Judges 16:4-18

4Some time later, Samson fell in love with a woman in the Valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah. 5The lords of the Philistines went to her and said, “Entice him and find out the source of his great strength and how we can overpower him to tie him up and subdue him. Then each one of us will give you eleven hundred shekels of silver.1”

6So Delilah said to Samson, “Please tell me the source of your great strength and how you can be tied up and subdued.”

7Samson told her, “If they tie me up with seven fresh bowstrings that have not been dried, I will become as weak as any other man.”

8So the lords of the Philistines brought her seven fresh bowstrings that had not been dried, and she tied him up with them. 9While the men were hidden in her room, she called out, “Samson, the Philistines are here!”

But he snapped the bowstrings like a strand of yarn seared by a flame. So the source of his strength remained unknown.

10Then Delilah said to Samson, “You have mocked me and lied to me! Now please tell me how you can be tied up.”

11He replied, “If they tie me up with new ropes that have never been used, I will become as weak as any other man.”

12So Delilah took new ropes, tied him up with them, and called out, “Samson, the Philistines are here!”

But while the men were hidden in her room, he snapped the ropes off his arms like they were threads.

13Then Delilah said to Samson, “You have mocked me and lied to me all along! Tell me how you can be tied up.”

He told her, “If you weave the seven braids of my head into the web of a loom and tighten it with a pin, I will become as weak as any other man.2”

14So while he slept, Delilah took the seven braids of his hair and wove them into the web. 3Then she tightened it with a pin and called to him, “Samson, the Philistines are here!”

But he awoke from his sleep and pulled out the pin with the loom and the web.

15“How can you say, ‘I love you,’” she asked, “when your heart is not with me? This is the third time you have mocked me and failed to reveal to me the source of your great strength!”

16Finally, after she had pressed him daily with her words and pleaded until he was sick to death, 17Samson told her all that was in his heart: “My hair has never been cut, because I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother’s womb. If I am shaved, my strength will leave me, and I will become as weak as any other man.”

18When Delilah realized that he had revealed to her all that was in his heart, she sent this message to the lords of the Philistines: “Come up once more, for he has revealed to me all that is in his heart.”

Then the lords of the Philistines came to her, bringing the money in their hands.