Simson naDelila
1 Ndele Simson okwa ya kuGasa ndele oko a mona ombwada nokwa ya mo kuye. 2 Ovagasa eshi va shiivifilwa nokutya, Simson e uya mo, vo ove mu dingilila noku mu nangela oufiku aushe poshivelo shoshilando. Noufiku aushe va mwena ndele tava ti: Eluwa eshi tali tende, fye ohatu mu dipaa. 3 Ndele Simson okwa nangala fiyo opokati koufiku. Ndele pokati koufiku ye okwa penduka nokwa kwata omivelo doshivelo shoshilando noikulo ivali ndele okwe i dokola mo pamwe noiidilifo noivela aishe nokwe i leka komapepe aye ndele te i twala koxulo yomhunda ya shaama naHebron.
4 Pomafiku okomesho ye okwa hokwa omukainhu mefilu laSorek, edina laye Delila. 5 Opo nee ovakulunhu vOvafilisti ve uya kuDelila ndele tava ti kuye: Mu heka u mu faafae eenghono daye dinene odi li peni, ndele hatu dulu ngahelipi oku mu kwata noku mu manga tu mu shundule. Opo nee keshe umwe womufye ote ku pe eesekeli doshisiliveli eyovi limwe nefele limwe. 6 Opo nee Delila okwa pula kuSimson: Lombwele nge omolwashike u neenghono dinene, ndele u nokumangwa nashike ngeno u shunduke? 7 Ndele Simson ta ti kuye: Vo ngeenge hava mange nge neefipa heyali dipe, do inadi kukuta, opo nee eenghono tadi kana ndele handi kala ngaashi ovanhu vamwe. 8 Opo nee ovakulunhu Ovafilisti ve mu etela eefipa heyali dipe inadi kukuta ndele ye okwe mu manga nado. 9 Ndele fimbo monduda yaye yomeni mwa li ovanangeli, ye okwe mu lombwela: “Simson, Ovafilisti tave ku kwata?” Opo nee ye a tokaula eefipa ngaashi eengodi dongaho da lungwina. Ndelenee eenghono daye inadi shiivika apa da dja. 10 Opo nee Delila ta ti kuSimson: Tala, ove wa kengelela nge ndele wa lombwela nge oipupulu. Lombwele nge hano, ove to ka mangifwa nashike? 11 Nokwe mu nyamukula: Vo ngeenge tava mange nge neengodi dipe da pama, odo inadi longifwa, opo nee eenghono tadi kana ndele handi kala ngaashi ovanhu aveshe. 12 Opo nee Delila okwa kufa eengodi dipe nokwe mu manga nado ndele ta ti kuye: “Simson, Ovafilisti tave ku kwata,” fimbo ovanangeli va kala monduda. Ndelenee ye okwe di tokaula komaoko ngaashi ongodi. 13 Ndele Delila ta ti kuSimson: Fiyo paife wa kengelela nge ndele wa lombwela nge oipupulu. Lombwele nge hano, ove to ka mangifwa nashike? Ndele ye okwe mu nyamukula ta ti: Ove ngeenge to tungu omapando aheyali eexwiki dokomutwe wange kumwe noshiyata to shi tungu. 14 Opo nee ye e di finda noshifindifo ndele ta ti kuye: Simson, Ovafilisti otave ku kwata! Ndele ye okwa duduluka meemhofi daye nokwa tokola oshifindifo pamwe noshiyata. 15 Ove to dulu ngahelipi okutya: Ame ondi ku hole fimbo omutima woye uhe li mwaame? Lutatu nokuli wa kengelela nge ndele ino shiivifila nge kutya eenghono u di na oda dja peni? 16 Ndele ye eshi e mu fininika efiku keshe neendjovo daye noku mu hepeka, ye okwa loloka fiyo okufya. 17 Nokwe mu hepaululila omutima waye aushe ndele ta ti kuye: Oshimbi inashi kuma nande omutwe wange, osheshi ame Omunasiri waKalunga okudja medimo lameme. Ame ngeenge handi kululwa, eenghono dange tadi yapuka mwaame ndele eenghono dange tadi kana ndele handi ka kala ngaashi ovanhu aveshe. 18 Delila eshi a mona nokutya, ye okwe mu hepaululila omutima waye aushe, ye okwa ifana ovakulunhu vOvafilisti ndele ta ti: Ileni hano paife, osheshi winya okwa hepaululila nge omutima waye aushe. Opo nee ovakulunhu vOvafilisti ve uya kuye noimaliwa yavo. 19 Ndele ye okwe mu nangeka mekolo laye ndele te mu kofeke, ndele ta ifana omulumenhu umwe nokwa teta omapando aye aheyali eexwiki dokomutwe waye. Ndele ye okwa hovela oku mu shundula, neenghono daye da dja mo. 20 Opo nee ye ta ti: Simson, Ovafilisti tave ku kwata! Ndele ye eshi a duduluka meemhofi daye, ye ta ti: Ame ohandi ke limangulula ngaashi shito nokulitukumuna. Osheshi ye ina shiiva nokutya, Omwene e mu efa. 21 Opo nee Ovafilisti ve mu kwata ndele ve mu twiyula omesho aye, ndele ve mu twala kuGasa ndele tave mu mange nelyenge loshikushu; ndele ye e nokutwa moshini modolongo. 22 Ndelenee eexwiki daye dokomutwe da hovela vali okututuma, konima eshi da kululwa.
Efyo laSimson
23 Novakulunhu vOvafilisti va ongala va ka yambele kalunga kavo Dagon, eyambo linene nokuhafa; ndele tava ti: Kalunga ketu e tu pa omutondadi wetu Simson momake etu. 24 Novanhu eshi ve mu mona va hambelela kalunga kavo, shaashi va tile: “Kalunga ketu e tu pa omutondadi wetu nomuhanauni woshilongo shetu, ou a dipaa po vahapu vomufye.” 25 Ndele omitima davo eshi da li da nyakukwa pombada, tava ti: Ifaneni Simson, ye e tu shikile okaxumba! Ndele va ka tala Simson modolongo. Ndele ye okwa shika moipafi yavo ndele ve mu tula ofika pokati keengudi mbali; 26 ndele Simson ta ti komupiya ou e mu kwata komhango: Efe nge ndi kwatelele eengudi odo hadi humbata ongulu, opo ndi shiive oku di yaamena. 27 Nongulu i yadi ovalumenhu novakainhu, novakulunhu aveshe vOvafilisti omo va li. Nokombada yonduda pa li ovalumenhu novakainhu ngeno omayovi atatu, ava va tala Simson eshi ta shiki okaxumba. 28 Opo nee Simson ta kuu kOmwene ndele ta ti: Omwene Kalunga, dimbulukwe nge, u pameke nge lumwe aluke, akutu Kalunga, opo ndi shiive okukwatelela Ovafilisti eisho lange limwe lomomesho ange avali onghone! 29 Ndele Simson okwa papatela eengudi mbali odo da kwata ongulu, imwe e i kwata nokwooko kwokolulyo naikwao onokwooko kwokolumosho ndele ta yaamene kudo. 30 Ndele Simson ta ti: Nandi fye pamwe nOvafilisti! Nokwe lifidimika neenghono, opo ongulu ya wila mo kombada yovakulunhu nokombada yovanhu aveshe ava va li mo. Ovafi ava ye e va dipaa pefyo laye, va li vahapu, ve dule venya e va dipaa fimbo a li e nomwenyo. 31 Ovamwaina neumbo laye alishe, ve uya, ve mu kufa, ndele ve mu twala ndele tave mu pake pokati kaSorea naEstaol mombila yaxe Manoah. Ye okwa pangela Israel omido omilongo mbali.
Samson Carries Off the Gates of Gaza
1 One day while Samson was in Gaza, he saw a prostitute and went to her house to spend the night. 2 The people who lived in Gaza found out he was there, and they decided to kill him at sunrise. So they went to the city gate and waited all night in the guardrooms on each side of the gate.
3 But Samson got up in the middle of the night and went to the town gate. He pulled the gate doors and doorposts out of the wall and put them on his shoulders. Then he carried them all the way to the top of the hill that overlooks Hebron, where he set the doors down, still closed and locked.
Delilah Tricks Samson
4 Some time later, Samson fell in love with a woman named Delilah, who lived in Sorek Valley. 5 The Philistine rulers went to Delilah and said, “Trick Samson into telling you what makes him so strong and what can make him weak. Then we can tie him up so he can't get away. If you find out his secret, we will each give you 1,100 pieces of silver.”
6 The next time Samson was at Delilah's house, she asked, “Samson, what makes you so strong? How can I tie you up so you can't get away? Come on, you can tell me.”
7 Samson answered, “If someone ties me up with seven new bowstrings that have never been dried, it will make me just as weak as anyone else.”
8-9 The Philistine rulers gave seven new bowstrings to Delilah. They also told some of their soldiers to go to Delilah's house and hide in the room where Samson and Delilah were. If the bowstrings made Samson weak, they would be able to capture him.
Delilah tied up Samson with the bowstrings and shouted, “Samson, the Philistines are attacking!”
Samson snapped the bowstrings, as though they were pieces of scorched string. The Philistines had not found out why Samson was so strong.
10 “You lied and made me look like a fool,” Delilah said. “Now tell me. How can I really tie you up?”
11 Samson answered, “Use some new ropes. If I'm tied up with ropes that have never been used, I'll be just as weak as anyone else.”
12 Delilah got new ropes, and again some Philistines hid in the room. Then she tied up Samson's arms and shouted, “Samson, the Philistines are attacking!”
Samson snapped the ropes as if they were threads.
13 “You're still lying and making a fool of me,” Delilah said. “Tell me how I can tie you up!”
“My hair is in seven braids,” Samson replied. “If you weave my braids into the threads on a loom and nail the loom to a wall, then I will be as weak as anyone else.”
14 While Samson was asleep, Delilah wove his braids into the threads on a loom and nailed the loom to a wall. Then she shouted, “Samson, the Philistines are attacking!”
Samson woke up and pulled the loom free from its posts in the ground and from the nails in the wall. Then he pulled his hair free from the woven cloth.
15 “Samson,” Delilah said, “you claim to love me, but you don't mean it! You've made me look like a fool three times now, and you still haven't told me why you are so strong.” 16 Delilah started nagging and pestering him day after day, until he couldn't stand it any longer.
17 Finally, Samson told her the truth. “I have belonged to God ever since I was born, so my hair has never been cut. If it were ever cut off, my strength would leave me, and I would be as weak as anyone else.”
18 Delilah realized that he was telling the truth. So she sent someone to tell the Philistine rulers, “Come to my house one more time. Samson has finally told me the truth.”
The Philistine rulers went to Delilah's house, and they brought along the silver they had promised her. 19 Delilah had lulled Samson to sleep with his head resting in her lap. She signaled to one of the Philistine men as she began cutting off Samson's seven braids. And by the time she was finished, Samson's strength was gone. Delilah tied him up 20 and shouted, “Samson, the Philistines are attacking!”
Samson woke up and thought, “I'll break loose and escape, just as I always do.” He did not realize that the Lord had stopped helping him.
21 The Philistines grabbed Samson and poked out his eyes. They took him to the prison in Gaza and chained him up. Then they put him to work, turning a millstone to grind grain. 22 But they didn't cut his hair any more, so it started growing back.
23 The Philistine rulers threw a big party and sacrificed a lot of animals to their god Dagon. The rulers said:
Samson was our enemy,
but our god Dagon
helped us capture him!
24-25 Everyone there was having a good time, and they shouted, “Bring out Samson—he's still good for a few more laughs!”
The rulers had Samson brought from the prison, and when the people saw him, this is how they praised their god:
Samson ruined our crops
and killed our people.
He was our enemy,
but our god helped us
capture him.
They made fun of Samson for a while, then they told him to stand near the columns that supported the roof. 26 A young man was leading Samson by the hand, and Samson said to him, “I need to lean against something. Take me over to the columns that hold up the roof.”
27 The Philistine rulers were celebrating in a temple packed with people and with 3,000 more on the flat roof. They had all been watching Samson and making fun of him.
28 Samson prayed, “Please remember me, Lord God. The Philistines poked out my eyes, but make me strong one last time, so I can take revenge for at least one of my eyes!”
29 Samson was standing between the two middle columns that held up the roof. He felt around and found one column with his right hand, and the other with his left hand. 30 Then he shouted, “Let me die with the Philistines!” He pushed against the columns as hard as he could, and the temple collapsed with the Philistine rulers and everyone else still inside. Samson killed more Philistines when he died than he had killed during his entire life.
31 His brothers and the rest of his family went to Gaza and took his body back home. They buried him in his father's tomb, which was located between Zorah and Eshtaol.
Samson was a leader of Israel for 20 years.
