Samson and the Woman from Timnah
1 One day Samson went down to Timnah, where he noticed a certain young Philistine woman. 2 He went back home and told his father and mother, “There is a Philistine woman down at Timnah who caught my attention. Get her for me; I want to marry her.”
3 But his father and mother asked him, “Why do you have to go to those heathen Philistines to get a wife? Can't you find someone in our own clan, among all our people?”
But Samson told his father, “She is the one I want you to get for me. I like her.”
4 His parents did not know that it was the Lord who was leading Samson to do this, for the Lord was looking for a chance to fight the Philistines. At this time the Philistines were ruling Israel.
5 So Samson went down to Timnah with his father and mother. As they were going through the vineyards there, he heard a young lion roaring. 6 Suddenly the power of the Lord made Samson strong, and he tore the lion apart with his bare hands, as if it were a young goat. But he did not tell his parents what he had done.
7 Then he went and talked to the young woman, and he liked her. 8 A few days later Samson went back to marry her. On the way he left the road to look at the lion he had killed, and he was surprised to find a swarm of bees and some honey inside the dead body. 9 He scraped the honey out into his hands and ate it as he walked along. Then he went to his father and mother and gave them some. They ate it, but Samson did not tell them that he had taken the honey from the dead body of a lion.
10 His father went to the woman's house, and Samson gave a banquet there. This was a custom among the young men. 11 When the Philistines saw him, they sent thirty young men to stay with him. 12-13 Samson said to them, “Let me tell you a riddle. I'll bet each one of you a piece of fine linen and a change of fine clothes that you can't tell me its meaning before the seven days of the wedding feast are over.”
“Tell us your riddle,” they said. “Let's hear it.”
14 He said,
“Out of the eater came something to eat;
Out of the strong came something sweet.”
Three days later they had still not figured out what the riddle meant.
15 On the fourth day they said to Samson's wife, “Trick your husband into telling us what the riddle means. If you don't, we'll set fire to your father's house and burn you with it. You two invited us so that you could rob us, didn't you?”
16 So Samson's wife went to him in tears and said, “You don't love me! You just hate me! You told my friends a riddle and didn't tell me what it means!”
He said, “Look, I haven't even told my father and mother. Why should I tell you?” 17 She cried about it for the whole seven days of the feast. But on the seventh day he told her what the riddle meant, for she nagged him so about it. Then she told the Philistines. 18 So on the seventh day, before Samson went into the bedroom, the men of the city said to him,
“What could be sweeter than honey?
What could be stronger than a lion?”
Samson replied,
“If you hadn't been plowing with my cow,
You wouldn't know the answer now.”
19 Suddenly the power of the Lord made him strong, and he went down to Ashkelon, where he killed thirty men, stripped them, and gave their fine clothes to the men who had solved the riddle. After that, he went back home, furious about what had happened, 20 and his wife was given to the man that had been his best man at the wedding.
Samisoni ne nkadzi we Timina
1 Kwakati limwe zhuba Samisoni kayenda ku Timina ngono kabona mwanadi we N'filisitiya. 2 Wakati eshanduka kabudza tate babe na mme babe kati, “Ndabona mmwe nkololokadzi we Bafilisitiya mu Timina, ngono ngwenu mundishakile iye kube nkadzi wangu.” 3 Koga tate babe na mme babe bakanshandula beti, “Apa akuna mwanadi mu bathu bakanyi kwenyu kene pakati kwe bathu bedu bose, kwaungadza ukanotola nkadzi ku Bafilisitiya basakathumbigwa kene?” Koga Samisoni kadwa tate babe kati, “Mundishakile iye, ndiye unondishathisa.”
4 Tate babe na mmebabe bakabe basinga zibe kuti kwakabe kudwa kuna Yahwe, ngobe bakabeshaka zila yekugwa ne Bafilisitiya. Mu tjibaka itjetjo Bafilisitiya bakabe bebusa Baiziraela.
5 Samisoni kadelukila ku Timina ana tate babe na mme babe, bakati batjilinga minda dze mizhambi dze Timina, tjinyolotjo kukabhuda shumbana i bomba izha kunli. 6 Meya ya Yahwe ikazha munli nge masimba kwaakapalulanya shumba koga se unopalulanya tjibudzana, ngono asakabhata tjimwe mu maboko. Koga kasibudze tate babe kene mmebabe tjaathama. 7 Ngono kayenda kanolebeleka ne nkadzi, ngono nkadzi kashathisa Samisoni kwazo.
8 Kwakati shule kwe mazhuba ebgwilila enotola nkadzi, wakatendebuka kanolinga itumbu tje shumba, ngono bona, kukabe kuna nlunda we nyutji mu itumbu ne butji. 9 Kamola nge maboko awe, kayenda eja mu zila, kanoswika kuna tate babe na mme babe ngono kabapabo dzimwe bakaja. Koga kasibabudze kuti watola butji mu itumbu tje shumba. 10 Kwakati tate babe beswika ku nkadzi iwoyo, Samisoni kathama nzano ikweno ngoti kwakabekuli nja we bazhuzha. 11 Kwakati bathu bembona bakanzhisila thaka dzidze dzili makumi matatu (30) kubenaye. 12 Ngono Samisoni kabadwa kati, “Imani ndimu lipe, apa mungadibudza dabilo mu mazhuba ali tendeka e nzano, ndowomupa zwihempe zwili makumi matatu (30) ne zwiambalo zwakanaka zwili makumi matatu (30). 13 Koga apa mungakong'wa ne kundidabila, mowondipa zwihempe zwili makumi matatu (30) ne zwiambalo zwakanaka zwili makumi matatu (30).” Ngono bakandwa bakati, “Leba libha lilo tilihwe.” 14 Kababudza ilo kati,
“Mu nji kwakabuda zojiwa.
Muna wakasima, kukabuda butji.”
15 Kwakati mu zhuba le bunna bakadwa nkadzi wa Samisoni beti, “Tjengela nlume uwo ati tjenesele libha kuti lodwani, kusakajalo tomupisa iwe ne be nsha wa tate babo. Apa matikokela kuwotilonga bushayi kene?” 16 Ngono nkadzi wa Samisoni kalila mbeli kukwe eti, “Unondishima, autondida. Walibha bathu bakanyi kwedu ngono auzondibudza dabilo.” Ngono kandabila eti, “Bona, andizobudza tate kene mme, apa ndibudze iwe kene?” 17 Kalila mazhuba wose ali kutendeka e nzano, kwakati mu zhuba le butendeka kambudza, ngobe wakabe atjinlonga hapa na hapa. Ngono nkadzi kanotjenesela balume bakanyikukwe. 18 Zhuba lakati lisathu lamila mu zhuba le butendeka, balume be nzi bakandwa bakati,
“Ini tjinozipa kupinda butji gwe nyutji kene?
Ini tjakasima kupinda shumba kene?”
Ngono kabashandula eti, “Ha mungabe musalima ne gondolo langu, mungabe musatjenesa libha langu.”
19 Ngono Meya ya Yahwe ikazha munli nge simba, kayenda ku Ashikiloni, kabulaya balume bali makumi matatu (30) mu nzi, katola thundu dzabo, kapa balume batjenesa libha zwiambalo zwakanaka. Kabgwilila ku ng'umba ya tate babe nge bushongola gunothuta. 20 Nkadzi wa Samisoni kapiwa nzwalani uwe, iye wakabe ali ntjengeti uwe pa ndobolo iye.