Episode 95: Samson, Delilah, and a suicide terrorist attack

(Judges 16)

Samson has sex with a harlot

16 ¹ Then Samson went to Gaza, where he saw a harlot and had sex with her.

He carries the doors and gate posts to the top of the hill in Hebron.

² When the Gazites heard that Samson was coming, they planned to kill him.

³ At midnight, Samson ripped out the doors and gate posts of the city and carried them to the top of a hill in Hebron.

Samson and Delilah

⁴ Then Samson loved a woman named Delilah.

⁵ The Philistines came to Delilah and said to her,

Find out what makes Samson so strong and we'll each give you 1100 pieces of silver.

⁶ So Delilah said to Samson,

What makes you so strong?

How could you be tied up?

⁷ Samson said,

If they tied me with seven new bowstrings that have never been dried, I'd be as weak as any other man.

⁸ So the Philistines brought Delilah seven new undried bowstrings, and she tied Samson with them.

⁹ While several Philistines hid nearby, Delilah said to Samson,

Hey Samson, the Philistines are coming!

But he broke the bowstrings as though they were burnt strings.

¹⁰ Then Delilah said to Samson,

You lied to me before. Don't lie to me again.

Tell me how you can be tied up.

¹¹ Samson said,

If they tied me with new ropes, I'd be as weak as any other man.

¹² So she tied him with ropes and then shouted,

Hey Samson, the Philistines are coming!

But he broke the ropes like they were threads.

¹³ Delilah said again to Samson,

You lied to me again. Tell me the truth this time.

How you can be tied up?

Samson said,

Weave my braids into the loom.

¹⁴ So Delilah wove his seven hair braids into a loom, and attached it to the wall, and said to him,

Hey Samson, the Philistines are coming!

Samson woke up and pulled the loom from the wall.

¹⁵ Delilah said to Samson,

How can you say you love me when you have lied to me three times when I asked you why you are so strong.

¹⁷ Finally he told her the truth.

If you shave my hair off, I will be as weak as any man.

¹⁹ So she made him fall asleep on her knees, and had a man shave off Samson's seven braids.

And Samson lost his strength.

²⁰ Then Delilah said one more time to Samson,

Hey Samson, the Philistines are coming!

And Samson woke up and said, "I'll break loose like I always do," not knowing that the Lord had left him.

Samson kills 3000 in a suicide terrorist attack

²¹ Then the Philistines captured Samson, gouged out his eyes, and put him in prison.

²² But Samson's hair began to grow.

²⁵ While the Philistines' hearts were merry, they brought in Samson to entertain them.

²⁷ The house was full of about 3000 men and women.

²⁸ Samson called out to God, saying,

Make me strong so I can get revenge on the Philistines for gouging out my eyes.

²⁹ Samson grabbed the pillars and said,

Let me die with the Philistines.

³⁰ And the house fell upon the people, killing them all.

So Samson killed more while dying than he killed in his life.