Judges, 15

1. But it came to pass within a while after, in the time of wheat harvest, that Samson visited his wife with a kid; and he said, I will go in to my wife into the chamber. But her father would not suffer him to go in.

1. After some time, during wheat harvest, Samson went to visit his wife, bringing a young goat with him, and he said, "I want to be with my wife in our room." But her father would not let him in,

2. And her father said, I verily thought that thou hadst utterly hated her; therefore I gave her to thy companion: [is] not her younger sister fairer than she? take her, I pray thee, instead of her.

2. saying, "I thought that you did not like her anymore, so I gave her to your companion. Is not her younger sister still better? Why don't you take her instead?"

3. And Samson said concerning them, Now shall I be more blameless than the Philistines, though I do them a displeasure.

3. Samson replied, "This time I owe nothing to the Philistines even if I do them harm."

4. And Samson went and caught three hundred foxes, and took firebrands, and turned tail to tail, and put a firebrand in the midst between two tails.

4. Samson went out and caught three hundred foxes, took some torches and tied the animals tail to tail. He then placed a torch in between every two tails,

5. And when he had set the brands on fire, he let [them] go into the standing corn of the Philistines, and burnt up both the shocks, and also the standing corn, with the vineyards [and] olives.

5. set fire to the torches and turned the foxes loose in the grain fields of the Philistines. In this way, he burned the sheaves and the standing grain, together with the vineyards and olive groves.

6. Then the Philistines said, Who hath done this? And they answered, Samson, the son in law of the Timnite, because he had taken his wife, and given her to his companion. And the Philistines came up, and burnt her and her father with fire.

6. The Philistines asked, "Who did this?" And they answered, "Samson, the son-in-law of the man from Timnah, because this man took his wife and gave her to his companion." So they went up and burned her and her family.

7. And Samson said unto them, Though ye have done this, yet will I be avenged of you, and after that I will cease.

7. Samson said to them, "Since you did this, I will not rest until I have had my revenge on you."

8. And he smote them hip and thigh with a great slaughter: and he went down and dwelt in the top of the rock Etam.

8. So he caused a great havoc upon them. Then he went down to live in a cave in the rock of Etam.

9. Then the Philistines went up, and pitched in Judah, and spread themselves in Lehi.

9. The Philistines went up to the mountains of Judah and raided Lehi.

10. And the men of Judah said, Why are ye come up against us? And they answered, To bind Samson are we come up, to do to him as he hath done to us.

10. The men of Judah asked them, "Why have you come to attack us?" They answered, "We have come to capture Samson, and do to him what he did to us."

11. Then three thousand men of Judah went to the top of the rock Etam, and said to Samson, Knowest thou not that the Philistines [are] rulers over us? what [is] this [that] thou hast done unto us? And he said unto them, As they did unto me, so have I done unto them.

11. Three thousand men of Judah went down to the cave at the rock of Etam and said to Samson, "Do you not know that the Philistines lord it over us? Now what have you done to us?" He answered, "What they did to me, I have done to them."

12. And they said unto him, We are come down to bind thee, that we may deliver thee into the hand of the Philistines. And Samson said unto them, Swear unto me, that ye will not fall upon me yourselves.

12. They said to him, "We have come down to tie you up and hand you over to the Philistines." Samson said to them, "Swear to me that you will not kill me."

13. And they spake unto him, saying, No; but we will bind thee fast, and deliver thee into their hand: but surely we will not kill thee. And they bound him with two new cords, and brought him up from the rock.

13. They answered, "No, we only want to tie you up and hand you over to them, but we will not kill you." They bound him with two new ropes and brought him up from the rocks.

14. [And] when he came unto Lehi, the Philistines shouted against him: and the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and the cords that [were] upon his arms became as flax that was burnt with fire, and his bands loosed from off his hands.

14. When they arrived in Lehi, the Philistines ran to him with shouts of victory. But the Spirit of Yahweh came upon Samson. The ropes that bound him became like linen flax burned in the fire and the knots were loosened from his arms.

15. And he found a new jawbone of an ass, and put forth his hand, and took it, and slew a thousand men therewith.

15. He found a fresh jawbone of an ass, grabbed it and with it killed a thousand men.

16. And Samson said, With the jawbone of an ass, heaps upon heaps, with the jaw of an ass have I slain a thousand men.

16. Samson then said, "With the jawbone of an ass, I dealt them a mighty blow; with the jawbone of an ass, I beat a thousand men."

17. And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking, that he cast away the jawbone out of his hand, and called that place Ramathlehi.

17. When he finished speaking, he threw away the jawbone and that is why the place was called Ramath-lehi.

18. And he was sore athirst, and called on the LORD, and said, Thou hast given this great deliverance into the hand of thy servant: and now shall I die for thirst, and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised?

18. Then he became terribly thirsty and called out to Yahweh saying, "You have given your servant this great victory. Now am I to die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?"

19. But God clave an hollow place that [was] in the jaw, and there came water thereout; and when he had drunk, his spirit came again, and he revived: wherefore he called the name thereof Enhakkore, which [is] in Lehi unto this day.

19. So Yahweh opened a hollow in the ground at Lehi and water gushed forth from it. Samson drank; his strength returned and he revived. For this, the name En-hakkore was given to the fountain which is still in Lehi to this day.

20. And he judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years.

20. Samson became judge of Israel for twenty years during the time of the Philistines.