Judges 16:23-31

Living Bible

^23-24 The Philistine leaders declared a great festival to celebrate the capture of Samson. The people made sacrifices to their god Dagon and excitedly praised him.

“Our god has delivered our enemy Samson to us!” they gloated as they saw him there in chains. “The scourge of our nation who killed so many of us is now in our power!” ^25-26 Half drunk by now, the people demanded, “Bring out Samson so we can have some fun with him!”

So he was brought from the prison and made to stand at the center of the temple, between the two pillars supporting the roof. Samson said to the boy who was leading him by the hand, “Place my hands against the two pillars. I want to rest against them.”

²⁷ By then the temple was completely filled with people. The five Philistine leaders were there as well as three thousand people in the balconies^[a] who were watching Samson and making fun of him.

²⁸ Then Samson prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord Jehovah, remember me again—please strengthen me one more time, so that I may pay back the Philistines for the loss of at least one of my eyes.”

²⁹ Then Samson pushed against the pillars with all his might.

³⁰ “Let me die with the Philistines,” he prayed.

And the temple crashed down upon the Philistine leaders and all the people. So those he killed at the moment of his death were more than those he had killed during his entire lifetime. ³¹ Later, his brothers and other relatives came down to get his body, and they brought him back home and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol, where his father, Manoah, was buried. He had led Israel for twenty years.