3And Samson was there till the middle of the night; then he got up, and took a grip on the doors of the town, pulling them up, together with their two supports and their locks, and put them on his back and took them up to the top of the hill in front of Hebron.
4Now after this, he was in love with a woman in the valley of Sorek, named Delilah.
5And the chiefs of the Philistines came up to her, and said to her, Make use of your power over him and see what is the secret of his great strength, and how we may get the better of him, and put bands on him, so that we may make him feeble; and every one of us will give you eleven hundred shekels of silver.
6So Delilah said to Samson, Make clear to me now what is the secret of your great strength, and how you may be put in bands and made feeble.
7And Samson said to her, If seven new bow-cords which have never been made dry are knotted round me, I will become feeble and will be like any other man.
8So the chiefs of the Philistines gave her seven new bow-cords which had never been made dry, and she had them tightly knotted round him.
9Now she had men waiting secretly in the inner room; and she said to him, The Philistines are on you, Samson. And the cords were broken by him as a twist of thread is broken when touched by a flame. So the secret of his strength did not come to light.
