And they spoke 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 ropes, and brought him up from the rock. When he came unto Lehi, the [{176}] Philistines shouted as they met him: and the spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him, and the ropes that were upon his arms became as flax that was burnt with fire, and his bands dropped from off his hands.
And he found a fresh jawbone of an ass, and put forth his hand, and took it, and smote a thousand men therewith. And Samson said,--
"With the jawbone of an ass, heaps upon heaps,
With the jawbone of an ass have I smitten a thousand men."
How Samson Carried Off the Gates of Gaza.
And Samson went to Gaza. And it was told the Gazites, saying, "Samson is come hither." And they surrounded him, and laid wait for him all night in the gate of the city, and were quiet all the night, saying, "Let be till morning light, then we will kill him."
And Samson lay till midnight, and arose at midnight, and laid hold of the doors of the gate of the city, and the two posts, and plucked them up, bar and all, and put them upon his shoulders, and carried them up to the top of the mountain that is before Hebron.
How Samson Was Betrayed by His Own Weakness Into the Hands of His Enemies.
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 to her, and said unto her, [{177}] "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 everyone 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."