ሳምሶን ፍልስጥኤማውያንን ተበቀለ
1ከጥቂት ጊዜ በኋላ በስንዴ መከር ወራት ሳምሶን አንድ የፍየል ጠቦት ይዞ ሚስቱን ለማየት ሄደ፤ እርሱም፣ “ሚስቴ ወዳለችበት ጫጕላው ቤት ልግባ” አለ፤ አባቷ ግን እንዲገባ አልፈቀደለትም።
2አባትየውም፣ “ፈጽሞ የጠላሃት መሆንህን ስለ ተረዳሁ ለሚዜህ ድሬለታለሁ፤ ታናሽ እኅቷ ከእርሷ ይልቅ ውብ አይደለችምን? እርሷን አግባት” አለው።
3ሳምሶንም መልሶ፣ “ከእንግዲህ በፍልስጥኤማውያን ላይ በሚደርሰው ጕዳት ተጠያቂ አልሆንም” አላቸው። 4ከዚያም ወጥቶ በመሄድ ሦስት መቶ ቀበሮች ያዘ፤ የሁለት ሁለቱን ጭራ አንድ ላይ ካሰረ በኋላ ችቦ ወስዶ ጥንድ ሆኖ ከተያያዘው ጭራ ጋር አሰረው። 5ችቦውን በእሳት አቀጣጥሎ ቀበሮቹን በፍልስጥኤማውያን የእህል አዝመራ ላይ ለቀቃቸው፤ ነዶውንና የቆመውን አዝመራ እንዲሁም የወይኑንና የወይራውን ተክል አቃጠለ።
6ፍልስጥኤማውያን፣ “ይህን ያደረገው ማን ነው?” ብለው ሲጠይቁ፣ “ሚስቱ ለሚዜው ስለ ተሰጠችበት የተምናዊው ዐማች ሳምሶን ነው” የሚል መልስ አገኙ።
ስለዚህም ፍልስጥኤማውያን ወጥተው ሴቲቱንና አባቷን በእሳት አቃጥለው ገደሏቸው። 7ሳምሶንም፣ “እንግዲህ እናንተ ይህን ካደረጋችሁ እኔ ደግሞ ሳልበቀላችሁ አልመለስም” አለ። 8ክፉኛ መታቸው፤ ከነርሱም ብዙዎችን ገደለ፤ ከዚያም ወርዶ በኢታም ዐለት ዋሻ ተቀመጠ።
9ፍልስጥኤማውያን ወጥተው በይሁዳ ሰፈሩ፤ ከዚያም በሌሒ አጠገብ ተበታትነው አደፈጡ። 10የይሁዳም ሰዎች፣ “ልትወጉን የመጣችሁት ለምንድን ነው?” ሲሉ ጠየቋቸው።
እነርሱም “እኛ የመጣነው ሳምሶንን ልናስርና ያደረገብንን ልናደርግበት ነው” ብለው መለሱላቸው።
11ከዚያም ሦስት ሺሕ ሰዎች ከይሁዳ ተነሥተው በኤታም ዐለት ወዳለው ዋሻ ወርደው ሳምሶንን፣ “ፍልስጥኤማውያን ገዦቻችን መሆናቸውን አታውቅምን? ያደረግህብንስ ነገር ምንድን ነው?” ብለው ጠየቁት።
ሳምሶንም፣ “ያደረግሁት እነርሱ ያደረጉብኝን ነው” በማለት መለሰላቸው።
12እነርሱም፣ “አስረን ለፍልስጥኤማውያን ልንሰጥህ ይኸው መጥተናል” አሉት።
ሳምሶንም፣ “እናንተ ራሳችሁ ላትገድሉኝ ማሉልኝ” አላቸው።
13እነርሱም፣ “አስረን ብቻ ለእነርሱ አሳልፈን እንሰጥሃለን እንጂ ራሳችን አንገድልህም” አሉት፤ ከዚያ በሁለት አዳዲስ ገመድ አስረው ከዐለቱ ዋሻ አወጡት። 14ሳምሶን ሌሒ እንደ ደረሰም ፍልስጥኤማውያን እየጮኹ ወደ እርሱ መጡ፤ በዚህ ጊዜ የእግዚአብሔር መንፈስ በሳምሶን ላይ በኀይል ወረደበት። እጆቹ የታሰሩበትም ገመድ እሳት ውስጥ እንደ ገባ የተልባ እግር ፈትል ሆኖ ከእጆቹ ላይ ወደቀ። 15ከዚያም በቅርቡ የሞተ የአንድ የአህያ መንጋጋ አይቶ ከመሬት አነሣ፤ በዚያም አንድ ሺሕ ሰው ገደለ።
16ሳምሶንም፣
“በአንድ የአህያ መንጋጋ፣
ሺሕ ሰው ዘራሪ፤
በአንድ የአህያ መንጋጋ፣
ሺሕ ሬሳ አነባባሪ15፥16 በዕብራይስጡ አህያ የሚለው ቃል ፍም ከመረ ወይም አነባበረ ከሚለው ጋር ተመሳሳይ ነው።”
ብሎ ፎከረ። 17ይህን ተናግሮ እንዳበቃ የአህያውን መንጋጋ ከእጁ ወዲያ ወረወረው፤ የዚያም ቦታ ስም ራማት ሌሒ15፥17 ራማት ሌሒ ማለት የመንጋጋ ኰረብታ ክምር ማለት ነው። ተብሎ ተጠራ።
18እጅግ ተጠምቶ ስለ ነበር፤ “እነሆ፤ ለአገልጋይህ ይህን ታላቅ ድል አጐናጽፈሃል፤ ታዲያ አሁን በውሃ ጥም ልሙት? እንዴትስ በእነዚህ ባልተገረዙ ፍልስጥኤማውያን እጅ ልውደቅ?” በማለት ወደ እግዚአብሔር ጮኸ። 19እግዚአብሔርም በሌሒ ዐለት ሰነጠቀለት፤ ከዚያም ውሃ ወጣ፤ ሳምሶንም ያን ሲጠጣ በረታ፤ መንፈሱም ታደሰ። ስለዚህ ያ ምንጭ ዓይንሀቆሬ15፥19 ዓይንሀቆሬ ማለት የጠሪዎች ምንጭ ማለት ነው ተባለ፤ እስከ ዛሬም ድረስ በዚያው በሌሒ ይገኛል።
20ሳምሶንም በፍልስጥኤማውያን ዘመን በእስራኤል ላይ ለሃያ ዓመት ፈራጅ15፥20 በትውፊት መሳፍንት ይባላል። ሆነ።
Samson’s Vengeance on the Philistines
1Later on, at the time of wheat harvest, Samson took a young goat and went to visit his wife. He said, “I’m going to my wife’s room.” But her father would not let him go in.
2“I was so sure you hated her,” he said, “that I gave her to your companion. Isn’t her younger sister more attractive? Take her instead.”
3Samson said to them, “This time I have a right to get even with the Philistines; I will really harm them.” 4So he went out and caught three hundred foxes and tied them tail to tail in pairs. He then fastened a torch to every pair of tails, 5lit the torches and let the foxes loose in the standing grain of the Philistines. He burned up the shocks and standing grain, together with the vineyards and olive groves.
6When the Philistines asked, “Who did this?” they were told, “Samson, the Timnite’s son-in-law, because his wife was given to his companion.”
So the Philistines went up and burned her and her father to death. 7Samson said to them, “Since you’ve acted like this, I swear that I won’t stop until I get my revenge on you.” 8He attacked them viciously and slaughtered many of them. Then he went down and stayed in a cave in the rock of Etam.
9The Philistines went up and camped in Judah, spreading out near Lehi. 10The people of Judah asked, “Why have you come to fight us?”
“We have come to take Samson prisoner,” they answered, “to do to him as he did to us.”
11Then three thousand men from Judah went down to the cave in the rock of Etam and said to Samson, “Don’t you realize that the Philistines are rulers over us? What have you done to us?”
He answered, “I merely did to them what they did to me.”
12They said to him, “We’ve come to tie you up and hand you over to the Philistines.”
Samson said, “Swear to me that you won’t kill me yourselves.”
13“Agreed,” they answered. “We will only tie you up and hand you over to them. We will not kill you.” So they bound him with two new ropes and led him up from the rock. 14As he approached Lehi, the Philistines came toward him shouting. The Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon him. The ropes on his arms became like charred flax, and the bindings dropped from his hands. 15Finding a fresh jawbone of a donkey, he grabbed it and struck down a thousand men.
16Then Samson said,
“With a donkey’s jawbone
I have made donkeys of them.15:16 Or made a heap or two; the Hebrew for donkey sounds like the Hebrew for heap.
With a donkey’s jawbone
I have killed a thousand men.”
17When he finished speaking, he threw away the jawbone; and the place was called Ramath Lehi.15:17 Ramath Lehi means jawbone hill.
18Because he was very thirsty, he cried out to the Lord, “You have given your servant this great victory. Must I now die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?” 19Then God opened up the hollow place in Lehi, and water came out of it. When Samson drank, his strength returned and he revived. So the spring was called En Hakkore,15:19 En Hakkore means caller’s spring. and it is still there in Lehi.
20Samson led15:20 Traditionally judged Israel for twenty years in the days of the Philistines.
