Samson’s Marriage
1Samson went down to Timnah and saw there a young Philistine woman. 2When he returned, he said to his father and mother, “I have seen a Philistine woman in Timnah; now get her for me as my wife.”
3His father and mother replied, “Isn’t there an acceptable woman among your relatives or among all our people? Must you go to the uncircumcised Philistines to get a wife?”
But Samson said to his father, “Get her for me. She’s the right one for me.” 4(His parents did not know that this was from the Lord, who was seeking an occasion to confront the Philistines; for at that time they were ruling over Israel.)
5Samson went down to Timnah together with his father and mother. As they approached the vineyards of Timnah, suddenly a young lion came roaring toward him. 6The Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon him so that he tore the lion apart with his bare hands as he might have torn a young goat. But he told neither his father nor his mother what he had done. 7Then he went down and talked with the woman, and he liked her.
8Some time later, when he went back to marry her, he turned aside to look at the lion’s carcass, and in it he saw a swarm of bees and some honey. 9He scooped out the honey with his hands and ate as he went along. When he rejoined his parents, he gave them some, and they too ate it. But he did not tell them that he had taken the honey from the lion’s carcass.
10Now his father went down to see the woman. And there Samson held a feast, as was customary for young men. 11When the people saw him, they chose thirty men to be his companions.
12“Let me tell you a riddle,” Samson said to them. “If you can give me the answer within the seven days of the feast, I will give you thirty linen garments and thirty sets of clothes. 13If you can’t tell me the answer, you must give me thirty linen garments and thirty sets of clothes.”
“Tell us your riddle,” they said. “Let’s hear it.”
14He replied,
“Out of the eater, something to eat;
out of the strong, something sweet.”
For three days they could not give the answer.
15On the fourth14:15 Some Septuagint manuscripts and Syriac; Hebrew seventh day, they said to Samson’s wife, “Coax your husband into explaining the riddle for us, or we will burn you and your father’s household to death. Did you invite us here to steal our property?”
16Then Samson’s wife threw herself on him, sobbing, “You hate me! You don’t really love me. You’ve given my people a riddle, but you haven’t told me the answer.”
“I haven’t even explained it to my father or mother,” he replied, “so why should I explain it to you?” 17She cried the whole seven days of the feast. So on the seventh day he finally told her, because she continued to press him. She in turn explained the riddle to her people.
18Before sunset on the seventh day the men of the town said to him,
“What is sweeter than honey?
What is stronger than a lion?”
Samson said to them,
“If you had not plowed with my heifer,
you would not have solved my riddle.”
19Then the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon him. He went down to Ashkelon, struck down thirty of their men, stripped them of everything and gave their clothes to those who had explained the riddle. Burning with anger, he returned to his father’s home. 20And Samson’s wife was given to one of his companions who had attended him at the feast.
参孙娶非利士女子为妻
1参孙下到亭拿，在那里看中了一个非利士女子。 2他回到家里便对父母说：“我在亭拿看中一个非利士女子，把她给我娶来做妻子吧！” 3他父母说：“难道我们的亲族和同胞中没有合适的女子吗？你为什么要娶未受割礼的非利士人的女子呢？”参孙却说：“我很喜欢她，请给我把她娶过来吧！”
4他的父母不知道这事是出于耶和华的旨意，祂要找机会对付非利士人。那时，非利士人统治着以色列。
5参孙跟父母一起去亭拿，走到亭拿的葡萄园时，有一头猛狮吼叫着扑向他。 6耶和华的灵突然降在参孙身上，他虽然手无寸铁，竟撕裂了那头狮子，就像撕裂一只山羊羔一样。他没有把这事告诉父母。 7到了亭拿，参孙跟那女子交谈，很喜欢她。 8过了些日子，参孙下去迎娶她，途中他顺便去看那只死狮子，见死狮子体内有一群蜜蜂和一些蜂蜜， 9就用手取了一些蜜，边走边吃。到了父母那里，他给了他们一些，他们也吃了。但他没有告诉父母蜂蜜是从死狮子体内取的。
10参孙的父亲去那女子家，参孙按习俗摆设宴席。 11众人看见参孙，就安排了三十个人陪他。 12参孙对他们说：“我出一个谜语，如果你们可以在这七天的婚宴期间猜出来，我就送你们三十件细麻衣和三十件外袍。 13如果猜不中，你们就要给我三十件细麻衣和三十件外袍。”他们说：“请你出谜语吧！” 14参孙说：
“食物出自食者，
甜物出自强者。”
三天过后，他们仍然猜不出来。
15到了第四天，他们对参孙的妻子说：“你要哄你的丈夫把谜底说出来，不然我们就把你和你父亲一家全烧死。你们邀请我们来，难道是要夺取我们的家产吗？” 16于是，参孙的妻子向他哭诉说：“你是恨我，不是爱我。你给我的族人出了谜语，却没有告诉我谜底。”参孙回答说：“我连父母都没有告诉，又怎能告诉你呢？” 17在七天的婚宴期间，她一直在丈夫跟前哭哭啼啼。到了第七天，参孙经不住妻子的催逼就把谜底告诉了她。她把谜底告诉了她的族人。 18在第七天日落之前，城里的人对参孙说：
“有什么比蜂蜜更甜？
有什么比狮子更强？”
参孙说：
“你们若不是利用我的小母牛耕田，
肯定猜不出来。”
19耶和华的灵突然降在参孙身上，他便去亚实基伦杀了三十个人，取走他们的衣服，交给猜中谜语的那些人，然后怒气冲冲地回父亲家去了。 20参孙的妻子后来归了他的伴郎。
