Judges

16 E get one time wey Samson go Gazʹa and see one prostitute for there, and e go inside go meet-am. 2 Them tell Gazʹa people say: “Samson don come here.” So them surround-am and hide wait for-am the whole night for the city gate. Them quiet for the whole night de tell theirself say: “When day break, we go kill-am.”

3 But, Samson continue to lie down for there till midnight. Then e get up for midnight and grab the doors of the city gate and the two doorposts and pull them comot together with the bar wey them de use lock gate. E put them ontop im shoulders and carry them go up to the top of the mountain wey face Hebʹron.

4 After that one, e come love one woman for the Lowland* of Soʹrek wey im name na De·liʹlah. 5 So the lords of Phi·lisʹti·a people come meet the woman and tell-am say: “Deceive-am* and find out wetin de give-am that kind plenty power, and how we fit win-am and tie-am and de control-am. If you do this one, each of us go give you 1,100 pieces of silver.”

6 After, De·liʹlah tell Samson say: “Abeg tell me, where your plenty power de come from and wetin them fit use tie you and control you?” 7 Samson tell-am say: “If them tie me with seven fresh ropes wey them de use make bow* wey them never dry, I go just weak like ordinary man.” 8 So the lords of Phi·lisʹti·a people bring fresh ropes wey them de use make bow wey them never dry, and the woman use them tie Samson. 9 Now some men hide wait for-am for the room wey dey inside-inside, and the woman call-am and talk say: “Phi·lisʹti·a people don come attack you, Samson!” Then e cut the ropes wey them de use make bow, just as e dey easy for thread wey them make from flax plant* to cut when fire touch-am. Them no find out the secret of im power.

10 Then De·liʹlah tell Samson say: “See! You don deceive me* and lie to me. Now abeg, tell me wetin them fit use tie you.” 11 So e tell-am say: “If them tie me with new ropes wey them never use do work, I go just weak like ordinary man.” 12 So De·liʹlah take new ropes and use them tie Samson and shout say: “Phi·lisʹti·a people don come attack you, Samson!” (When all this one de happen, the men wey hide de wait for-am dey the room wey dey inside-inside.) Then e cut the ropes comot from im hand like thread.

13 After that one, De·liʹlah tell Samson say: “You don deceive me and lie to me come reach now. Tell me wetin them fit use tie you.” Then e tell-am say: “Na when you weave the seven braids of my head with warp thread.” 14 So e use pin do the hair and call-am say: “Phi·lisʹti·a people don come attack you, Samson!” So e wake up from sleep and comot the loom pin and the warp thread.

15 E come tell Samson say: “How you go de talk say, ‘I love you,’ when e be say your heart no dey with me? Three times now you don deceive me and you never tell me where your plenty power de come from.” 16 Because day by day the woman continue to disturb-am and de overworry-am, e come tire sotey e just be like say make e* die. 17 So at last, e tell-am the truth from im heart and talk say: “No razor don ever touch my head, because I be Nazʹi·rite of God from when them born me.* If them shave my head, my power go leave me and I go just weak and be like all other men.”

18 When De·liʹlah see say e don tell-am the truth from im heart, quick-quick, e call the lords of Phi·lisʹti·a people and talk say: “Make una come up this time, because e don tell me the truth from im heart.” So the lords of Phi·lisʹti·a people come up come meet-am, and bring the money as them de come. 19 The woman make-am sleep ontop im knees; then e call the man and the man shave the seven braids of im head comot. After that one, the woman start to control-am because im power de leave-am. 20 Now the woman shout say: “Phi·lisʹti·a people don come attack you, Samson!” E wake up from sleep and talk say: “I go comot as I de do before, and free myself.” But e no know say Jehovah don leave-am. 21 So Phi·lisʹti·a people hold-am and comot im eyes. Then them carry-am go down go Gazʹa and chain-am with two copper chains, and e come be person wey de grind grain for prison. 22 But the hair of im head start to grow again after them don shave-am.

23 The lords of Phi·lisʹti·a people gather together to do big sacrifice for their god wey be Daʹgon and to celebrate, because them talk say: “Our god don put Samson our enemy for our hand!” 24 When the people see-am, them praise their god and talk say: “Our god don put our enemy for our hand, the person wey scatter our land and kill plenty of us.”

25 Because their heart de sweet them, them talk say: “Call Samson to come make us laugh.”* So them call Samson come out of the prison to make them laugh.* Them put-am make e stand between the pillars. 26 Then Samson tell the boy wey hold im hand say: “Make I touch the pillars wey support the house so that I fit rest ontop them.” 27 (E come be say, men and women full inside the house. All the lords of Phi·lisʹti·a people dey there, and about 3,000 men and women dey ontop the roof de look as Samson de make them laugh.)

28 Now Samson call Jehovah and talk say: “Jehovah, the Lord Wey High Pass, remember me abeg, and give me power, abeg, just this one time, O God, and allow me make I pay Phi·lisʹti·a people back for one of my two eyes.”

29 Then Samson position im body between the two middle pillars wey de support the house, and e use im right hand hold one pillar and im left hand hold the other pillar with force. 30 Samson shout say: “Make I* die with Phi·lisʹti·a people!” Then e use all im power push the pillars, and the house fall ontop the lords and all the people wey dey inside. So the people wey e kill when e de die plenty pass the people wey e kill when e dey alive.

31 After, im brothers and all im papa family come down to carry-am go back. Them carry-am go up and bury-am between Zorʹah and Eshʹta·ol for the grave of Ma·noʹah im papa. E judge Israel for 20 years.