his best man.' So the Philistines went up, and burnt her and her father. Then Samson said to them, 'If this is the way you do, I will not stop until I have had my revenge on you!' So he fought fiercely and killed many of them; then he went and stayed in a cavern in the cliff of Etam.

When the Philistines went up and camped in Judah and made a raid on Lehi, the Judahites said, 'Why have you come up against us?' They replied, 'We have come up to bind Samson, to do to him what he has done to us.' Then three thousand men of Judah went down to the cavern in the cliff of Etam and said to Samson, 'Do you not know that the Philistines are our rulers? What are you doing to us?' He replied, 'I have done to them as they did to me.' They said to him, 'We have come down to bind you, to turn you over to the Philistines.' Samson said to them, 'Swear to me that you will not attack me yourselves.' They said to him, 'No; we will simply bind you securely and deliver you to them; but we will not kill you.' So they bound him with two new ropes, and brought him up from the cliff.

When he came to Lehi, the Philistines shouted when they met him. Then he was suddenly endowed with divine strength, and the ropes that were on his arms became like flax that has been burned in the fire, and his bonds melted from his hands. And he found a fresh jawbone of an ass, and having seized it, he killed a thousand men with it. Then Samson said:

With the jawbone of an ass have I piled them, mass on

mass;

A thousand warriors have I slain with the jawbone of

an ass.

66. A PHYSICAL GIANT AND A MORAL WEAKLING

Afterward Samson fell in love with a woman in the valley of Sorek, named Delilah. Then the rulers of the Philistines came to her and said, 'Find out by wheedling him how it is that his strength is so great and how we may overpower and bind him that we may torture him. Then we will each one of us give you eleven hundred pieces of silver.' So Delilah said to Samson, ‘Tell me how it is that your strength is so great and how you might be bound to torture you?' Samson said to her, 'If they should bind me with seven green bowstrings which have not been dried, I should become weak like any other man.'

Then the rulers of the Philistines brought her seven green bowstrings which had not been dried, and she bound him with them. She had the men lying in wait in the inner apartment, but when she said to him, "The Philistines are upon you, Samson!' he snapped the bowstrings as a string of tow is snapped when it comes near the fire; so the secret of his strength was not discovered.

Then Delilah said to Samson, 'You have deceived me and lied to me; now tell me with what you can be bound fast.' He said to her, 'If they should bind me securely with new ropes with which no work has been done, I should become weak like any other man.' So Delilah took new ropes and bound him with them and said to him, 'The Philistines are upon you, Samson!' Men were also lying in wait in the inner apartment; but he snapped the ropes from his arms like thread.

Again Delilah said to Samson, 'So far you have deceived me and lied to me; tell me now with what you can be bound fast.' He said to her, 'If you should weave the seven braids on my head along with

the web and beat it into form with the weaving pin, I should become weak like any other man.' So while he was asleep, she took the seven braids of his hair and wove it with the web and beat it into form with the pin, and said to him, "The Philistines are upon you, Samson!' But he awoke out of his sleep and pulled up the loom and the web.

Then she said to him, 'How can you say, "I love you," when you do not trust me? You have deceived me three times already and have not told me the secret of your great strength.' But in time, since she daily begged and urged him, he was wearied to death, and told her all that he knew, saying, 'A razor has never touched my head; for I have been consecrated to God from my birth. If I should be shaved, my strength would be gone, and I should become weak like any other man.'

When Delilah saw that he had told her all that he knew, she sent and called for the rulers of the Philistines and said, 'Come at once, for he has told me all that he knows.' Then the rulers of the Philistines came up to her and brought the money with them. After she had put Samson to sleep on her knees, she called for a man and had him shave off the seven braids on his head. Then she began to tease him, and his strength went from him; and she said, "The Philistines are upon you, Samson!' And he awoke out of his sleep and thought, 'I will get up as I have done repeatedly and shake myself free'; for he did not know that Jehovah had left him. So the Philistines seized him and bored out his eyes. Then they brought him down to Gaza and bound him with bronze shackles, and then he was set to grinding in the prison. But the hair of his head began to grow again as soon as he was shaved.

Then the rulers of the Philistines assembled to offer a great sacrifice to their god Dagon and to express their joy, for they said, 'Our god has given Samson our enemy into our power.' When the people saw him, they also praised their god, saying:

Our god has brought low our foe,
He who brought our country woe,
He who slew us with many a blow.

When they were in high spirits, they said, 'Call Samson that he may amuse us.' So they called Samson from the prison and he amused them; and they placed him between the pillars.

Then Samson said to the young man who held him by the hand, 'Let me touch the pillars on which the building rests, that I may lean against them.' Now the building was full of men and women, and all the rulers of the Philistines were there, and on the roof about three thousand men and women were looking on while Samson amused them. Samson called on Jehovah and said, 'O Jehovah, remember me and strengthen me, I pray thee, just this once, O God, that by one act I may avenge myself on the Philistines for the loss of my two eyes.'

Then Samson took hold of the two middle pillars upon which the building rested, one with his right hand and the other with his left, and leaned against them. And Samson said, 'Let me die with the Philistines.' Then he bent over with all his might, and the house fell upon the rulers and upon all the people who were in it. So those whom he killed at his death were more than those whom he killed during his lifetime.

Then his brothers and all his family came down and took him and brought him up and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the burying-place of Manoah his father.

67. IN THE DAYS WHEN EVERYONE DID AS HE PLEASED

There was a man of the highlands of Ephraim named Micah. He said to his mother, "The eleven hundred pieces of silver which were taken from you, about which you uttered a curse aloud in my hearing― see, I have the silver; it was I who took it; now I restore it to you.' His mother said, 'Blest of Jehovah is my son!'

So when he gave back the money to his mother, she took two hundred pieces of silver and gave them to the founder, who made with it a carved and molten image. The image was placed in the house of Micah. Micah had a shrine also, and he made a priestly robe for use in consulting Jehovah, and the household gods, and installed one of his sons as priest.

In those days there was no ruler in Israel; every one did as he pleased.

There was a young Levite of Bethlehem in Judah who set out from the town of Bethlehem to find a home wherever he could. As he travelled on, he came to the house of Micah in the highlands of Ephraim. Micah said to him, 'Where do you come from?' He replied, 'I am a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah, and I am travelling to find a home wherever I may.' Micah said to him, 'Stay with me and be a father and a priest to me, and I will give you ten pieces of silver a year, a complete suit of clothes, and your living.' So the Levite agreed to stay with him and became like one of his own sons. So Micah installed the Levite, and the young man became his priest and a member of his household. Then Micah said, 'Now I know that Jehovah will prosper me, for I have a Levite as my priest.'

In those days the tribe of the Danites was seeking a