Judges:12-16

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* And the men of Ephraim gathered themselves together , and went northward , and said unto Jephthah , Wherefore passedst thou over to fight against the children of Ammon , and didst not call us to go with thee ? we will burn thine house upon thee with fire . * And Jephthah said unto them , I and my people were at great strife with the children of Ammon ; and when I called you , ye delivered me not out of their hands . * And when I saw that ye delivered me not , I put my life in my hands , and passed over against the children of Ammon , and the LORD delivered them into my hand : wherefore then are ye come up unto me this day , to fight against me ? * Then Jephthah gathered together all the men of Gilead , and fought with Ephraim : and the men of Gilead smote Ephraim , because they said , Ye Gileadites are fugitives of Ephraim among the Ephraimites , and among the Manassites . * And the Gileadites took the passages of Jordan before the Ephraimites : and it was so , that when those Ephraimites which were escaped said , Let me go over ; that the men of Gilead said unto him , Art thou an Ephraimite ? If he said , Nay ; * Then said they unto him , Say now Shibboleth : and he said Sibboleth : for he could not frame to pronounce it right . Then they took him , and slew him at the passages of Jordan : and there fell at that time of the Ephraimites forty and two thousand . * And Jephthah judged Israel six years . Then died Jephthah the Gileadite , and was buried in one of the cities of Gilead . * And after him Ibzan of Bethlehem judged Israel . * And he had thirty sons , and thirty daughters , whom he sent abroad , and took in thirty daughters from abroad for his sons . And he judged Israel seven years . * Then died Ibzan , and was buried at Bethlehem . * And after him Elon , a Zebulonite , judged Israel ; and he judged Israel ten years . * And Elon the Zebulonite died , and was buried in Aijalon in the country of Zebulun . * And after him Abdon the son of Hillel , a Pirathonite , judged Israel . * And he had forty sons and thirty nephews , that rode on threescore and ten ass colts : and he judged Israel eight years . * And Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite died , and was buried in Pirathon in the land of Ephraim , in the mount of the Amalekites . * And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the LORD ; and the LORD delivered them into the hand of the Philistines forty years . * And there was a certain man of Zorah , of the family of the Danites , whose name was Manoah ; and his wife was barren , and bare not . * And the angel of the LORD appeared unto the woman , and said unto her , Behold now , thou art barren , and bearest not : but thou shalt conceive , and bear a son . * Now therefore beware , I pray thee , and drink not wine nor strong drink , and eat not any unclean thing : * For , lo , thou shalt conceive , and bear a son ; and no razor shall come on his head : for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb : and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines . * Then the woman came and told her husband , saying , A man of God came unto me , and his countenance was like the countenance of an angel of God , very terrible : but I asked him not whence he was , neither told he me his name : * But he said unto me , Behold , thou shalt conceive , and bear a son ; and now drink no wine nor strong drink , neither eat any unclean thing : for the child shall be a Nazarite to God from the womb to the day of his death . * Then Manoah intreated the LORD , and said , O my Lord , let the man of God which thou didst send come again unto us , and teach us what we shall do unto the child that shall be born . * And God hearkened to the voice of Manoah ; and the angel of God came again unto the woman as she sat in the field : but Manoah her husband was not with her . * And the woman made haste , and ran , and shewed her husband , and said unto him , Behold , the man hath appeared unto me , that came unto me the other day . * And Manoah arose , and went after his wife , and came to the man , and said unto him , Art thou the man that spakest unto the woman ? And he said , I am . * And Manoah said , Now let thy words come to pass . How shall we order the child , and how shall we do unto him ? * And the angel of the LORD said unto Manoah , Of all that I said unto the woman let her beware . * She may not eat of any thing that cometh of the vine , neither let her drink wine or strong drink , nor eat any unclean thing : all that I commanded her let her observe . * And Manoah said unto the angel of the LORD , I pray thee , let us detain thee , until we shall have made ready a kid for thee . * And the angel of the LORD said unto Manoah , Though thou detain me , I will not eat of thy bread : and if thou wilt offer a burnt offering , thou must offer it unto the LORD . For Manoah knew not that he was an angel of the LORD . * And Manoah said unto the angel of the LORD , What is thy name , that when thy sayings come to pass we may do thee honour ? * And the angel of the LORD said unto him , Why askest thou thus after my name , seeing it is secret ? * So Manoah took a kid with a meat offering , and offered it upon a rock unto the LORD : and the angel did wondrously ; and Manoah and his wife looked on . * For it came to pass , when the flame went up toward heaven from off the altar , that the angel of the LORD ascended in the flame of the altar . And Manoah and his wife looked on it , and fell on their faces to the ground . * But the angel of the LORD did no more appear to Manoah and to his wife . Then Manoah knew that he was an angel of the LORD . * And Manoah said unto his wife , We shall surely die , because we have seen God . * But his wife said unto him , If the LORD were pleased to kill us , he would not have received a burnt offering and a meat offering at our hands , neither would he have shewed us all these things , nor would as at this time have told us such things as these . * And the woman bare a son , and called his name Samson : and the child grew , and the LORD blessed him . * And the Spirit of the LORD began to move him at times in the camp of Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol . * And Samson went down to Timnath , and saw a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines . * And he came up , and told his father and his mother , and said , I have seen a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines : now therefore get her for me to wife . * Then his father and his mother said unto him , Is there never a woman among the daughters of thy brethren , or among all my people , that thou goest to take a wife of the uncircumcised Philistines ? And Samson said unto his father , Get her for me ; for she pleaseth me well . * But his father and his mother knew not that it was of the LORD , that he sought an occasion against the Philistines : for at that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel . * Then went Samson down , and his father and his mother , to Timnath , and came to the vineyards of Timnath : and , behold , a young lion roared against him . * And the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him , and he rent him as he would have rent a kid , and he had nothing in his hand : but he told not his father or his mother what he had done . * And he went down , and talked with the woman ; and she pleased Samson well . * And after a time he returned to take her , and he turned aside to see the carcase of the lion : and , behold , there was a swarm of bees and honey in the carcase of the lion . * And he took thereof in his hands , and went on eating , and came to his father and mother , and he gave them , and they did eat : but he told not them that he had taken the honey out of the carcase of the lion . * So his father went down unto the woman : and Samson made there a feast ; for so used the young men to do . * And it came to pass , when they saw him , that they brought thirty companions to be with him . * And Samson said unto them , I will now put forth a riddle unto you : if ye can certainly declare it me within the seven days of the feast , and find it out , then I will give you thirty sheets and thirty change of garments : * But if ye cannot declare it me , then shall ye give me thirty sheets and thirty change of garments . And they said unto him , Put forth thy riddle , that we may hear it . * And he said unto them , Out of the eater came forth meat , and out of the strong came forth sweetness . And they could not in three days expound the riddle . * And it came to pass on the seventh day , that they said unto Samson 's wife , Entice thy husband , that he may declare unto us the riddle , lest we burn thee and thy father 's house with fire : have ye called us to take that we have ? is it not so ? * And Samson 's wife wept before him , and said , Thou dost but hate me , and lovest me not : thou hast put forth a riddle unto the children of my people , and hast not told it me . And he said unto her , Behold , I have not told it my father nor my mother , and shall I tell it thee ? * And she wept before him the seven days , while their feast lasted : and it came to pass on the seventh day , that he told her , because she lay sore upon him : and she told the riddle to the children of her people . * And the men of the city said unto him on the seventh day before the sun went down , What is sweeter than honey ? and what is stronger than a lion ? And he said unto them , If ye had not plowed with my heifer , ye had not found out my riddle . * And the Spirit of the LORD came upon him , and he went down to Ashkelon , and slew thirty men of them , and took their spoil , and gave change of garments unto them which expounded the riddle . And his anger was kindled , and he went up to his father 's house . * But Samson 's wife was given to his companion , whom he had used as his friend . * But it came to pass within a while after , in the time of wheat harvest , that Samson visited his wife with a kid ; and he said , I will go in to my wife into the chamber . But her father would not suffer him to go in . * And her father said , I verily thought that thou hadst utterly hated her ; therefore I gave her to thy companion : is not her younger sister fairer than she ? take her , I pray thee , instead of her . * And Samson said concerning them , Now shall I be more blameless than the Philistines , though I do them a displeasure . * And Samson went and caught three hundred foxes , and took firebrands , and turned tail to tail , and put a firebrand in the midst between two tails . * And when he had set the brands on fire , he let them go into the standing corn of the Philistines , and burnt up both the shocks , and also the standing corn , with the vineyards and olives . * Then the Philistines said , Who hath done this ? And they answered , Samson , the son in law of the Timnite , because he had taken his wife , and given her to his companion . And the Philistines came up , and burnt her and her father with fire . * And Samson said unto them , Though ye have done this , yet will I be avenged of you , and after that I will cease . * And he smote them hip and thigh with a great slaughter : and he went down and dwelt in the top of the rock Etam . * Then the Philistines went up , and pitched in Judah , and spread themselves in Lehi . * And the men of Judah said , Why are ye come up against us ? And they answered , To bind Samson are we come up , to do to him as he hath done to us . * Then three thousand men of Judah went to the top of the rock Etam , and said to Samson , Knowest thou not that the Philistines are rulers over us ? what is this that thou hast done unto us ? And he said unto them , As they did unto me , so have I done unto them . * And they said unto him , We are come down to bind thee , that we may deliver thee into the hand of the Philistines . And Samson said unto them , Swear unto me , that ye will not fall upon me yourselves . * And they spake unto him , saying , No ; but we will bind thee fast , and deliver thee into their hand : but surely we will not kill thee . And they bound him with two new cords , and brought him up from the rock . * And when he came unto Lehi , the Philistines shouted against him : and the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him , and the cords that were upon his arms became as flax that was burnt with fire , and his bands loosed from off his hands . * And he found a new jawbone of an ass , and put forth his hand , and took it , and slew a thousand men therewith . * And Samson said , With the jawbone of an ass , heaps upon heaps , with the jaw of an ass have I slain a thousand men . * And it came to pass , when he had made an end of speaking , that he cast away the jawbone out of his hand , and called that place Ramathlehi . * And he was sore athirst , and called on the LORD , and said , Thou hast given this great deliverance into the hand of thy servant : and now shall I die for thirst , and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised ? * But God clave an hollow place that was in the jaw , and there came water thereout ; and when he had drunk , his spirit came again , and he revived : wherefore he called the name thereof Enhakkore , which is in Lehi unto this day . * And he judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years . * Then went Samson to Gaza , and saw there an harlot , and went in unto her . * And it was told the Gazites , saying , Samson is come hither . And they compassed him in , and laid wait for him all night in the gate of the city , and were quiet all the night , saying , In the morning , when it is day , we shall kill him . * And Samson lay till midnight , and arose at midnight , and took the doors of the gate of the city , and the two posts , and went away with them , bar and all , and put them upon his shoulders , and carried them up to the top of an hill that is before Hebron . * And it came to pass afterward , that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek , whose name was Delilah . * And the lords of the Philistines came up unto her , and said unto her , Entice him , and see wherein his great strength lieth , and by what means we may prevail against him , that we may bind him to afflict him : and we will give thee every one of us eleven hundred pieces of silver . * And Delilah said to Samson , Tell me , I pray thee , wherein thy great strength lieth , and wherewith thou mightest be bound to afflict thee . * And Samson said unto her , If they bind me with seven green withs that were never dried , then shall I be weak , and be as another man . * Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven green withs which had not been dried , and she bound him with them . * Now there were men lying in wait , abiding with her in the chamber . And she said unto him , The Philistines be upon thee , Samson . And he brake the withs , as a thread of tow is broken when it toucheth the fire . So his strength was not known . * And Delilah said unto Samson , Behold , thou hast mocked me , and told me lies : now tell me , I pray thee , wherewith thou mightest be bound . * And he said unto her , If they bind me fast with new ropes that never were occupied , then shall I be weak , and be as another man . * Delilah therefore took new ropes , and bound him therewith , and said unto him , The Philistines be upon thee , Samson . And there were liers in wait abiding in the chamber . And he brake them from off his arms like a thread . * And Delilah said unto Samson , Hitherto thou hast mocked me , and told me lies : tell me wherewith thou mightest be bound . And he said unto her , If thou weavest the seven locks of my head with the web . * And she fastened it with the pin , and said unto him , The Philistines be upon thee , Samson . And he awaked out of his sleep , and went away with the pin of the beam , and with the web . * And she said unto him , How canst thou say , I love thee , when thine heart is not with me ? thou hast mocked me these three times , and hast not told me wherein thy great strength lieth . * And it came to pass , when she pressed him daily with her words , and urged him , so that his soul was vexed unto death ; * That he told her all his heart , and said unto her , There hath not come a razor upon mine head ; for I have been a Nazarite unto God from my mother 's womb : if I be shaven , then my strength will go from me , and I shall become weak , and be like any other man . * And when Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart , she sent and called for the lords of the Philistines , saying , Come up this once , for he hath shewed me all his heart . Then the lords of the Philistines came up unto her , and brought money in their hand . * And she made him sleep upon her knees ; and she called for a man , and she caused him to shave off the seven locks of his head ; and she began to afflict him , and his strength went from him . * And she said , The Philistines be upon thee , Samson . And he awoke out of his sleep , and said , I will go out as at other times before , and shake myself . And he wist not that the LORD was departed from him . * But the Philistines took him , and put out his eyes , and brought him down to Gaza , and bound him with fetters of brass ; and he did grind in the prison house . * Howbeit the hair of his head began to grow again after he was shaven . * Then the lords of the Philistines gathered them together for to offer a great sacrifice unto Dagon their god , and to rejoice : for they said , Our god hath delivered Samson our enemy into our hand . * And when the people saw him , they praised their god : for they said , Our god hath delivered into our hands our enemy , and the destroyer of our country , which slew many of us . * And it came to pass , when their hearts were merry , that they said , Call for Samson , that he may make us sport . And they called for Samson out of the prison house ; and he made them sport : and they set him between the pillars . * And Samson said unto the lad that held him by the hand , Suffer me that I may feel the pillars whereupon the house standeth , that I may lean upon them . * Now the house was full of men and women ; and all the lords of the Philistines were there ; and there were upon the roof about three thousand men and women , that beheld while Samson made sport . * And Samson called unto the LORD , and said , O Lord GOD , remember me , I pray thee , and strengthen me , I pray thee , only this once , O God , that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes . * And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars upon which the house stood , and on which it was borne up , of the one with his right hand , and of the other with his left . * And 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 that were therein . So the dead which he slew at his death were more than they which he slew in his life . * Then his brethren and all the house of his father came down , and took him , and brought him up , and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the buryingplace of Manoah his father . And he judged Israel twenty years . * And there was a man of mount Ephraim , whose name was Micah .

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