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Page 30
The men of Judah said to Samson:
"Do you not know that the Philistines are ruling over us? Why do you
make them angry by killing their people? You see that we suffer through
your pranks. Now we must bind you and give you to the Philistines, or
they will ruin us all."
And Samson said, "I will let you bind me, if you will promise not to
kill me yourselves; but only to give me safely into the hands of the
Philistines."
They made the promise; and Samson gave himself up to them, and allowed
them to tie him up fast with new ropes. The Philistines shouted for joy
as they saw their enemy brought to them, led in bonds by his own people.
But as soon as Samson came among them, he burst the bonds as though they
had been light strings; and picked up from the ground the jawbone of an
ass, and struck right and left with it as with a sword. He killed almost
a thousand of the Philistines with this strange weapon. Afterward he
sang a song about it, thus:
"With the jawbone of an ass, heaps upon heaps,
With the jawbone of an ass, have I slain a thousand men."
After this Samson went down to the chief city of the Philistines, which
was named Gaza. It was a large city; and like all large cities, was
surrounded with a high wall. When the men of Gaza found Samson in their
city, they shut the gates, thinking that they could now hold him as a
prisoner. But in the night Samson rose up, went to the gates, pulled
their posts out of the ground, and put the gates with their posts upon
his shoulder. He carried off the gates of the city and left them on the
top of a hill not far from the city of Hebron.
After this Samson saw another woman among the Philistines, and he loved
her. The name of this woman was Delilah. The rulers of the Philistines
came to Delilah and said to her:
"Find out, if you can, what it is that makes Samson so strong, and tell
us. If you help us to get control of him, so that we can have him in our
power, we will give you a great sum of money."
[Illustration: _He carried off the gates of the city_]
And Delilah coaxed and pleaded with Samson to tell her what it was that
made him so strong. Samson said to her:
"If they will tie me with seven green twigs from a tree, then I shall
not be strong any more."
They brought her seven green twigs, like those of a willow tree; and she
bound Samson with them while he was asleep. Then she called out to him:
"Wake up, Samson, the Philistines are coming against you!"
And Samson rose up and broke the twigs as easily as if they had been
charred in the fire, and went away with ease.
And Delilah tried again to find his secret. She said:
"You are only making fun of me. Now tell me truly how you can be bound."
And Samson said:
"Let them bind me with new ropes that have never been used before; and
then I cannot get away."
While Samson was asleep again, Delilah bound him with new ropes. Then
she called out as before:
"Get up, Samson, for the Philistines are coming!" And when Samson rose
up, the ropes broke as if they were thread. And Delilah again urged him
to tell her; and he said:
"You notice that my long hair is in seven locks. Weave it together in
the loom, just as if it were the threads in a piece of cloth."
Then, while he was asleep, she wove his hair in the loom, and fastened
it with a large pin to the weaving-frame. But when he awoke, he rose up,
and carried away the pin and the beam of the weaving-frame; for he was
as strong as before.
And Delilah, who was anxious to serve her people, said:
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