BL
Judges · read by Brian Long
23 verses, in order. Only the verses Brian read aloud are shown.
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Judges 16
2
When the Gazites heard that Samson was there, they surrounded that place and lay in wait for him all night at the city gate. They were quiet throughout the night, saying, "Let us wait until dawn; then we will kill him."Read from NKJV · The Secret of the Overcoming Strength
3
But Samson lay there only until midnight, when he got up, took hold of the doors of the city gate and both gateposts, and pulled them out, bar and all. Then he put them on his shoulders and took them to the top of the mountain overlooking Hebron.Read from NKJV · The Secret of the Overcoming Strength
4
Some time later, Samson fell in love with a woman in the Valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah.Read from NKJV · The Secret of the Overcoming Strength
6
So Delilah said to Samson, "Please tell me the source of your great strength and how you can be tied up and subdued."Read from NKJV · The Secret of the Overcoming Strength
7
Samson 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."Read from NKJV · The Secret of the Overcoming Strength
8
So the lords of the Philistines brought her seven fresh bowstrings that had not been dried, and she tied him up with them.Read from NKJV · The Secret of the Overcoming Strength
9
While 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.Read from NKJV · The Secret of the Overcoming Strength
10
Then Delilah said to Samson, "You have mocked me and lied to me! Now please tell me how you can be tied up."Read from NKJV · The Secret of the Overcoming Strength
11
He replied, "If they tie me up with new ropes that have never been used, I will become as weak as any other man."Read from NKJV · The Secret of the Overcoming Strength
12
So 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.Read from NKJV · The Secret of the Overcoming Strength
13
Then 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."Read from NKJV · The Secret of the Overcoming Strength
14
So while he slept, Delilah took the seven braids of his hair and wove them into the web. Then 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.Read from NKJV · The Secret of the Overcoming Strength
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!"Read from NKJV · The Secret of the Overcoming Strength
16
Finally, after she had pressed him daily with her words and pleaded until he was sick to death,Read from NKJV · The Secret of the Overcoming Strength
20
Then she called out, "Samson, the Philistines are here!" When Samson awoke from his sleep, he thought, "I will escape as I did before and shake myself free." But he did not know that the LORD had departed from him.Read from NKJV · The Secret of the Overcoming Strength
21
Then the Philistines seized him, gouged out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, where he was bound with bronze shackles and forced to grind grain in the prison.Read from NKJV · The Secret of the Overcoming Strength
22
However, the hair of his head began to grow back after it had been shaved.Read from NKJV · The Secret of the Overcoming Strength
23
Now the lords of the Philistines gathered together to offer a great sacrifice to their god Dagon. They rejoiced and said, "Our god has delivered Samson our enemy into our hands."Read from NKJV · The Secret of the Overcoming Strength
24
And when the people saw him, they praised their god, saying: "Our god has delivered into our hands our enemy who destroyed our land and multiplied our dead."Read from NKJV · The Secret of the Overcoming Strength
27
Now the temple was full of men and women; all the lords of the Philistines were there, and about three thousand men and women were on the roof watching Samson entertain them.Read from NKJV · The Secret of the Overcoming Strength
28
Then Samson called out to the LORD: "O Lord GOD, please remember me. Strengthen me, O God, just once more, so that with one vengeful blow I may pay back the Philistines for my two eyes."Read from NKJV · The Secret of the Overcoming Strength
30
Samson said, "Let me die with the Philistines." Then he pushed with all his might, and the temple fell on the lords and all the people in it. So in his death he killed more than he had killed in his life.Read from NKJV · The Secret of the Overcoming Strength
31
Then Samson's brothers and his father's family came down, carried him back, and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of his father Manoah. And he had judged Israel twenty years.Read from NKJV · The Secret of the Overcoming Strength