Samson fell in love with a woman who lived in the Sorek valley; her name is Dalida. The rulers of the Philistines came to her and said to her:
- Persuade him, and find out what his great strength is and how we can overcome him, in order to bind him and pacify him; and we will give you every one thousand and one hundred shekels of silver.
And Delilah said to Samson:
“Tell me, what is your great strength and how can I bind you to pacify you?”
Samson told her:
- If they tie me with seven damp bowstrings that have not been dried, then I will become powerless and will be like other people.
And the owners of the Philistines brought her seven wet bowstrings that had not dried up, and she tied him with them. Meanwhile, one was secretly sitting in her bedroom. And she told him:
- Samson! The Philistines are coming towards you.
He tore the bowstrings as one tears a thread of tow when the fire has burned through it. And his strength is not recognized.
And Delilah said to Samson:
“Behold, you deceived me and told me lies; tell me now, how to bind you?
He told her:
“If they tie me up with new ropes that were not used, then I will become powerless and will be like other people.”
Delilah took new ropes and tied him up and said to him:
- Samson! The Philistines are coming towards you.
Meanwhile, one was sitting secretly in the bedroom. And he tore them from his hands like threads.
And Delilah said to Samson:
“You keep deceiving me and telling me lies; tell me, how can I tie you up?
He told her:
“If you stick the seven braids of my head into the fabric and nail it to the weaving block, then I will be powerless, like other people.”
And Delilah put him to sleep on her knees. And when he fell asleep, Delilah took the seven braids of his head, and attached them to the block, and said to him:
- The Philistines are coming at you, Samson!
He woke up from his sleep and pulled out the weaving block along with the cloth; and his strength is not known.
And Delilah said to him:
- How can you say: “I love you”, but your heart is not with me? Behold, you deceived me three times and did not tell me what your great strength is.
And as she weighed him down with her words every day and tormented him, his soul became heavy to the point of death. And he opened his whole heart to her, and said to her:
“The razor did not touch my head, for I have been a Nazirite of God from my mother’s womb; if you shave me, then my strength will depart from me; I will become weak and be like other people.
Delilah, seeing that he had opened his whole heart to her, sent and called the rulers of the Philistines, saying to them:
- Go now; he opened his whole heart to me.
And the rulers of the Philistines came to her and brought silver in their hands.
And Delilah put him to sleep on her knees, and called a man and ordered him to cut off the seven braids of his head. And he began to weaken, and his strength departed from him. She said:
- The Philistines are coming at you, Samson!
He awoke from his sleep and said:
“I’ll go as before, and I’ll be free,” but he didn’t know that the Lord had departed from him.
The Philistines took him and gouged out his eyes, brought him to Gaza and bound him with two copper chains, and he ground in the house of the prisoners. Meanwhile, the hair on his head began to grow where it had been cut. The rulers of the Philistines assembled to make a great sacrifice to Dagon their god, and to rejoice, and said:
“Our God delivered Samson, our enemy, into our hands.
Likewise, the people, seeing him, glorified their god, saying:
“Our God delivered into our hands our enemy and the desolator of our land, who killed many of us.
And when their hearts were glad, they said:
- Call Samson from the prison house, let him amuse us.
And they called Samson from the house of the prisoners, and he amused them, and they strangled him and put him between the pillars.
And Samson said to the youth who was leading him by the hand:
“Bring me along so that I can feel the pillars on which the house is built and lean against them.”
The boy did just that. The house was full of men and women; All the rulers of the Philistines were there, and on the roof there were up to three thousand men and women, looking at Samson amusing them.
And Samson cried to the Lord and said:
- Lord God! Remember me and strengthen me only now, O God! so that I may at once take revenge on the Philistines for my two eyes.
And Samson moved the two middle pillars on which the house was established, resting on them, one with his right hand, and the other with his left. And Samson said:
- Die, my soul, with the Philistines!
And he resisted with all his strength, and the house collapsed on the owners and on all the people who were in it. And the dead that Samson killed at his death were more than he killed in his life. And his brothers and all his father's house came and took him, and went and buried him between Zorah and Estaol, in the tomb of his father Manoah.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru