And it came to be afterward that he loved a woman in the wadi Sorĕq, whose name was Delilah.
And the princes of the Philistines came up to her and said to her, “Entice him, and find out where his great strength lies, and see by what we might overpower him, then we shall bind him to humble him. And let us give you, each one of us, eleven hundred pieces of silver.”
And Delilah said to Shimshon, “Please reveal to me where your great strength lies, and by what you might be bound, to humble you.”
And Shimshon said to her, “If they bind me with seven fresh cords, not yet dried, then I shall be weak, and be like any other man.”
The princes of the Philistines then brought her seven fresh cords, not yet dried, and she bound him with them,
while those lying in wait stayed with her in the room. And she said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Shimshon!” But he broke the cords as a strand of yarn breaks when it touches fire. So the secret of his strength remained unknown.
And Delilah said to Shimshon, “Look, you have mocked me and spoken lies to me. Now, please reveal to me by what you might be bound.”
And he said to her, “If they bind me tightly with new ropes that have never been used, then I shall be weak, and be like any other man.”
And Delilah took new ropes and bound him with them, and said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Shimshon!” And those lying in wait were sitting in the inner room. But he broke them off his arms like a thread.
So Delilah said to Shimshon, “Until now you have mocked me and spoken lies to me, reveal to me how you might be bound.” And he said to her, “If you weave the seven locks of my head with the web.”
Then she fastened it with a pin, and said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Shimshon!” But he awoke from his sleep, and pulled out the pin of the loom and the web.
Then she said to him, “How do you say, ‘I love you,’ when your heart is not with me? You have mocked me these three times, and have not made known to me where your great strength lies.”
And it came to be, when she pressed him daily with her words and urged him, so that his being was wearied to death,
that he made known to her all his heart, and said to her, “No razor has ever come upon my head, for I have been a Nazirite to Elohim from my mother’s womb. If I were shaven, then my strength would leave me, and I would become as weak as any other man.”
And Delilah saw that he had made known to her all his heart, and she sent and called for the princes of the Philistines, saying, “Come up once more, for he has made known to me all his heart.” So the princes of the Philistines came up to her and brought the silver in their hand.
And she made him sleep on her knees, and called for a man and shaved off the seven locks of his head. Thus she began to humble him, and his strength left him.
And she said, “The Philistines are upon you, Shimshon!” And he awoke from his sleep, and said, “Let me go out as before, at other times, and shake myself loose!” But he did not know that יהוה had turned aside from him.
So the Philistines took him and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Azzah, and bound him with bronze shackles. And he became a grinder in the prison.
But the hair of his head began to grow again after it had been shaven.
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