Delphi Septuagint

by Lancelot C L Brenton (ed)

  Chapter 15

  [1] And it came to pass after a time, in the days of wheat harvest, that Sampson visited his wife with a kid, and said, I will go in to my wife even into the chamber: but her father did not suffer him to go in. [2] And her father spoke, saying, I said that thou didst surely hate her, and I gave her to one of thy friends: is not her younger sister better than she? let her be to thee instead of her.

  [3] And Sampson said to them, Even for once am I guiltless with regard to the Philistines, in that I do mischief among them. [4] And Sampson went and caught three hundred foxes, and took torches, and turned tail to tail, and put a torch between two tails, and fastened it. [5] And he set fire to the torches, and sent the foxes into the corn of the Philistines; and every thing was burnt from the threshing floor to the standing corn, and even to the vineyard and olives. [6] And the Philistines said, Who has done these things? and they said, Sampson the son-in-law of the Thamnite, because he has taken his wife, and given her to one of his friends; and the Philistines went up, and burnt her and her father’s house with fire.

  [7] And Sampson said to them, Though ye may have dealt thus with her, verily I will be avenged of you, and afterwards I will cease. [8] And he smote them leg on thigh with a great overthrow; and went down and dwelt in a cave of the rock Etam.

  [9] And the Philistines went up, and encamped in Juda, and spread themselves abroad in Lechi. [10] And the men of Juda said, Why are ye come up against us? and the Philistines said, We are come up to bind Sampson, and to do to him as he has done to us. [11] And the three thousand men of Juda went down to the hole of the rock Etam, and they said to Sampson, Knowest thou not that the Philistines rule over us? and what is this that thou hast done to us? and Sampson said to them, As they did to me, so have I done to them. [12] And they said to him, We are come down to bind thee to deliver thee into the hand of the Philistines: and Sampson said to them, Swear to me that ye will not fall upon me yourselves. [13] And they spoke to him, saying, Nay, but we will only bind thee fast, and deliver thee into their hand, and will by no means slay thee: and they bound him with two new ropes, and brought him from that rock.

  [14] And they came to Lechi: and the Philistines shouted, and ran to meet him: and the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him, and the ropes that were upon his arms became as tow which is burnt with fire; and his bonds were consumed from off his hands. [15] And he found the jaw-bone of an ass that had been cast away, and he put forth his hand and took it, and smote with it a thousand men. [16] And Sampson said, With the jaw-bone of an ass I have utterly destroyed them, for with the jaw-bone of an ass I have smitten a thousand men. [17] And it came to pass when he ceased speaking, that he cast the jaw-bone out of his hand; and he called that place the Lifting of the jaw-bone.

  [18] And he was very thirsty, and wept before the Lord, and said, Thou hast been well pleased to grant this great deliverance by the hand of thy servant, and new shall I die for thirst, and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised? [19] And God broke open a hollow place in the jaw, and there came thence water, and he drank; and his spirit returned and he revived: therefore the name of the fountain was called ‘The well of the invoker,’ which is in Lechi, until this day.

  [20] And he judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years.

  Chapter 16

  [1] And Sampson went to Gaza, and saw there a harlot, and went in to her. [2] And it was reported to the Gazites, saying, Sampson is come hither: and they compassed him and laid wait for him all night in the gate of the city, and they were quiet all the night, saying, Let us wait till the dawn appear, and we will slay him. [3] And Sampson slept till midnight, and rose up at midnight, and took hold of the doors of the gate of the city with the two posts, and lifted them up with the bar, and laid them on his shoulders, and he went up to the top of the mountain that is before Chebron, and laid them there.

  [4] And it came to pass after this that he loved a woman in Alsorech, and her name was Dalida. [5] And the princess of the Philistines came up to her, and said to her, Beguile him, and see wherein his great strength is, and wherewith we shall prevail against him, and bind him to humble him; and we will give thee each eleven hundred pieces of silver.

  [6] And Dalida said to Sampson, Tell me, I pray thee, wherein is thy great strength, and wherewith thou shalt be bound that thou mayest be humbled. [7] And Sampson said to her, If they bind me with seven moist cords that have not been spoiled, then shall I be weak and be as one of ordinary men. [8] And the princess of the Philistines brought to her seven moist cords that had not been spoiled, and she bound him with them. [9] And the liers in wait remained with her in the chamber; and she said to him, the Philistines are upon thee, Sampson: and he broke the cords as if any one should break a thread of tow when it has touched the fire, and his strength was not known.

  [10] And Dalida said to Sampson, Behold, thou hast cheated me, and told me lies; now then tell me wherewith thou shalt be bound. [11] And he said to her, If they should bind me fast with new ropes with which work has not been done, then shall I be weak, and shall be as another man. [12] And Dalida took new ropes, and bound him with them, and the liers in wait came out of the chamber, and she said, The Philistines are upon thee, Sampson: and he broke them off his arms like a thread.

  [13] And Dalida said to Sampson, Behold, thou hast deceived me, and told me lies; tell me, I intreat thee, wherewith thou mayest be bound: and he said to her, If thou shouldest weave the seven locks of my head with the web, and shouldest fasten them with the pin into the wall, then shall I be weak as another man. [14] And it came to pass when he was asleep, that Dalida took the seven locks of his head, and wove them with the web, and fastened them with the pin into the wall, and she said, The Philistines are upon thee, Sampson: and he awoke out of his sleep, and carried away the pin of the web out of the wall.

  [15] And Dalida said to Sampson, How sayest thou, I love thee, when thy heart is not with me? this third time thou hast deceived me, and hast not told me wherein is thy great strength. [16] And it came to pass as she pressed him sore with her words continually, and straitened him, that his spirit failed almost to death. [17] Then he told her all his heart, and said to her, A razor has not come upon my head, because I have been a holy one of God from my mother’s womb; if then I should be shaven, my strength will depart from me, and I shall be weak, and I shall be as all other men.

  [18] And Dalida saw that he told her all his heart, and she sent and called the princess of the Philistines, saying, Come up yet this once; for he has told me all his heart. And the chiefs of the Philistines went up to her, and brought the money in their hands. [19] And Dalida made Sampson sleep upon her knees; and she called a man, and he shaved the seven locks of his head, and she began to humble him, and his strength departed from him. [20] And Dalida said, The Philistines are upon thee, Sampson: and he awoke out of his sleep and said, I will go out as at former times, and shake myself; and he knew not that the Lord was departed from him. [21] And the Philistines took him, and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he ground in the prison-house. [22] And the hair of his head began to grow as before it was shaven.

  [23] And the chiefs of the Philistines met to offer a great sacrifice to their god Dagon, and to make merry; and they said, God has given into our hand our enemy Sampson. [24] And the people saw him, and sang praises to their god; for our god, said they, has delivered into our hand our enemy, who wasted our land, and who multiplied our slain. [25] And when their heart was merry, then they said, Call Sampson out of the prison-house, and let him play before us: and they called Sampson out of the prison-house, and he played before them; and they smote him with the palms of their hands, and set him between the pillars. [26] And Sampson said to the young man that held his hand, Suffer me to feel the pillars on which the house rests, and I will stay myself upon them. [27] And the house was full of men and woman, and there were all the chiefs of the Philistines, and on the roof were about three thousand men
and woman looking at the sports of Sampson.

  [28] And Sampson wept before the Lord, and said, O Lord, my lord, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, O God, yet this once, and I will requite one recompense to the Philistines for my two eyes. [29] And Sampson took hold of the two pillars of the house on which the house stood, and leaned on them, and laid hold of one with his right hand, and the other with his left. [30] And Sampson said, Let my wife perish with the Philistines: and he bowed himself mightily; and the house fell upon the princes, and upon all the people that were in it: and the dead whom Sampson slew in his death were more than those whom he slew in his life.

  [31] And his brethren and his father’s house went down, and they took him; and they went up and buried him between Saraa and Esthaol in the sepulchre of his father Manoe; and he judged Israel twenty years.

  Chapter 17

  [1] And there was a man of mount Ephraim, and his name was Michaias. [2] And he said to his mother, The eleven hundred pieces of silver which thou tookest of thyself, and about which thou cursedst me, and spokest in my ears, behold, the silver is with me; I took it: and his mother said, Blessed be my son of the Lord. [3] And he restored the eleven hundred pieces of silver to his mother; and his mother said, I had wholly consecrated the money to the Lord out of my hand for my son, to make a graven and a molten image, and now I will restore it to thee. [4] But he returned the silver to his mother, and his mother took two hundred pieces of silver, and gave them to a silversmith, and he made it a graven and a molten image; and it was in the house of Michaias. [5] And the house of Michaias was to him the house of God, and he made an ephod and theraphin, and he consecrated one of his sons, and he became to him a priest.

  [6] And in those days there was no king in Israel; every man did that which was right in his own eyes.

  [7] And there was a young man in Bethleem of the tribe of Juda, and he was a Levite, and he was sojourning there. [8] And the man departed from Bethleem the city of Juda to sojourn in whatever place he might find; and he came as far as mount Ephraim, and to the house of Michaias to accomplish his journey. [9] And Michaias said to him, Whence comest thou? and he said to him, I am a Levite of Bethleem Juda, and I go to sojourn in any place I may find. [10] And Michaias said to him, Dwell with me, and be to me a father and a priest; and I will give thee ten pieces of silver by the year, and a change of raiment, and thy living. [11] And the Levite went and began to dwell with the man; and the young man was to him as one of his sons. [12] And Michaias consecrated the Levite, and he became to him a priest, and he was in the house of Michaias. [13] And Michaias said, Now I know that the Lord will do me good, because a Levite has become my priest.

  Chapter 18

  [1] In those days there was no king in Israel; and in those days the tribe of Dan sought for itself an inheritance to inhabit, because no inheritance had fallen to it until that day in the midst of the tribes of the children of Israel. [2] And the sons of Dan sent from their families five men of valour, from Saraa and from Esthaol, to spy out the land and to search it; and they said to them, Go and search out the land. And they came as far as the mount of Ephraim to the house of Michaias and they lodged there, [3] in the house of Michaias, and they recognised the voice of the young man the Levite, and turned in thither; and said to him, Who brought thee in hither? and what doest thou in this place? and what hast thou here? [4] And he said to them, Thus and thus did Michaias to me, and he hired me, and I became his priest. [5] And they said to him, Enquire now of God, and we shall know whether our way will prosper, on which we are going. [6] And the priest said to them, Go in peace; your way in which ye go, is before the Lord.

  [7] And the five men went on, and came to Laisa; and they saw the people in the midst of it dwelling securely, at ease as is the manner of the Sidonians, and there is no one perverting or shaming a matter in the land, no heir extorting treasures; and they are far from the Sidonians, and they have no intercourse with any one. [8] And the five men came to their brethren to Saraa and Esthaol, and said to their brethren, Why sit ye here idle? [9] And they said, Arise, and let us go up against them, for we have seen the land, and, behold, it is very good, yet ye are still: delay not to go, an to enter in to possess the land. [10] And whensoever ye shall go, ye shall come in upon a people secure, and the land is extensive, for God has given it into your hand; a place where there is no want of anything that the earth affords.

  [11] And there departed thence of the families of Dan, from Saraa and from Esthaol, six hundred men, girded with weapons of war. [12] And they went up, and encamped in Cariathiarim in Juda; therefore it was called in that place the camp of Dan, until this day: behold, it is behind Cariathiarim.

  [13] And they went on thence to the mount of Ephraim, and came to the house of Michaias. [14] And the five men who went to spy out the land of Laisa answered, and said to their brethren, Ye know that there is in this place an ephod, and theraphin, and a graven and a molten image; and now consider what ye shall do. [15] And they turned aside there, and went into the house of the young man, the Levite, even into the house of Michaias, and asked him how he was. [16] And the six hundred men of the sons of Dan who were girded with their weapons of war stood by the door of the gate. [17] And the five men who went to spy out the land went up, and entered into the house of Michaias, and the priest stood. [18] And they took the graven image, and the ephod, and the theraphin, and the molten image; and the priest said to them, What are ye doing? [19] And they said to him, Be silent, lay thine hand upon thy mouth, and come with us, and be to us a father and a priest: is it better for thee to be the priest of the house of one man, or to be the priest of a tribe and house for a family of Israel? [20] And the heart of the priest was glad, and he took the ephod, and the theraphin, and the graven image, and the molten image, and went in the midst of the people.

  [21] So they turned and departed, and put their children and their property and their baggage before them.

  [22] They went some distance from the house of Michaias, and, behold, Michaias and the men in the houses near Michaias’ house, cried out, and overtook the children of Dan. [23] And the children of Dan turned their face, and said to Michaias, What is the matter with thee that thou hast cried out? [24] And Michaias said, Because ye have taken my graven image which I made, and my priest, and are gone; and what have I remaining? and what is this that ye say to me, Why criest thou? [25] And the children of Dan said to him, Let not thy voice be heard with us, lest angry men run upon thee, and take away thy life, and the lives of thy house. [26] And the children of Dan went their way; and Michaias saw that they were stronger than himself, and he returned to his house.

  [27] And the children of Dan took what Michaias had made, and the priest that he had, and they came to Laisa, to a people quiet and secure; and they smote them with the edge of the sword, and burnt the city with fire. [28] And there was no deliverer, because the city is far from the Sidonians, and they have no intercourse with men, and it is in the valley of the house of Raab; and they built the city, and dwelt in it. [29] And they called the name of the city Dan, after the name of Dan their father, who was born to Israel; and the name of the city was Ulamais before.

  [30] And the children of Dan set up the graven image for themselves; and Jonathan son of Gerson son of Manasse, he and his sons were priests to the tribe of Dan till the time of the carrying away of the nation. [31] And they set up for themselves the graven image which Michaias made, all the days that the house of God was in Selom; and it was so in those days that there was no king in Israel.

  Chapter 19

  [1] And there was a Levite sojourning in the sides of mount Ephraim, and he took to himself a concubine from Bethleem Juda. [2] And his concubine departed from him, and went away from him to the house of her father to Bethleem Juda, and she was there four months.

  [3] And her husband rose up, and went after her to speak kindly to her, to recover her to himself; and he had his young man with him, and a pair of asses; and she brought him into the house of her
father; and the father of the damsel saw him, and was well pleased to meet him. [4] And his father-in-law, the father of the damsel, constrained him, and he stayed with him for three days; and they ate and drank, and lodged there. [5] And it came to pass on the fourth day that they rose early, and he stood up to depart; and the father of the damsel said to his son-in-law, Strengthen thy heart with a morsel of bread, and afterwards ye shall go. [6] So they two sat down together and ate and drank: and the father of the damsel said to her husband, Tarry now the night, and let thy heart be merry. [7] And the man rose up to depart; but his father-in-law constrained him, and he stayed and lodged there.

  [8] And he rose early in the morning on the fifth day to depart; and the father of the damsel said, Strengthen now thine heart, and quit thyself as a soldier till the day decline; and the two ate. [9] And the man rose up to depart, he and his concubine, and his young man; but his father-in-law the father of the damsel said to him, Behold now, the day has declined toward evening; lodge here, an let thy heart rejoice; and ye shall rise early to-morrow for your journey, and thou shalt go to thy habitation. [10] But the man would not lodge there, but he arose and departed, and came to the part opposite Jebus, (this is Jerusalem,) and there was with him a pair of asses saddled, and his concubine was with him.