Septuagint (Greek Old Testament)

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.

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.

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.

And the hair of his head began to grow as before it was shaven.

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.

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.

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.

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.

And the house [was] full of men and women, and there [were] all the chiefs of the Philistines, and on the roof [were] about three thousand men and women looking at the sports of Sampson.

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.

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.

And Sampson said, Let my life 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.

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 Manoë; and he judged Israel twenty years.

And there was a man of mount Ephraim, and his name was Michaias.

And he said to his mother, The eleven hundred pieces of silver which thou tookest to 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.

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.

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.

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.

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

And there was a young man in Bethleem of the tribe of Juda, and he [was] a Levite, and he was sojourning there.

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.

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.

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.

And the Levite went and began to dwell with the man; and the young man was to him as one of his sons.

And Michaias consecrated the Levite, and he became to him a priest, and he was in the house of Michaias.

And Michaias said, Now I know that the Lord will do me good, because a Levite has become my priest.

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.

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,

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?

And he said to them, Thus and thus did Michaias to me, and he hired me, and I became his priest.

And they said to him, Enquire now of God, and we shall know whether our way will prosper, on which we are going.

And the priest said to them, Go in peace; your way in which ye go, [is] before the Lord.

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.

And the five men came to their brethren to Saraa and Esthaol, and said to their brethren, Why sit ye here [idle]?

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, and to enter in to possess the land.

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.

And there departed thence of the families of Dan, from Saraa and from Esthaol, six hundred men, girded with weapons of war.

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.

And they went on thence to the mount of Ephraim, and came to the house of Michaias.

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.

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.

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.

And the five men who went to spy out the land went up, and entered into the house of Michaias, and the priest stood.

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?

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?

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.

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

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.

And the children of Dan turned their face, and said to Michaias, What is the matter with thee that thou hast cried out?

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?

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.

And the children of Dan went their way; and Michaias saw that they were stronger than himself, and he returned to his house.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

And there was a Levite sojourning in the sides of mount Ephraim, and he took to himself a concubine from Bethleem Juda.

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.

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.

And his father-in-law, the father of the damsel, constrained him, and he staid with him for three days; and they ate and drank, and lodged there.

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.

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.

And the man rose up to depart; but his father-in-law constrained him, and he staid and lodged there.

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.

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, and let thy heart rejoice; and ye shall rise early to-morrow for your journey, and thou shalt go to thy habitation.

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.

And they came as far as Jebus: and the day had far advanced, and the young man said to his master, Come, I pray thee, and let us turn aside to this city of the Jebusites, and let us lodge in it.

And his master said to him, We will not turn aside to a strange city, where there is not one of the children of Israel, but we will pass on as far as Gabaa.

And he said to his young man, Come, and let us draw nigh to one of the places, and we will lodge in Gabaa or in Rama.

And they passed by and went on, and the sun went down upon them near to Gabaa, which is in Benjamin.

And they turned aside thence to go in to lodge in Gabaa; and they went in, and sat down in the street of the city, and there was no one who conducted them into a house to lodge.

And behold, an old man came out of the field from his work in the evening; and the man was of mount Ephraim, and he sojourned in Gabaa, and the men of the place [were] sons of Benjamin.

And he lifted up his eyes, and saw a traveller in the street of the city; and the old man said to him, Whither goest thou, and whence comest thou?

And he said to him, We are passing by from Bethleem Juda to the sides of mount Ephraim: I am from thence, and I went as far as Bethleem Juda, and I am going home, and there is no man to take me into his house.

Yet is there straw and food for our asses, and bread and wine for me and my handmaid and the young man with thy servants; there is no want of anything.

And the old man said, Peace [be] to thee; only be every want of thine upon me, only do thou by no means lodge in the street.

And he brought him into his house, and made room for his asses; and they washed their feet, and ate and drank.

And they [were] comforting their heart, when, behold, the men of the city, sons of transgressors, compassed the house, knocking at the door: and they spoke to the old man the owner of the house, saying, Bring out the man who came into thy house, that we may know him.

And the master of the house came out to them, and said, Nay, brethren, do not ye wrong, I pray you, after this man has come into my house; do not ye this folly.

Behold my daughter a virgin, and the man's concubine: I will bring them out, and humble ye them, and do to them that which is good in your eyes; but to this man do not this folly.

But the men would not consent to hearken to him; so the man laid hold of his concubine, and brought her out to them; and they knew her, and abused her all night till the morning, and let her go when the morning dawned.

And the woman came toward morning, and fell down at the door of the house where her husband was, until it was light.

And her husband rose up in the morning, and opened the doors of the house, and went forth to go on his journey; and, behold, the woman his concubine had fallen down by the doors of the house, and her hands were on the threshold.

And he said to her, Rise, and let us go; and she answered not, for she was dead: and he took her upon his ass, and went to his place.

And he took his sword, and laid hold of his concubine, and divided her into twelve parts, and sent them to every coast of Israel.

And it was so, that every one who saw it said, [Such a day] as this has not happened nor has been seen from the day of the going up of the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt until this day: take ye counsel concerning it, and speak.

And all the children of Israel went out, and all the congregation was gathered as one man, from Dan even to Bersabee, and in the land of Galaad, to the Lord at Massepha.

And all the tribes of Israel stood before the Lord in the assembly of the people of God, four hundred thousand footmen that drew sword.

And the children of Benjamin heard that the children of Israel were gone up to Massepha: and the children of Israel came and said, Tell us, where did this wickedness take place?

And the Levite, the husband of the woman that was slain, answered and said, I and my concubine went to Gabaa of Benjamin to lodge.

And the men of Gabaa rose up against me, and compassed the house by night against me; they wished to slay me, and they have humbled my concubine, and she is dead.

And I laid hold of my concubine, and divided her in pieces, and sent [the parts] into every coast of the inheritance of the children of Israel; for they have wrought lewdness and abomination in Israel.

Behold, all ye [are] children of Israel; and consider and take counsel here among yourselves.

And all the people rose up as one man, saying, No one of us shall return to his tent, and no one of us shall return to his house.

And now this [is] the thing which shall be done in Gabaa; we will go up against it by lot.

Moreover we will take ten men for a hundred for all the tribes of Israel, and a hundred for a thousand, and a thousand for ten thousand, to take provision, to cause them to come to Gabaa of Benjamin, to do to it according to all the abomination, which they wrought in Israel.

And all the men of Israel were gathered to the city as one man.

And the tribes of Israel sent men through the whole tribe of Benjamin, saying, What [is] this wickedness that has been wrought among you?

Now then give up the men the sons of transgressors that are in Gabaa, and we will put them to death, and purge out wickedness from Israel: but the children of Benjamin consented not to hearken to the voice of their brethren the children of Israel.