1. Now Samson went to Gaza and saw a harlot there, and went in to her.
2. When it was told to the Gazites, saying, "Samson has come here," they surrounded the place and lay in wait for him all night at the gate of the city. And they kept silent all night, saying, "Let us wait until the morning light, then we will kill him."
3. Now Samson lay until midnight, and at midnight he arose and took hold of the doors of the city gate and the two posts and pulled them up along with the bars; then he put them on his shoulders and carried them up to the top of the mountain which is opposite Hebron.
4. After this it came about that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah.
5. The lords of the Philistines came up to her and said to her, "Entice him, and see where his great strength lies and how we may overpower him that we may bind him to afflict him. Then we will each give you eleven hundred pieces of silver."
6. So Delilah said to Samson, "Please tell me where your great strength is and how you may be bound to afflict you."
7. Samson said to her, "If they bind me with seven fresh cords that have not been dried, then I will become weak and be like any other man."
8. Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven fresh cords that had not been dried, and she bound him with them.