Sometime after God gave Samson water out of a rock, Samson went to a city of the Philistines called Gaza. He went into a woman there. When then enemies heard about it, they waited at the gates of the city to catch Samson.

But Samson waited until midnight and then got up. As he left the city, he took the gates and bars of the city with him and carried them on his shoulders to the top of a hill in Hebron.

And it happened after this that Samson loved a woman in the valley of Sorek named Delilah.

The rulers of Israel’s enemies, the Philistines, came to Delilah and said, If you will find out for us what makes Samson so strong we will each give you 1,100 pieces of silver.

So the next time Samson was with her, she said, Please tell me what makes you so strong? How can you be tied up?

Samson told her, If I am tied up with seven green cords I will be as weak as other men. So the rulers of the Philistines brought her seven green cords and she tied Samson up with them when he was asleep.

But when the lords of the Philistines came on Samson to take him, he broke the cords like they were nothing and escaped.

Next time Samson came to see Deliliah, she pouted and said, You are making fun of me and telling me lies. How can you be tied up?

Samson told her, If I am tied up with new ropes that have never been used then I will be as weak as other men.

So Delilah took new ropes and tied Samson up with them and said, The Philistines are upon you, Samson. And he broke the ropes like they were string.

Again, when Samson was with Delilah, she pouted and said, You are making fun of me and telling me lies. How can you be tied up?

Samson answered her, If you weave the seven locks of my hair into the web of the weaving loom I will be as weak as other men. So she fastened the locks of his hair into the web with a pin and said, The Philistines are on you Samson. So he woke up and left with the pin of the beam and the web.

Day after day she pressed in on him with her words until his heart was so troubled that he wanted to die. How can you say you love me when your heart is not with me, she asked?

So he told her all that was in his heart and why he was so strong. He said, I have been set apart to God my whole life. My hair has never been cut. If my head is shaved my strength will leave me and I will be as weak as other men.

When Delilah saw that he had told her everything, she called the lords of the Philistines and said, Come now! He has told me the answer. So the Philistines came and brought her the money.

When Samson fell asleep on her knees, she called a man to shave off his hair. Then she said, The Philistines are upon you, Samson.

He woke up and said, I will leave as before. But he didn’t know that the Lord had left him.

The Philistines tied him up and put out his eyes and took him to Gaza where they put bronze chains on his legs and made him turn the grinding stone in the prison.

But his hair began to grow.

The lords of the Philistines gathered together to have a big feast to their bad one that they bowed down to. They said, Our god delivered Samson our enemy to us.

When the people were very happy they called to have Samson brought out of the prison house to make fun of him.

The temple was full of Philistine men and women having a big party to their god.

As a boy was leading Samson out into the middle of the crowd, Samson had the boy put his hands on the pillars that held up the temple.

Samson said to the Lord God, O remember me and make me strong again only this one time so I can get back at the Philistines for taking out my two eyes.

God answered Samson’s prayer and made him strong again. Samson pushed on the two pillars with all his strength and the whole temple fell down on the lords and ladies of the Philistines, the enemies of the children of Israel.

More of God’s enemies were destroyed by Samson’s death than in Samson’s life. Samson’s brothers came and took his body home and buried him.

Samson had been the ruler of the children of Israel for 20 years.