Samson continued on down to Timnah ¹  and spoke to the girl. In his opinion, she was just the right one. ² 

Samson went down to Timnah, where a Philistine girl caught his eye. ¹ 

Samson’s bride was then given to his best man. ¹ 

Manoah’s wife ¹  gave birth to a son and named him Samson. ²  The child grew and the Lord empowered ³  him.

Then Samson’s father accompanied him to Timnah for the marriage. ¹  Samson hosted a party ²  there, for this was customary for bridegrooms ³  to do.

Samson said to them, ¹  “This time I am justified in doing the Philistines harm!” ² 

Samson said to them, “Because you did this, ¹  I will get revenge against you before I quit fighting.” ² 

Samson then said, “With the jawbone of a donkey I have left them in heaps; ¹  with the jawbone of a donkey I have struck down a thousand men!”

Samson went to Gaza. There he saw a prostitute and went in to have sex with her. ¹ 

When they really started celebrating, ¹  they said, “Call for Samson so he can entertain us!” So they summoned Samson from the prison and he entertained them. ²  They made him stand between two pillars.

Samson went down to Timnah. When he approached ¹  the vineyards of Timnah, he saw a roaring young lion attacking him. ² 

The men of Judah said, “Why are you attacking ¹  us?” The Philistines ²  said, “We have come up to take Samson prisoner so we can do to him what he has done to us.”

They said to him, “We have come down to take you prisoner so we can hand you over to the Philistines.” Samson said to them, “Promise me ¹  you will not kill ²  me.”

So Delilah said to Samson, “Tell me what makes you so strong and how you can be subdued and humiliated.” ¹ 

Samson said to her, “If they tie me up with seven fresh ¹  bowstrings ²  that have not been dried, I will become weak and be just like any other man.”

Delilah said to Samson, “Look, you deceived ¹  me and told me lies! Now tell me how you can be subdued.”

So Delilah took new ropes and tied him with them and said to him, “The Philistines are here, ¹  Samson!” (The Philistines were hiding in the bedroom.) ²  But he tore the ropes ³  from his arms as if they were a piece of thread.

So she made him go to sleep, wove the seven braids of his hair into the fabric on the loom, fastened it with the pin, and said to him, “The Philistines are here, ¹  Samson!” ²  He woke up ³  and tore away the pin of the loom and the fabric.

She said, “The Philistines are here, ¹  Samson!” He woke up ²  and thought, ³  “I will do as I did before ⁴  and shake myself free.” But he did not realize that the Lord had left him.

The rulers of the Philistines gathered to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god and to celebrate. They said, “Our god has handed Samson, our enemy, over to us.”