16:1And Samson went to Gazah, and saw there a harlot, and went in to her.

16:2And it was told the Gazathites, saying, Samson is come hither. And they surrounded him, and laid wait for him all night at the gate of the city, and were quiet all the night, saying, In the morning light we will kill him.

16:3And Samson lay till midnight; and he arose at midnight, and seized the doors of the gate of the city, and the two posts, and tore them up with the bar, and put them upon his shoulders, and carried them up to the top of the mountain that is before Hebron.

16:4And it came to pass afterwards that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah.

16:5And the lords of the Philistines came up to her, and said to her, Persuade him, and see in what his great strength is, and with what we may prevail against him, that we may bind him to overpower him; and we will each give thee eleven hundred silver-pieces.

16:6Then Delilah said to Samson, Tell me, I pray thee, in what is thy great strength, and with what thou mightest be bound to overpower thee.

16:7And Samson said to her, If they should bind me with seven fresh cords which have not been dried, then should I be weak, and be as another man.

16:8Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven fresh cords which had not been dried, and she bound him with them.

16:9Now she had liers in wait abiding in the chamber; and she said to him, The Philistines are upon thee, Samson! And he broke the cords, as a thread of tow is broken when it touches the fire; and his strength was not known.

16:10And Delilah said to Samson, Behold, thou hast mocked me and told me lies. Now tell me, I pray thee, with what thou mightest be bound.

16:11And he said to her, If they should bind me fast with new ropes, with which no work has been done, then should I be weak, and be as another man.

16:12And Delilah took new ropes, and bound him with them, and said to him, The Philistines are upon thee, Samson! Now there were liers in wait abiding in the chamber. And he broke them from off his arms like a thread.

16:13And Delilah said to Samson, Hitherto thou hast mocked me and told me lies. Tell me with what thou mightest be bound. And he said to her, If thou shouldest weave the seven locks of my head with the web.

16:14And she fastened it with the pin, and said to him, The Philistines are upon thee, Samson! And he awoke out of his sleep, and tore out the pin of the beam, and the web.

16:15Then she said to him, How canst thou say, I love thee, when thy heart is not with me? these three times hast thou mocked me, and hast not told me in what is thy great strength.

16:16And it came to pass when she pressed him daily with her words and urged him, that his soul was vexed unto death;

16:17and he told her all his heart, and said to her, There has not come a razor upon my head; for I am a Nazarite of God from my mother's womb; if I should be shaven, then my strength would go from me, and I should be weak, and be like all mankind.

16:18And Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, and she sent and called for the lords of the Philistines, saying, Come up this time, for he has told me all his heart. And the lords of the Philistines came up to her, and brought the money in their hand.

16:19And she made him sleep upon her knees, and called a man, and she caused him to shave off the seven locks of his head; and she began to overpower him, and his strength went from him.

16:20And she said, The Philistines are upon thee, Samson! And he awoke out of his sleep, and thought, I will go out as at other times before, and disengage myself. And he knew not that Jehovah had departed from him.

16:21And the Philistines seized him, and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gazah, and bound him with fetters of bronze; and he had to grind in the prison-house.

16:22But the hair of his head began to grow after he was shaved.

16:23Then the lords of the Philistines gathered together to sacrifice a great sacrifice to Dagon their god, and to rejoice; for they said, Our god has given Samson our enemy into our hands.

16:24And when the people saw him, they praised their god; for they said, Our god has given into our hands our enemy, and the destroyer of our country, even him who multiplied our slain.

16:25And it came to pass when their hearts were merry, that they said, Call for Samson, that he may make us sport. And they called for Samson out of the prison-house, and he played before them; and they set him between the pillars.

16:26And Samson said to the lad that held him by the hand, Let loose of me, and suffer me to feel the pillars upon which the house stands, that I may lean upon them.

16:27Now the house was full of men and women; and all the lords of the Philistines were there; and upon the roof there were about three thousand men and women, who looked on while Samson made sport.

16:28And Samson called to Jehovah, and said, Lord Jehovah, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, O God, that I may take one vengeance upon the Philistines for my two eyes.

16:29And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars upon which the house stood (and he supported himself upon them), the one with his right hand and the other with his left.

16:30And Samson said, Let me die with the Philistines! And he bowed himself with might; and the house fell on the lords, and on all the people that were therein. So the dead that he slew at his death were more than those whom he had slain in his life.

16:31And his brethren came down, and all the house of his father, and took him, and brought him up, and buried him between Zoreah and Eshtaol in the sepulchre of Manoah his father. And he had judged Israel twenty years.

17:1And there was a man of mount Ephraim, whose name was Micah.

17:2And he said to his mother, The eleven hundred silver-pieces that were taken from thee, and about which thou didst curse and speak of in mine ears, behold, the silver is with me; I took it. And his mother said, Blessed be my son of Jehovah!

17:3And he restored the eleven hundred silver-pieces to his mother; and his mother said, I had dedicated the silver to Jehovah from my hand for my son, to make a graven image and a molten image; and now I will restore it to thee.

17:4Now he restored the silver to his mother; and his mother took two hundred silver-pieces and gave them to the founder, and he made of them a graven image and a molten image; and they were in the house of Micah.

17:5And the man Micah had a house of gods, and made an ephod and teraphim, and consecrated one of his sons, who became his priest.

17:6In those days there was no king in Israel; every man did what was right in his own eyes.

17:7And there was a young man out of Bethlehem-Judah of the family of Judah, who was a Levite, and he sojourned there.

17:8And the man departed from the city, from Bethlehem-Judah, to sojourn where he might find a place. And as he journeyed, he came to mount Ephraim, to the house of Micah.

17:9And Micah said to him, Whence comest thou? And he said to him, I am a Levite of Bethlehem-Judah, and I go to sojourn where I may find a place.

17:10And Micah said to him, Dwell with me, and be to me a father and a priest, and I will give thee yearly ten silver-pieces, and a suit of garments, and thy victuals. And the Levite went in.

17:11And the Levite was content to dwell with the man; and the young man was to him as one of his sons.

17:12And Micah consecrated the Levite; and the young man became his priest, and was in the house of Micah.

17:13Then said Micah, Now I know that Jehovah will do me good, because I have the Levite for priest.

18:1In those days there was no king in Israel, and in those days the tribe of the Danites sought for themselves an inheritance to dwell in; for to that day their lot had not fallen to them for inheritance among the tribes of Israel.

18:2And the children of Dan sent of their family five men of their whole number, men of valour, from Zoreah and from Eshtaol, to spy out the land, and to examine it; and they said to them, Go, examine the land. And they came to the hill-country of Ephraim, to the house of Micah, and lodged there.

18:3When they were by the house of Micah, they knew the voice of the young man, the Levite; and they turned in thither, and said to him, Who brought thee hither? and what doest thou in this place? and what hast thou here?

18:4And he said to them, Thus and thus has Micah done to me; and he has hired me, and I am his priest.

18:5And they said to him, Inquire, we pray thee, of God, that we may know whether our way on which we go shall be prosperous.

18:6And the priest said to them, Go in peace: before Jehovah is your way on which ye go.

18:7And the five men departed, and came to Laish; and they saw the people that were therein, dwelling securely, after the manner of the Zidonians, quiet and secure; and no one was in the land who possessed authority, that might put them to shame in anything; and they were far from the Zidonians, and had nothing to do with any man.

18:8-- And they came to their brethren at Zoreah and Eshtaol. And their brethren said to them, What say ye?

18:9And they said, Arise, and let us go up against them; for we have seen the land, and behold, it is very good; and ye are still! Be not slothful to go, to enter to take possession of the land.

18:10When ye go in, ye shall come to a people secure, and the land is spacious in every direction; for God has given it into your hands; it is a place where there is no want of anything that is on the earth.

18:11And there went from thence of the family of the Danites, out of Zoreah and out of Eshtaol, six hundred men girded with weapons of war.

18:12And they went up and encamped in Kirjath-jearim, in Judah; therefore they call that place Mahaneh-Dan to this day: behold, it is behind Kirjath-jearim.

18:13And they passed thence to mount Ephraim, and came to the house of Micah.

18:14Then the five men that had gone to spy out the country of Laish spoke and said to their brethren, Do ye know that there is in these houses an ephod, and teraphim, and a graven image, and a molten image? And now ye know what to do.

18:15And they turned thither, and came to the house of the young man the Levite, the house of Micah, and inquired after his welfare.

18:16And the six hundred men of the children of Dan, girded with their weapons of war, stood at the entrance of the gate.

18:17And the five men that had gone to spy out the land went up, entered in thither, and took the graven image, and the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image; and the priest stood at the entrance of the gate with the six hundred men that were girded with weapons of war.

18:18And these came into Micah's house, and took the carved image, the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image. And the priest said to them, What do ye?

18:19And they said to him, Hold thy peace, lay thy hand upon thy mouth, and go with us, and be to us a father and a priest. Is it better for thee to be a priest for the house of one man, or to be priest for a tribe and a family in Israel?

18:20Then the priest's heart was glad, and he took the ephod, and the teraphim, and the graven image, and went in the midst of the people.

18:21And they turned and departed, and put the little ones and the cattle and the baggage before them.

18:22They were already far from the house of Micah, when the men that were in the houses near to Micah's house were gathered together, and overtook the children of Dan.

18:23And they cried to the children of Dan. And they turned their faces, and said to Micah, What aileth thee, that thou comest with such a company?

18:24And he said, Ye have taken away my gods which I made, and the priest, and ye are gone away; and what have I more? and what is this that ye say to me, What aileth thee?

18:25And the children of Dan said to him, Let not thy voice be heard among us, lest men of exasperated spirit run upon you, and thou lose thy life and the lives of thy household.

18:26And the children of Dan went their way; and Micah saw that they were too strong for him, and he turned and went back to his house.

18:27And they took that which Micah had made, and the priest that he had had, and came upon Laish, upon a people quiet and secure; and they smote them with the edge of the sword, and burned the city with fire.

18:28And there was no deliverer, for it was far from Zidon, and they had nothing to do with any man; and it lay in the valley that is by Beth-rehob. And they built the city and dwelt therein.

18:29And they called the name of the city Dan, after the name of Dan their father, who was born to Israel; howbeit Laish was the name of the city at the first.

18:30And the children of Dan set up the graven image; and Jehonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Moses; he and his sons were priests to the tribe of Dan until the day of the captivity of the land.

18:31And they set up for themselves Micah's graven image, which he had made, all the time that the house of God was in Shiloh.