In the days of his strength, Samson went down to Gaza.
There he saw a woman of the night—a prostitute—and he went in to her.
But word spread through the city like wildfire:
"Samson is here!"
So the men of Gaza surrounded the place.
They lay in wait at the city gate, whispering in the dark,
"At dawn, we will kill him."
But Samson rose in the middle of the night.
He grasped the doors of the city gate—massive, bound in iron—
and tore them free, bar and all.
He hoisted them upon his shoulders and carried them up to the hill facing Hebron,
the stars above watching a man stronger than kings.
Some time after, Samson's heart was captured not by battle,
but by a woman named Delilah, in the Valley of Sorek.
Her eyes were soft as silk, her smile a snare.
The rulers of the Philistines came to her and said,
"Lure him. Discover the secret of his strength.
Tell us how to subdue him, and we will each give you eleven hundred pieces of silver."
Delilah's voice dripped with sweetness as she asked,
"Tell me, Samson, what makes you so strong?
How can you be bound and subdued?"
He laughed softly.
"If I am tied with seven fresh cords that have never been dried,
I will become as weak as any other man."
They brought her the cords. She tied him while he slept.
Men hid in the shadows.
Then she cried out, "Samson! The Philistines are upon you!"
He awoke—and the cords snapped like burned straw.
His strength remained.
Delilah pouted, her pride wounded.
"You've made a fool of me! Tell me the truth this time."
Samson smiled again.
"If they bind me with new ropes, never used, I will become weak."
She did as he said and again shouted,
"Samson! The Philistines are upon you!"
But he broke the ropes as if they were threads.
Delilah's patience thinned. Her words turned sharp.
"You mock me, Samson! You say you love me,
yet you will not tell me the truth of your heart."
He teased once more.
"If you weave the seven braids of my hair into the loom and fasten it with a pin,
I will be weak like any man."
She did so while he slept, her hands trembling with deceit.
Again she cried, "Samson! The Philistines are upon you!"
He awoke, tearing free the loom, the fabric, and the lie.
Then came the slow torture—
her voice, her tears, her endless pleading,
day after day until his soul was weary to death.
And Samson, the mighty, opened his heart.
"No razor has touched my head," he said, voice low.
"I am a Nazirite, set apart to God from my mother's womb.
If my hair is shaved, my strength will leave me,
and I will be as weak as any man."
Delilah's eyes glimmered with victory.
She sent for the Philistine lords, whispering,
"Come once more. He has told me all."
They came with silver in their hands and darkness in their hearts.
She lulled Samson to sleep upon her lap.
A man came and shaved the seven locks of his head. His strength fled and his covenant was broken.
Then she called,
"Samson! The Philistines are upon you!"
He awoke and thought,' I will shake myself free as before', unknown to him that the Lord had departed from him.
They seized him, gouged out his eyes, bound him with bronze shackles and threw him into the prison of Gaza, where the mighty Samson ground grain like a beast of burden.
Yet…
his hair began to grow again.
One day, the Philistine rulers gathered to honor their god Dagon, saying,
"Our god has delivered our enemy into our hands—the one who destroyed our land and slew our people."
The temple roared with celebration.
And when the wine had loosened their tongues, they shouted,
"Bring out Samson, that he may entertain us!"
Blind and broken, Samson was led out by a young servant. The mockery of his enemies filled the air.
He then said to the boy, "Place my hands upon the pillars that hold this temple,
that I may lean upon them."
The temple was packed with rulers and commoners—three thousand more upon the roof, laughing, jeering, watching.
Then Samson lifted his sightless face toward heaven and prayed:
"O Lord God, remember me.
Strengthen me, I pray, just this once.
Let me, with one blow, be avenged for my two eyes."
He placed his right hand upon one pillar, his left upon the other. His arms trembled, but his faith stood firm.
He cried,
"Let me die with the Philistines!"
And he pushed with all his might that the pillars cracked, the stones groaned, and the temple collapsed, crushing rulers and crowds alike.
In his death, Samson killed more than he had in his life.
His brothers came and carried his body from the ruins. They buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol, in the tomb of his father Manoah.
And thus ended the days of Samson,
who judged Israel for twenty years—
a man mighty in strength, yet fragile in spirit.