson Denied his Wife

1And it cometh to pass, after [some] days, in the days of wheat-harvest, that Samson looketh after his wife, with a kid of the goats, and saith, ‘I go in unto my wife, to the inner chamber;’ and her father hath not permitted him to go in, 2and her father saith, I certainly said, that thou didst certainly hate her, and I give her to thy companion; is not her sister — the young one — better than she? Let her be, I pray thee, to thee, instead of her.’

Samson Defeats the Philistines

3And Samson saith of them, ‘I am more innocent this time than the Philistines, though I am doing with them evil.’ 4And Samson goeth and catcheth three hundred foxes, and taketh torches, and turneth tail unto tail, and putteth a torch between the two tails, in the midst, 5and kindleth fire in the torches, and sendeth [them] out into the standing corn of the Philistines, and burneth [it] from heap even unto standing corn, even unto vineyard — olive-yard. 6And the Philistines say, ‘Who hath done this?’ And they say, ‘Samson, son-in-law of the Timnite, because he hath taken away his wife, and giveth her to his companion;’ and the Philistines go up, and burn her and her father with fire. 7And Samson saith to them, ‘Though ye do thus, nevertheless I am avenged on you, and afterwards I cease!’ 8And he smiteth them hip and thigh — a great smiting, and goeth down and dwelleth in the cleft of the rock Etam.

9And the Philistines go up, and encamp in Judah, and are spread out in Lehi, 10and the men of Judah say, ‘Why have ye come up against us?’ and they say, ‘To bind Samson we have come up, to do to him as he hath done to us.’ 11And three thousand men of Judah go down unto the cleft of the rock Etam, and say to Samson, ‘Hast thou now known that the Philistines are rulers over us? and what [is] this thou hast done to us?’ And he saith to them, ‘As they did to me, so I did to them.’ 12And they say to him, ‘To bind thee we have come down — to give thee into the hand of the Philistines.’ And Samson saith to them, ‘Swear to me, lest ye fall upon me yourselves.’ 13And they speak to him, saying, No, but we certainly bind thee, and have given thee into their hand, and we certainly do not put thee to death;’ and they bind him with two thick bands, new ones, and bring him up from the rock.

14He hath come unto Lehi — and the Philistines have shouted at meeting him — and the Spirit of Jehovah prospereth over him, and the thick bands which [are] on his arms are as flax which they burn with fire, and his bands are wasted from off his hands, 15and he findeth a fresh jaw-bone of an ass, and putteth forth his hand and taketh it, and smiteth with it — a thousand men.

16And Samson saith, ‘With a jaw-bone of the ass — an ass upon asses — with a jaw-bone of the ass I have smitten a thousand men.’

17And it cometh to pass when he finisheth speaking, that he casteth away the jaw-bone out of his hand, and calleth that place Ramath-Lehi; 18and he thirsteth exceedingly, and calleth unto Jehovah, and saith, ‘Thou — Thou hast given by the hand of Thy servant this great salvation; and now, I die with thirst, and have fallen into the hand of the uncircumcised.’ 19And God cleaveth the hollow place which [is] in Lehi, and waters come out of it, and he drinketh, and his spirit cometh back, and he reviveth; therefore hath [one] called its name ‘The fountain of him who is calling,’ which [is] in Lehi unto this day. 20And he judgeth Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years.