Judges 14:1-11

One day Samson went down to Timnah where a Philistine girl caught his eye, so he returned home and told his parents, “At Timnah I noticed a young woman among the daughters of the Philistines; get her for me now to be my wife.” His parents replied, “Why can’t you find a woman from among our relatives, or at least from our tribe? You don’t have to get a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines.” But Samson told his father, “Get her for me; I know she’s the right one for me.” Now, his parents had no idea that Samson’s passion for the girl was part of YAHWEH’s plan to create an opportunity to come against the Philistines who ruled over Israel at that time. One day, Samson decided to go back to Timnah to visit the Philistine woman. As he was approaching the vineyards of Timnah, a full-grown lion suddenly came roaring toward him. The Spirit of YAHWEH entered Samson and empowered him to tear the lion to pieces with his bare hands as if it were a young goat! But he never disclosed to his father and mother what he had done. Afterward, he went into Timnah and talked with the Philistine woman, because Samson was convinced that she was the right one for him. Later, Samson returned to marry her. On his way there, he turned aside to look at the lion’s remains, and to his surprise, there was a swarm of bees, honey, and honeycomb in the carcass of the lion! He scooped some of the honey into his hands and continued on his way, eating as he went. When he rejoined his father and mother, he gave some to them, and they ate too. But he did not tell them he had scooped it from the lion’s carcass. So Samson’s father accompanied him to Timnah to arrange the marriage. Following the custom for young men about to marry, Samson threw a party that lasted for seven days. When the Philistines saw him, they arranged for thirty Philistine men to accompany him as groomsmen.