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DELILAH AND SAMSON.

THE extraordinary prowess of Samson had rendered him so formidable a foe to the Philistines, that they made many efforts to get him into their power, which he invariably baffled. Having suffered himself to be bound with new cords exceedingly strong, as soon as his enemies approached to seize him he burst the cords as if they had been threads, and having no weapon at hand he took the jaw-bone of an ass which happened to be lying near, and with it slew no less than a thousand men. Soon after this exploit, despising the power of the Philistines, he went to Gaza, and entering the house of a courtesan remained there till midnight. Having received intelligence that the men of the city were approaching to secure him, he arose, took the two gates of Gaza, with all their appurtenances, posts, bars, and chain, placed them upon his shoulders and carried them to the top of a hill, that is before Hebron, which is supposed by some commentators to have been twenty miles distant. Shortly after this, however, that unfortunate event befel him which was the ultimate cause of his death. Happening to meet with a beautiful woman, named Delilah, in the vale of Sorek, a place famous for its vines, he fell in love with her, but whether he married her or took her as a concubine does not appear, though the general character of Samson renders the latter at least probable. The chief men among the Philistines observing the madness of his passion, bribed this mercenary woman to extract from him the secret of his wonderful strength. Having secured the bribe, she at length succeeded in winning from him the important communication, which was, that his vigour lay in the preservation of his hair. This she immediately revealed to his enemies, and having lulled him to sleep with her caresses, she "called for a man, and she caused him to shave off the seven locks of his head; and she began to afflict him, and his strength went from him."*

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THE DEATH OF SAMPSON.

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