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

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

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

Samson led ¹  Israel for twenty years during the days of Philistine prominence. ² 

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 

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

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

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

After this Samson fell in love with a woman named Delilah, who lived in the Sorek Valley.

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

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

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

Samson went and captured three hundred jackals ¹  and got some torches. He tied the jackals in pairs by their tails and then tied a torch to each pair. 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 said to the young man who held his hand, “Position me so I can touch the pillars that support the temple. ¹  Then I can lean on them.”

The Philistines asked, ¹  “Who did this?” They were told, ²  “Samson, the Timnite’s son-in-law, because the Timnite ³  took Samson’s ⁴  bride and gave her to his best man.” So the Philistines went up and burned her and her father. ⁵ 

Samson said to them, “I will give you a riddle. If you really can solve it during the seven days the party lasts, ¹  I will give you thirty linen robes and thirty sets ²  of clothes.

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.”