The man said, “Oh, you can’t do that. I thought you hated my daughter, so I gave her to another man. But don’t worry. I have a younger daughter. You can have her. Everyone knows that she’s more beautiful than her sister.”

Samson became angry and said, “I’m going to hurt some Philistines—a lot of them—and I’m going to enjoy it.”

He caught 300 foxes and put them in pairs, and tied a torch to the tails of each pair. He then lit the torches as he set the foxes loose in different Philistine fields.

The foxes ran, burning everything they came across. This not only destroyed standing grain, but also piles of grain that had already been harvested. They even destroyed vineyards and olive groves. The Philistines found out that it was Samson who did this. They blamed his father-in-law because he had made Samson angry by giving away his wife.

They took him and his daughter and burned them to death. This made Samson even more furious. He found each man who had a part in this and tore him apart, limb-by-limb. Many people died. Once he was done, he left Philistia, and went back and hid in a cave in Israel. 

The Philistines invaded Israel with an army. The Israelites said, “Why are you attacking us?”

“You’re protecting Samson. He must be punished for what he’s done.” 

3,000 Israelites went to the cave where Samson was hiding. They said, “We’re taking you back to the Philistines. They have ruled over us in peace, but now you’ve stirred them up.”

He said, “I’ll go with you if you swear you won’t kill me.”

They said, “We won’t kill you, but we will tie you up.” They tied him with two new ropes and led him away. Once the Philistines had him, they shouted with joy.

Instantly the Spirit of the Lord filled him and he tore the ropes off his hands. He grabbed the jawbone of a donkey and ran into the Philistine crowd, killing 1,000 of them.

After his victory, he threw away the jawbone. He looked up and shouted, “Lord, you gave me victory. I’ve killed 1,000 men. Now, are you going to let me die of thirst?”

Suddenly a rock cracked open and water gushed out. Samson drank until he was refreshed. 

He was a judge over Israel for 20 years, even though the Philistines still ruled over the land.

One time, he went to a Philistine city to sleep with a prostitute. Once they heard he was in their city, they closed the gates so they could capture him at sunrise.

Around midnight, Samson got up to go home. When he got to the gate, he pulled it out of the ground and carried it away. He took it to the top of an Israeli hill and left it there, still closed and locked.