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Book of Judges, Chapter 16

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Judges 16 NWT - New World TranslationJudges 16 NWT - New World Translation

Chapter 16 of Judges—New World Translation (NWT)

  1. ¶ Once Samson went to Gaʹza1 and saw a prostitute woman there and came in to her.2
  2. And report was made[a] to the Gaʹzites, saying: “Samson has come in here.” So they surrounded him3 and lay in wait for him all night long in the city gate.4 And they kept quiet the whole night, saying: “As soon as the morning gets light, we must also kill him.”5
  3. ¶ However, Samson kept lying till midnight and then rose at midnight and grabbed hold of the doors of the city gate6 and the two side posts and pulled them out along with the bar and put them upon his shoulders and went carrying7 them up to the top of the mountain that is in front of Heʹbron.[b]8
  4. ¶ And it came about after that that he fell in love with a woman in the torrent valley of Soʹrek, and her name was De·liʹlah.9
  5. And the axis lords10 of the Phi·lisʹtines proceeded to come up to her and to say to her: “Fool11 him and see in what his great power is and with what we can prevail over him and with what we are certain to tie him so as to master him; and we, for our part, shall give you each one thousand one hundred silver pieces.”12
  6. ¶ Later De·liʹlah said to Samson: “Do tell me, please, In what is your great power and with what can you be tied for one to master you?”13
  7. Then Samson said to her: “If they tie me with seven still-moist sinews14 that have not been dried out, I must also grow weak and become like an ordinary man.”
  8. So the axis lords15 of the Phi·lisʹtines brought up to her seven still-moist sinews that had not been dried out. Later she tied him with them.
  9. Now the ambush was sitting in the interior room of hers,16 and she began to say to him: “The Phi·lisʹtines17 are upon you, Samson!” At that he tore the sinews in two, just as a twisted thread of tow is torn in two when it smells fire.18 And his power did not become known.19
  10. ¶ Subsequently De·liʹlah20 said to Samson: “Look! You have trifled with me that you might speak lies to me.21 Now tell me, do please, with what you can be tied.”
  11. So he said to her: “If they tie me tight with new ropes with which no work has been done, I must also grow weak and become like an ordinary man.”
  12. So De·liʹlah took new ropes and tied him with them and said to him: “The Phi·lisʹtines are upon you, Samson!” All the while the ambush was sitting in the interior room.22 At that he tore them in two from off his arms like a thread.23
  13. ¶ After that De·liʹlah said to Samson: “Up till now you have trifled with me that you might speak lies to me.24 Do tell me with what you can be tied.”25 Then he said to her: “If you will weave the seven braids of my head with the warp26 thread.”
  14. Accordingly she fixed them with the pin,[c] after which she said to him: “The Phi·lisʹtines are upon you, Samson!”27 So he awoke from his sleep and pulled out the loom pin and the warp thread.
  15. ¶ She now said to him: “How dare you say, ‘I do love you,’28 when your heart is not with me? These three times you have trifled with me and have not told me in what your great power is.”29
  16. And it came about that because she pressured30 him with her words all the time and kept urging him, his soul got to be impatient to the point of dying.31
  17. Finally he disclosed to her all his heart32 and said to her: “A razor33 has never come upon my head, because I am a Nazʹi·rite of God from my mother’s belly.34 If I did get shaved, my power also would certainly depart from me, and I should indeed grow weak and become like all other men.”35
  18. ¶ When De·liʹlah got to see that he had disclosed to her all his heart, she immediately sent and called the Phi·lisʹtine axis36 lords, saying: “Come up this time, for he has disclosed to me all his heart.”37 And the Phi·lisʹtine axis lords came up to her that they might bring up the money in their hand.38
  19. And she proceeded to make him sleep upon her knees. Then she called the man and had him shave off the seven braids of his head, after which she started to show the mastery of him, and his power kept departing from upon him.
  20. Now she said: “The Phi·lisʹtines are upon you, Samson!” At that he woke up from his sleep and said: “I shall go out as at other times39 and shake myself free.” And he himself did not know that it was Jehovah that had departed from him.40
  21. So the Phi·lisʹtines grabbed hold of him and bored his eyes out41 and brought him down to Gaʹza42 and bound him with two fetters of copper;43 and he came to be a grinder44 in the prison house.45
  22. Meanwhile the hair of his head started to grow luxuriantly as soon as he had been shaved.46
  23. ¶ As for the Phi·lisʹtine axis lords, they gathered together to sacrifice a great sacrifice to Daʹgon47 their god[d] and for rejoicing, and they kept saying: “Our god has given into our hand Samson our enemy!”48
  24. When the people got to see him, they at once gave way to praising their god,49 “because,” said they, “our god has given into our hand our enemy50 and the devastator of our land51 and the one who multiplied our slain.”52
  25. ¶ And it came about that because their heart was merry,53 they began to say: “Call Samson that he may offer us some amusement.”54 So they called Samson out of the prison house that he might make sport before them;55 and they proceeded to stand him between the pillars.
  26. Then Samson said to the boy that was holding him by his hand: “Do permit me to feel the pillars upon which the house is firmly established and let me lean against them.”
  27. (Incidentally, the house was full of men and women and all the Phi·lisʹtine axis lords were there;56 and upon the roof there were about three thousand men and women who were looking on while Samson offered some amusement.)57
  28. ¶ Samson58 now called to Jehovah59 and said: “Sovereign Lord Jehovah,[e] remember me,60 please, and strengthen61 me, please, just this once, O you the [true] God, and let me avenge myself upon the Phi·lisʹtines with vengeance for one of my two eyes.”[f]62
  29. ¶ With that Samson braced himself against the two middle pillars upon which the house was firmly established, and got a grasp on them, one with his right and the other with his left hand.
  30. And Samson proceeded to say: “Let my soul die63 with the Phi·lisʹtines.” Then he bent himself with power, and the house went falling upon the axis lords and upon all the people that were in it,64 so that the dead that he put to death in his own death came to be more than those he had put to death during his lifetime.65
  31. ¶ Later his brothers and all the household of his father came on down and lifted him up and brought him up and buried him between Zoʹrah66 and Eshʹta·ol67 in the burial place of Ma·noʹah68 his father. As for him, he had judged Israel twenty years.69

FOOTNOTES

  1. ^ “And report was made,” LXX; M omits.
  2. ^ LXX adds, “and put them there.”
  3. ^ “And it occurred that while he was sleeping Delilah took the seven braids of his head and wove them in the warp and fixed them to the pin in the wall,” LXXB.
  4. ^ “Their god.” Heb., ʼelo·heh·hemʹ, pl. to denote excellence, applying to Dagon and with a sing. verb; LXXA(Gr.), the·oiʹ; Lat., deʹo. See 1Sa 5:7; 2Ki 19:37.
  5. ^ “Sovereign Lord Jehovah.” Heb., ʼAdho·naiʹ Yeho·wihʹ; LXXB(Gr.), A·do·na·i·eʹ Kyʹri·e; Lat., Doʹmi·ne Deʹus. See App 1E.
  6. ^ “And I shall avenge myself upon the aliens with one avenging for my two eyes,” LXX; Vg, “that I may avenge myself upon my enemies and may receive one avenging for the loss of two eyes.”

REFERENCES

  1. ^ Jos 13:3; 15:47
  2. ^ Jos 2:1; Jg 14:4
  3. ^ Ps 118:11
  4. ^ Ac 9:24; 2Co 11:32
  5. ^ Jg 15:10
  6. ^ Ge 22:17; 24:60
  7. ^ Zc 4:6
  8. ^ Ge 23:2; Jos 15:13; 21:11; Jg 1:10
  9. ^ Jg 16:18
  10. ^ Jos 13:3; Jg 3:3
  11. ^ Jg 14:15
  12. ^ Ex 23:8; Nu 22:17; Jg 16:18; Pr 17:23; Ec 7:7; Mt 26:15; 1Ti 6:10
  13. ^ Ps 12:2; Mc 7:5
  14. ^ Ge 32:32; Jb 10:11
  15. ^ Jos 13:3
  16. ^ Jg 16:12
  17. ^ Jos 13:1, 2; Jg 14:4
  18. ^ Jg 15:14
  19. ^ Jg 16:5
  20. ^ Jg 16:4
  21. ^ Jg 16:7, 13, 15
  22. ^ Jg 16:9
  23. ^ Jg 15:14
  24. ^ Jg 16:7, 11
  25. ^ Jg 16:5
  26. ^ Le 13:48
  27. ^ Jg 16:9
  28. ^ Jg 14:16
  29. ^ Jg 16:7, 11, 13
  30. ^ Jg 14:17; Lu 11:8
  31. ^ Pr 21:19; 25:24; 27:15; Lu 11:8
  32. ^ Jg 14:17; Mc 7:5
  33. ^ Nu 6:5; Jg 13:5; 1Sa 1:11
  34. ^ Jg 13:7
  35. ^ Pr 13:3
  36. ^ Jos 13:3; Jg 3:3; 16:5, 30; 1Sa 5:8; 6:4; 29:2; 1Ch 12:19
  37. ^ Jg 14:17; 16:17; Pr 25:9; Je 9:4; Mc 7:5
  38. ^ Jg 16:5; Mt 26:15
  39. ^ Jg 16:9, 12, 14
  40. ^ Nu 14:42; 1Sa 18:12; 2Ch 15:2
  41. ^ 1Sa 11:2; 2Ki 25:7
  42. ^ Jg 16:1
  43. ^ 2Ch 33:11
  44. ^ Mr 9:42
  45. ^ Ge 39:20; 2Ki 17:4
  46. ^ Nu 6:5; Jg 13:5
  47. ^ 1Sa 5:4
  48. ^ De 32:27; Jg 13:5
  49. ^ Ps 135:15; Da 5:4; 1Co 8:5
  50. ^ Jg 15:10
  51. ^ Jg 15:5
  52. ^ Jg 15:8, 16
  53. ^ 2Sa 13:28
  54. ^ Pr 14:13; Mt 27:29
  55. ^ Jb 30:9; Ps 35:15; 69:12; Heb 11:36
  56. ^ Jg 16:18
  57. ^ Jg 16:25
  58. ^ Heb 11:32
  59. ^ Ps 50:15; 91:15
  60. ^ Ps 74:18; Je 15:15
  61. ^ Jg 14:6, 19; 15:14
  62. ^ Jg 16:21; Ps 58:10; 143:12
  63. ^ Eze 18:4; Mt 10:28; Re 12:11
  64. ^ Jg 16:27; Jb 31:3
  65. ^ Jg 14:19; 15:8, 15
  66. ^ Jg 13:2, 25
  67. ^ Jos 19:41
  68. ^ Jg 13:8
  69. ^ Ge 49:16; Jg 2:16; 15:20

Read Judges Chapter 16 in other Bible versions:

Comments

  1. David yakubuDavid yakubu
    Oct 29, 2022 08:05 GMT

    When i do read some comments and seeing that its the same people that are supposed to be called believers but are talking ill of other denominations, it hurts. Let us all remember that We should judge not

    1. jonas smithjonas smith
      Apr 23, 2023 02:57 GMT

      The bible tells us to test the spirits. Satan disguises himself as angel of light. So yes some denomination are not teaching the truth. You are responsible for judging which ones are not. You have to judge the truth at all times. this is what the bible teaches

  2. THTH
    Apr 7, 2021 00:20 GMT

    The NWT is a very good translation. Dr. Jason David BeDuhn PhD attests to that in his book Truth in Translation. drive.google.com/...5p16melHzg8/view

    1. James LernerJames Lerner
      Jul 20, 2024 09:48 GMT

      The NWT is Satanic filth to its very core.

      The JW Cult is Satanic to its very core.

      Praise Yahweh I will never be a victim of JW brainwashing. If I burn in Hell for eternity or I am ultimately annihilated so be it

      May Yahweh's curse rest on the Watchtower Society and its Satanic leadership

    2. jim mcleodjim mcleod
      Aug 22, 2021 06:16 GMT

      NWT is a false translation that takes away from the deity of Jesus !

  3. SlightlyChaoticSlightlyChaotic
    Jan 30, 2021 16:33 GMT

    Thank you for taking the time to provide this service. I like seeing the NASB on your web page in the same format as I read on paper. On other sites, the text area is smaller, and so I have to keep scrolling down to read and sometimes I lose the context. So I really appreciate the format.

    As far as the NWT, you are certainly free to do whatever you think best with your own web pages. I'd suggest that you make a note anytime you have a translation that is associated with only one denomination or church, for example:
    New World Translation (Jehovah's Witness version).

    In Jesus' parable of the wheat and the tares. the main idea seems to be that you can't easily distinguish between God's people and not-God's people on this earth, so our Lord's response is to wait until they are shown to be the kind of people they are inside. But the NWT seems like false teaching to me. So I think the warning passages from Jesus' apostles are more applicable, as in 2 Peter 3:15-16, when he talks about Paul's writings:
    "There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures."
    And we also have the positive exhortations, as in 2 Timothy 2:15:
    "Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth."

    1. BroderickBroderick
      Jan 31, 2021 00:57 GMT

      Your suggestion regarding the denominational flagging is duly noted. But I can’t help but wonder, wouldn’t a Catholic also want “Protestant versions” marked as well?

      As for the parable, I’m pretty sure the slaves were convinced in their own minds that they could tell the tares from the wheat. After all, aren’t they the ones who identified the problem in the first place? But the master obviously thought otherwise.

      Furthermore, even at the time when Jesus himself was walking the earth, not everybody who claimed fellowship actually followed him causing John to inquire at Mark 9:39, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name, and we tried to prevent him because he was not following us.” But Jesus said, “Do not hinder him . . . for he who is not against us is for us.”

  4. Joshua HarderJoshua Harder
    Dec 11, 2020 17:48 GMT

    Hello, question.. why have you included the NWT with other legitimate bible translations? Or why have you not atleast included a warning to readers? Don't you fear that someone could be influenced by the Watchtower's intentional heresies? Thank you.

    1. KevinKevin
      Jul 11, 2021 17:45 GMT

      en.m.wikipedia.org/..._Holy_Scriptures

      See the section critical review

    2. ChrisChris
      Jan 8, 2021 07:15 GMT

      Please site these intentional heresies. I am well versed in the watch tower outline and agree they are in many ways incorrect but i also bet i can point many out from EVERY established or main denomination. There is much to learn from them all as one who drinks milk?

      Judge not lest ye be judged, that is not to pass judgement on you either brother.

      I debate with scripture. I don't hold it to be true that Michael is Y'Shua HaMeshiach but I also firmly hold it to be true that our G-d and Heavenly Father are not the word encarnate and only begotten son.

      I love not seeing "lord" which i relate to baal. I feel the catholic church is a satanic establishment and I am aware a freemason started the hovies but there are evil in high places and our fight is also with principalities.

      What i'm saying is that in my darkest hours, those two were some of if not the only ones who would bring a Bible and eucharist and pray with me.

      We all fall short of the glory of G-d.

      Don't forget the NWT was recognized as the most accurate translation on Jeopardy.

      Lastly, this is different I noted than the NWT i have read and am very familiar with. Pull up the watchtower page and compare. I truly look forward to getting this one!

  5. julietjuliet
    Aug 17, 2022 09:36 GMT

    the sky is blue

  6. mercymercy
    Aug 12, 2022 21:23 GMT

    i am Mercy, the sky is blue what else do you need

    1. mercymercy
      Aug 12, 2022 21:25 GMT

      i am so sorry, it was a big mistake

  7. God is able to do all thingsGod is able to do all things
    May 17, 2021 17:59 GMT

    Jesus how much love calling yo name

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