e gates of the city and left them on the
top of a hill not far from the city of Hebron.

After this Samson saw another woman among the Philistines, and he loved
her. The name of this woman was Delilah. The rulers of the Philistines
came to Delilah and said to her:

"Find out, if you can, what it is that makes Samson so strong, and tell
us. If you help us to get control of him, so that we can have him in our
power, we will give you a great sum of money."

[Illustration: _He carried off the gates of the city_]

And Delilah coaxed and pleaded with Samson to tell her what it was that
made him so strong. Samson said to her:

"If they will tie me with seven green twigs from a tree, then I shall
not be strong any more."

They brought her seven green twigs, like those of a willow tree; and she
bound Samson with them while he was asleep. Then she called out to him:

"Wake up, Samson, the Philistines are coming against you!"

And Samson rose up and broke the twigs as easily as if they had been
charred in the fire, and went away with ease.

And Delilah tried again to find his secret. She said:

"You are only making fun of me. Now tell me truly how you can be bound."
And Samson said:

"Let them bind me with new ropes that have never been used before; and
then I cannot get away."

While Samson was asleep again, Delilah bound him with new ropes. Then
she called out as before:

"Get up, Samson, for the Philistines are coming!" And when Samson rose
up, the ropes broke as if they were thread. And Delilah again urged him
to tell her; and he said:

"You notice that my long hair is in seven locks. Weave it together in
the loom, just as if it were the threads in a piece of cloth."

Then, while he was asleep, she wove his hair in the loom, and fastened
it with a large pin to the weaving-frame. But when he awoke, he rose up,
and carried away the pin and the beam of the weaving-frame; for he was
as strong as before.

And Delilah, who was anxious to serve her people, said:

"Why do you tell me that you love me, as long as you deceive me and keep
from me your secret?" And she pleaded with him day after day, until at
last he yielded to her and told her the real secret of his strength. He
said:

"I am a Nazarite, under a vow to the Lord, not to drink wine, and not to
allow my hair to be cut. If I should let my hair be cut short, then the
Lord would forsake me, and my strength would go from me, and I would be
like other men."