Samsoni ndi Delila
1Tsiku lina Samsoni anapita ku Gaza. Kumeneko anaonako mkazi wachiwerewere, ndipo analowa mu nyumba yake. 2Anthu a ku Gaza anawuzidwa kuti, “Samsoni ali kuno!” Choncho anthuwo anazungulira malowo, kumubisalira usiku wonse ku chipata cha mzindawo. Iwo anakhala chete usiku wonse namanena kuti, “Tidzamupha mmamawa.”
3Koma Samsoni anangogonako mpaka pakati pa usiku. Kenaka pakati pa usiku anadzuka nagwira zitseko za chipata cha mzinda ndi maferemu ake awiri, ndipo anazizula zonse pamodzi ndi mpiringidzo womwe. Anazisenza pa mapewa pake napita nazo pamwamba pa phiri loyangʼanana ndi Hebroni.
4Pambuyo pake, Samsoni anayamba kukonda mtsikana wina wa ku chigwa cha Soreki dzina lake Delila. 5Olamulira Afilisti anapita kwa mkaziyo ndipo anati, “Umunyengerere Samsoni kuti udziwe chinsinsi cha mphamvu zake zoopsazi, komanso ndi mmene ife tingamupambanire kuti timumange ndi kumugonjetsa. Ukatero aliyense wa ife adzakupatsa ndalama zasiliva 1,100.”
6Choncho Delila anati kwa Samsoni, “Inu tandiwuzani pamene pagona mphamvu zanu zoopsazi ndi mmene anthu akhoza kukumangirani kuti akugonjetseni.”
7Samsoni anamuyankha kuti, “Ngati wina atandimanga ndi zingwe zisanu ndi ziwiri zatsopano zosawuma, ndidzafowoka ndi kusanduka ngati munthu wina aliyense.”
8Tsono atsogoleri a Afilisti aja anapita kwa mkazi uja namupatsa zingwe zisanu ndi ziwiri zatsopano zosawuma, ndipo mkaziyo anamanga nazo Samsoni. 9Nthawi imeneyo nʼkuti mkazi uja atayika anthu omubisalira mʼchipinda. Tsono anati kwa mwamuna wake, “Amuna anga, Afilisti aja afika!” Koma iye anangodula zingwe zija ngati mmene imadukira nkhosi ya chingwe ikamapsa. Choncho chinsinsi cha mphamvu zake sichinadziwike.
10Kenaka Delila anati kwa Samsoni, “Inu mwandipusitsa ndi kundiwuza zabodza. Chonde tandiwuzani mmene munthu angakumangireni.”
11Iye anati, “Ngati aliyense atandimanga ine ndi zingwe zatsopano zimene sanazigwiritseko ntchito, ndidzasanduka wofowoka ndi kukhala monga munthu wina aliyense.”
12Choncho Delila anatenga zingwe zatsopano namumanga nazo. Kenaka anati “Amuna anga, Afilisti aja afikanso!” Nthawi iyi nʼkuti anthu omubisalira aja ali mʼchipinda chamʼkati. Koma iye anadulanso zingwe mʼmanja ake ngati akudula ulusi wa thonje.
13Ndipo Delila anati kwa Samsoni, “Mpaka tsopano mwakhala mukundipusitsa ndi kumandiwuza zabodza. Chonde, tandiwuzani mmene munthu angakumangireni.”
Iye anayankha kuti, “Ngati njombi zisanu ndi ziwiri za kumutu kwanga utazilukira mu cholukira nsalu ndi kuchimanga molimbika ndi chikhomo, ndidzasanduka wofowoka ndi kukhala wofanana ndi munthu wina aliyense.” 14Choncho iye akugona, Delila analukira njombi za ku mutu kwa Samsoni mu cholukira nsalu nachimanga molimba ndi chikhomo.
Pambuyo pake anati kwa Samsoni, “Amuna anga, Afilisti aja abwera!” Tsono iye anadzuka ku tulo, nazula chikhomo chija ndipo njombi zinachoka mu cholukira chija.
15Tsono mkaziyo ananenanso kwa iye kuti, “Munganene bwanji kuti mumandikonda pamene mtima wanu suli pa ine? Aka ndi kachitatu mukundipusitsa ndipo simunandiwuze pamene pagona mphamvu zanu zoopsazi.” 16Tsono popeza anamupanikiza ndi mawu ake tsiku ndi tsiku ndi kumukakamiza, mtima wa Samsoni unatopa pafupi kufa.
17Choncho anamuwuza mkaziyo zonse za mu mtima mwake nati “Lumo silinapitepo pa mutu wanga chifukwa ndakhala ndili Mnaziri wopatulikira Mulungu chibadwire. Ngati nditametedwa mphamvu zanga zidzandichokera, ndidzasanduka wofowoka ndipo ndidzafanana ndi munthu wina aliyense.”
18Delila ataona kuti wamuwuza zonse za mu mtima mwake anatumiza uthenga kukayitana akuluakulu a Afilisti nati, “Bweraninso kamodzi kano kokha popeza wandiwululira zonse za mu mtima mwake.” Choncho akuluakulu a Afilisti aja anabwera ndi ndalama za siliva mʼmanja mwawo. 19Mkazi uja anagoneka Samsoni pa miyendo yake. Kenaka anayitana munthu wina ndipo anadzameta Samsoni njombi zisanu ndi ziwiri zija kumutu kwake. Pamenepo anayamba kufowoka, ndipo mphamvu zake zinamuchokera.
20Pambuyo pake mkaziyo anamuyitana kuti, “Amuna anga, Afilisti aja abwera!”
Iye anadzuka kutuloko, naganiza kuti, “Ndituluka monga ndimachitira nthawi zonse ndi kudzimasula.” Koma sanadziwe kuti Yehova wamuchokera.
21Afilisti anamugwira ndipo anamukolowola maso. Kenaka anapita naye ku Gaza atamumanga ndi maunyolo achitsulo. Kumeneko anakhala wa pamphero mu ndende. 22Pambuyo pake tsitsi la pa mutu wake, monga linametedwa, linayambanso kumera.
Imfa ya Samsoni
23Tsono atsogoleri a Afilisti anasonkhana kuti adzapereke nsembe yayikulu kwa Dagoni mulungu wawo ndi kukondwerera popeza ankanena kuti, “Mulungu wathu wapereka Samsoni mdani wathu mʼmanja mwathu.”
24Anthuwo atamuona Samsoni, anayamba kutamanda mulungu wawo popeza ankanena kuti,
“Mulungu wathu wapereka mdani wathu
mʼmanja mwathu,
ndiye amene anawononga dziko lathu,
napha anthu athu ambirimbiri.”
25Ali mʼkati mosangalala, anthu aja amafuwula kuti, “Mutulutseni Samsoniyo kuti adzatisangalatse.” Choncho anamutulutsadi Samsoni mʼndende, ndipo anawasangalatsadi.
Ndipo anamuyimiritsa pakati pa mizati. 26Pambuyo pake Samsoni anawuza mnyamata amene anamugwira dzanja kuti, “Ndilole kuti ndikhudze mizati imene yachirikiza nyumba yonseyi kuti ndiyitsamire.” 27Nthawi imeneyi nʼkuti nyumbayo ili yodzaza ndi anthu aamuna ndi aakazi. Olamulira onse a Afilisti anali momwemo, ndipo pamwamba pa nyumbayo panali anthu 3,000 aamuna ndi aakazi amene amaonerera Samsoni akusewera. 28Tsono Samsoni anapemphera kwa Yehova kuti, “Inu Yehova Ambuye anga, ndikumbukireni. Chonde ndilimbitseni nthawi yokha ino, inu Yehova, kuti ndiwabwezere Afilistiwa chifukwa cha maso anga awiri.” 29Choncho Samsoni anagwira mizati iwiri yapakati imene inkachirikiza nyumbayo. Anayitsamira ndi mphamvu zake zonse, dzanja lake lamanja ku mzati wina ndi dzanja lamanzere ku mzati winanso, 30ndipo Samsoni anati, “Ndife nawo pamodzi!” Nthawi yomweyo anakankha ndi mphamvu zake zonse ndipo mizati inagwera atsogoleri a Afilisti ndi anthu onse anali mʼmenemo. Tsono chiwerengero cha anthu amene Samsoni anapha pa nthawi ya imfa yake chinaposa cha iwo amene anawapha akanali ndi moyo.
31Kenaka abale ake ndi onse a pa banja la abambo ake anapita kukamutenga. Ndipo anakamuyika pakati pa Zora ndi Esitaoli mʼmanda a abambo ake, Manowa. Iye anatsogolera Israeli kwa zaka makumi awiri.
Samson and Delilah
1One day Samson went to Gaza. There he saw a prostitute. He went in to spend the night with her. 2The people of Gaza were told, “Samson is here!” So they surrounded the place. They hid and waited for him at the city gate all night long. They didn’t make any move against him during the night. They said, “Let’s wait until the sun comes up. Then we’ll kill him.”
3But Samson stayed there only until the middle of the night. Then he got up. He took hold of the doors of the city gate. He also took hold of the two doorposts. He tore them loose, together with their metal bar. He picked them up and put them on his shoulders. Then he carried them to the top of the hill that faces Hebron.
4Some time later, Samson fell in love again. The woman lived in the Valley of Sorek. Her name was Delilah. 5The rulers of the Philistines went to her. They said, “See if you can get him to tell you the secret of why he’s so strong. Find out how we can overpower him. Then we can tie him up. We can bring him under our control. Each of us will give you 28 pounds of silver.”
6So Delilah said to Samson, “Tell me the secret of why you are so strong. Tell me how you can be tied up and controlled.”
7Samson answered her, “Let someone tie me up with seven new bowstrings. They must be strings that aren’t completely dry. Then I’ll become as weak as any other man.”
8So the Philistine rulers brought seven new bowstrings to her. They weren’t completely dry. Delilah tied Samson up with them. 9Men were hiding in the room. She called out to him, “Samson! The Philistines are attacking you!” But he snapped the bowstrings easily. They were like pieces of string that had come too close to a flame. So the secret of why he was so strong wasn’t discovered.
10Delilah spoke to Samson again. “You have made me look foolish,” she said. “You told me a lie. Come on. Tell me how you can be tied up.”
11Samson said, “Let someone tie me tightly with new ropes. They must be ropes that have never been used. Then I’ll become as weak as any other man.”
12So Delilah got some new ropes. She tied him up with them. Men were hiding in the room. She called out to him, “Samson! The Philistines are attacking you!” But he snapped the ropes off his arms. They fell off just as if they were threads.
13Delilah spoke to Samson again. “All this time you have been making me look foolish,” she said. “You have been telling me lies. This time really tell me how you can be tied up.”
He replied, “Weave the seven braids of my hair into the cloth on a loom. Then tighten the cloth with a pin. If you do, I’ll become as weak as any other man.” So while Samson was sleeping, Delilah took hold of the seven braids of his hair. She wove them into the cloth on a loom. 14Then she tightened the cloth with a pin.
Again she called out to him, “Samson! The Philistines are attacking you!” He woke up from his sleep. He pulled up the pin and the loom, together with the cloth.
15Then she said to him, “How can you say, ‘I love you’? You won’t even share your secret with me. This is the third time you have made me look foolish. And you still haven’t told me the secret of why you are so strong.” 16She continued to pester him day after day. She nagged him until he was sick and tired of it.
17So he told her everything. He said, “My hair has never been cut. That’s because I’ve been a Nazirite since the day I was born. A Nazirite is set apart to God. If you shave my head, I won’t be strong anymore. I’ll become as weak as any other man.”
18Delilah realized he had told her everything. So she sent a message to the Philistine rulers. She said, “Come back one more time. He has told me everything.” So the rulers returned. They brought the silver with them. 19Delilah got Samson to go to sleep on her lap. Then she called for someone to shave off the seven braids of his hair. That’s how she began to bring Samson under her control. And he wasn’t strong anymore.
20She called out, “Samson! The Philistines are attacking you!”
He woke up from his sleep. He thought, “I’ll go out just as I did before. I’ll shake myself free.” But he didn’t know that the Lord had left him.
21Then the Philistines grabbed him. They poked his eyes out. They took him down to Gaza. They put bronze chains around him. Then they made him grind grain in the prison. 22His head had been shaved. But the hair on it began to grow again.
Samson Dies
23The rulers of the Philistines gathered together. They were going to offer a great sacrifice to their god Dagon. They were going to celebrate. They said, “Our god has handed our enemy Samson over to us.”
24When the people saw Samson, they praised their god. They said,
“Our god has handed our enemy over to us.
Our enemy has destroyed our land.
He has killed large numbers of our people.”
25After they had drunk a lot of wine, they shouted, “Bring Samson out. Let him put on a show for us.” So they called Samson out of the prison. He put on a show for them.
They had him stand near the temple pillars. 26Then he spoke to the servant who was holding his hand. He said, “Put me where I can feel the pillars. I’m talking about the ones that hold up the temple. I want to lean against them.” 27The temple was crowded with men and women. All the Philistine rulers were there. About 3,000 men and women were on the roof. They were watching Samson put on a show. 28Then he prayed to the Lord. Samson said, “Lord and King, show me that you still have concern for me. Please, God, make me strong just one more time. Let me pay the Philistines back for what they did to my two eyes. Let me do it with only one blow.” 29Then Samson reached toward the two pillars that were in the middle of the temple. They were the ones that held up the temple. He put his right hand on one of them. He put his left hand on the other. He leaned hard against them. 30Samson said, “Let me die together with the Philistines!” Then he pushed with all his might. The temple came down on the rulers. It fell on all the people in it. So Samson killed many more Philistines when he died than he did while he lived.
31Then his brothers went down to get him. So did his father’s whole family. All of them brought Samson back home. They buried him in the tomb of his father Manoah. It’s between Zorah and Eshtaol. Samson had led Israel for 20 years.
