Dual Panel1Sometime later <03117>, during <03117> the wheat <02406> harvest <07105>, Samson <08123> took a young <01423> goat <05795> as a gift and went to visit <06485> his bride <0802>. He said <0559> to her father, “I want to have sex <0935> with <0413> my bride <0802> in her bedroom <02315>!” But her father <01> would not <03808> let <05414> him enter <0935>.
2Her father <01> said <0559>, “I really thought <0559> <0559> you absolutely despised <08130> <08130> her, so I gave <05414> her to your best man <04828>. Her younger <06996> sister <0269> is more attractive <02896> than <04480> she is <01961>. Take her instead <08478>!”
3Samson <08123> said <0559> to them, “This time <06471> I <0589> am justified <05352> in doing <06213> the Philistines <06430> harm <07451>!”
4Samson <08123> went <01980> and captured <03920> three <07969> hundred <03967> jackals <07776> and got <03947> some torches <03940>. He tied the jackals in pairs <08147> by <08432> their tails <02180> <02180> and then tied <07760> a torch <03940> to each <0259> pair <0996>.
5He lit <01197> the torches <03940> <0784> and set <07971> the jackals loose <07971> in the Philistines <06430>’ standing grain <07054>. He burned <01197> up the grain heaps <01430> and <05704> the standing grain <07054>, as well as <05704> the vineyards <03754> and olive groves <02132>.
6The Philistines <06430> asked <0559>, “Who <04310> did <06213> this <02063>?” They were told <0559>, “Samson <08123>, the Timnite’s <08554> son-in-law <02860>, because <03588> the Timnite took <03947> Samson’s bride <0802> and gave <05414> her to his best man <04828>.” So the Philistines <06430> went up <05927> and burned <08313> her and her father <01>.
7Samson <08123> said <0559> to them, “Because <0518> you did <06213> this <02063>, I will get revenge <05358> against you before I quit <02308> fighting.”
8He struck <05221> them down <05221> and defeated <01419> <04347> them. Then he went down <03381> and lived <03427> for a time in the cave <05585> in the cliff <05553> of Etam <05862>.
9The Philistines <06430> went up <05927> and invaded <02583> Judah <03063>. They arrayed <05203> themselves for battle <05203> in Lehi <03896>.
10The men <0376> of Judah <03063> said <0559>, “Why <04100> are you attacking <05927> us?” The Philistines said <0559>, “We have come up <05927> to take Samson <08123> prisoner <0631> so we can do <06213> to him what <0834> he has done <06213> to us.”
11Three <07969> thousand <0505> men <0376> of Judah <03063> went down <03381> to <0413> the cave <05585> in the cliff <05553> of Etam <05862> and said <0559> to Samson <08123>, “Do you not <03808> know <03045> that <03588> the Philistines <06430> rule over <04910> us? Why <04100> have you done <06213> this <02063> to us?” He said <0559> to them, “I have only done <06213> to them what <03651> they have done <06213> to me.”
12They said <0559> to him, “We have come down <03381> to take <05414> you prisoner <0631> so we can hand <03027> you over to the Philistines <06430>.” Samson <08123> said <0559> to them, “Promise <07650> me you <0859> will not <06435> kill <06293> me.”
13They said <0559> to him, “We promise <0559>! We will only take you prisoner <0631> and hand <05414> you over <05414> to them. We promise <04191> not <03808> to kill <04191> you.” They tied <0631> him up <0631> with two <08147> brand new <02319> ropes <05688> and led <05927> him up <05927> from <04480> the cliff <05553>.
14When he <01931> arrived <0935> in Lehi <03896>, the Philistines <06430> shouted <07321> as they approached <07125> him. But the Lord’s <03068> spirit <07307> empowered <05921> <06743> him. The ropes <05688> around <05921> his arms <02220> were like flax <06593> dissolving <01197> in fire <0784>, and they melted away <04549> from his hands <03027>.
15He happened to see <04672> a solid <02961> jawbone <03895> of a donkey <02543>. He grabbed <03947> <03027> <07971> it and struck down <05221> a thousand <0505> men <0376>.
16Samson <08123> then said <0559>, “With the jawbone <03895> of a donkey <02543> I have left them in heaps <02563> <02563>; with the jawbone <03895> of a donkey <02543> I have struck down <05221> a thousand <0505> men <0376>!”
17When <01961> he finished <03615> speaking <01696>, he threw <07993> the jawbone <03895> down <03027> and named <07121> that <01931> place <04725> Ramath Lehi <07437>.
18He was very <03966> thirsty <06770>, so he cried <07121> out to <0413> the Lord <03068> and said <0559>, “You <0859> have given <05414> your servant <05650> this <02063> great <01419> victory <08668>. But now <06258> must I die <04191> of thirst <06772> and fall <05307> into hands <03027> of the Philistines <06189>?”
19So God <0430> split open <01234> the <0853> basin <04388> at Lehi <03895> and water <04325> flowed out <03318> from <04480> it. When he took a drink <08354>, his strength <07307> was restored <07725> and he revived <02421>. For this reason <03651> he named <08034> <07121> the spring En Hakkore <05875>. It remains in Lehi <03896> to this <02088> very <05704> day <03117>.
20Samson led <08199> Israel <03478> for twenty <06242> years <08141> during the days <03117> of Philistine <06430> prominence.