CHAPTER 14
So he returned
and told
his father
and his mother,
“I have seen
a daughter
of the Philistines
in Timnah.
Now
get
her
for me
as a wife.”
But his father
and mother
replied,
“Can you not
find a young woman
among your relatives
or any
of our people?
Must you
go
to the uncircumcised
Philistines
to get
a wife?”
But Samson
told
his father,
“Get
her
for me,
for
she
is pleasing
to my eyes.”
(Now his father
and mother
did not
know
this
was from
the LORD,
who
was seeking
an occasion to move
against the Philistines;
for at that
time
the Philistines
were ruling
over Israel.)
Then Samson
went down
to Timnah
with his father
and mother
and came
to
the vineyards
of Timnah.
Suddenly
a young lion
came roaring
at him,
and the Spirit
of the LORD
took control
of him,
and he tore the lion apart
with his bare
hands
as one would tear
a young goat.
But he did not
tell
his father
or mother
what
he had done.
When Samson returned
later
to take her,
he left
the road to see
the lion’s
carcass,
and in it
was
a swarm
of bees,
along with their honey.
So he scooped
some honey into
his hands
and ate it
as he went along.
When he returned
to
his father
and mother,
he gave
some to them
and they ate it.
But he did not
tell
them
that
he had taken
the honey
from the lion’s
carcass.
Then his father
went
to
visit the woman,
and Samson
prepared
a feast
there,
as
was customary
for the bridegroom.
“Let me tell
you a riddle,”
Samson
said to them.
“If
you can solve
it
for me
within the seven
days
of the feast,
I will give
you
thirty
linen garments
and thirty
sets
of clothes.
But if
you cannot
solve it,
you
must give
me
thirty
linen garments
and thirty
sets
of clothes.”
“Tell
us your riddle,”
they replied.
“Let us hear it.”
So he said to them:
“Out of the eater
came
something to eat,
and out of the strong
came
something sweet.”
For three
days
they were unable
to explain
the riddle.
So
on the fourth
day
they said
to Samson’s
wife,
“Entice
your husband
to explain
the riddle to us,
or
we will burn
you
and your father’s
household
to death.
Did you invite
us here
to rob us?”
Then Samson’s
wife
came to him,
weeping,
and said,
“You hate me!
You do not really
love me!
You have posed
to my people
a riddle,
but have not
explained it to me.”
“Look,”
he said,
“I have not
even explained
it to my father
or mother,
so why should I explain it
to you?”
She wept
the whole seven
days
of the feast,
and finally
on the seventh
day,
because
she had pressed him so much,
he told
her the answer.
And in turn she explained
the riddle
to her people.
Before
sunset
on the seventh
day,
the men
of the city
said
to Samson:
“What
is sweeter
than honey?
And what is
stronger
than a lion?”
So he said to them:
“If you had not
plowed
with my heifer,
you would not
have solved
my riddle!”
Then the Spirit
of the LORD
came mightily
upon him,
and he went down
to Ashkelon,
killed
thirty
of their men,
took
their apparel,
and gave
their clothes
to those who had solved
the riddle.
And burning
with anger,
Samson returned
to his father's
house,