1Later on, at the time of wheat harvest, Samson took a young goat and went to visit his wife. He said, ‘I’m going to my wife’s room.’ But her father would not let him go in.2‘I was so sure you hated her,’ he said, ‘that I gave her to your companion. Isn’t her younger sister more attractive? Take her instead.’3Samson said to them, ‘This time I have a right to get even with the Philistines; I will really harm them.’4So he went out and caught three hundred foxes and tied them tail to tail in pairs. He then fastened a torch to every pair of tails,5lit the torches and let the foxes loose in the standing corn of the Philistines. He burned up the shocks and standing corn, together with the vineyards and olive groves.6When the Philistines asked, ‘Who did this?’ they were told, ‘Samson, the Timnite’s son-in-law, because his wife was given to his companion.’ So the Philistines went up and burned her and her father to death.7Samson said to them, ‘Since you’ve acted like this, I swear that I won’t stop until I get my revenge on you.’8He attacked them viciously and slaughtered many of them. Then he went down and stayed in a cave in the rock of Etam.9The Philistines went up and camped in Judah, spreading out near Lehi.10The people of Judah asked, ‘Why have you come to fight us?’ ‘We have come to take Samson prisoner,’ they answered, ‘to do to him as he did to us.’11Then three thousand men from Judah went down to the cave in the rock of Etam and said to Samson, ‘Don’t you realise that the Philistines are rulers over us? What have you done to us?’ He answered, ‘I merely did to them what they did to me.’12They said to him, ‘We’ve come to tie you up and hand you over to the Philistines.’ Samson said, ‘Swear to me that you won’t kill me yourselves.’13‘Agreed,’ they answered. ‘We will only tie you up and hand you over to them. We will not kill you.’ So they bound him with two new ropes and led him up from the rock.14As he approached Lehi, the Philistines came towards him shouting. The Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon him. The ropes on his arms became like charred flax, and the bindings dropped from his hands.15Finding a fresh jawbone of a donkey, he grabbed it and struck down a thousand men.16Then Samson said, ‘With a donkey’s jawbone I have made donkeys of them.* With a donkey’s jawbone I have killed a thousand men.’17When he finished speaking, he threw away the jawbone; and the place was called Ramath Lehi.*18Because he was very thirsty, he cried out to the Lord, ‘You have given your servant this great victory. Must I now die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?’19Then God opened up the hollow place in Lehi, and water came out of it. When Samson drank, his strength returned and he revived. So the spring was called En Hakkore,* and it is still there in Lehi.20Samson led* Israel for twenty years in the days of the Philistines.
New International Reader’s Version
Samson gets even with the Philistines
1Later on, Samson went to visit his wife. He took a young goat with him. He went at the time the wheat was being gathered. He said, ‘I’m going to my wife’s room.’ But her father wouldn’t let him go in.2Her father said, ‘I was sure you hated her. So I gave her to your companion. Isn’t her younger sister more beautiful? Take her instead.’3Samson said to them, ‘This time I have a right to get even with the Philistines. I’m going to hurt them badly.’4So he went out and caught 300 foxes. He tied them in pairs by their tails. Then he tied a torch to each pair of tails.5He lit the torches. He let the foxes loose in the fields of corn that belonged to the Philistines. He burned up the corn that had been cut and stacked. He burned up the corn that was still growing. He also burned up sthe vineyards and olive trees.6The Philistines asked, ‘Who did this?’ They were told, ‘Samson did. He’s the son-in-law of the man from Timnah. Samson did it because his wife was given to his companion.’ So the Philistines went up and burned the woman and her father to death.7Samson said to the Philistines, ‘Is that how you act? Then I promise I won’t stop until I pay you back.’8He struck them down with heavy blows. He killed many of them. Then he went down and stayed in a cave. It was in the rock of Etam.9The Philistines went up and camped in Judah. They spread out near Lehi.10The people of Judah asked, ‘Why have you come to fight against us?’ ‘We’ve come to take Samson as our prisoner,’ they answered. ‘We want to do to him what he did to us.’11Then 3,000 men from Judah went to get Samson. They went down to the cave in the rock of Etam. They said to Samson, ‘Don’t you realise the Philistines are ruling over us? What have you done to us?’ Samson answered, ‘I only did to them what they did to me.’12The men of Judah said to him, ‘We’ve come to tie you up. We’re going to hand you over to the Philistines.’ Samson said, ‘Promise me you won’t kill me yourselves.’13‘We agree’, they answered. ‘We’ll only tie you up and hand you over to them. We won’t kill you.’ So they tied him up with two new ropes. They led him up from the rock.14Samson approached Lehi. The Philistines came towards him shouting. Then the Spirit of the LORD came powerfully on Samson. The ropes on his arms became like burned thread. They dropped off his hands.15He found a fresh jawbone of a donkey. He grabbed it and struck down 1,000 men.16Then Samson said, ‘By using a donkey’s jawbone I’ve made them look like donkeys. By using a donkey’s jawbone I’ve struck down 1,000 men.’17Samson finished speaking. Then he threw the jawbone away. That’s why the place was called Ramath Lehi.18Samson was very thirsty. So he cried out to the LORD. He said, ‘You have helped me win this great battle. Do I have to die of thirst now? Must I fall into the power of people who haven’t even been circumcised? They aren’t your people.’19Then God opened up the hollow place in Lehi. Water came out of it. When Samson drank the water, his strength returned. He felt as good as new. So the spring was called En Hakkore. It’s still there in Lehi.20Samson led Israel for 20 years. In those days the Philistines were in the land.
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