Gaza, a strong town belonging to the Philistines. When the inhabitants heard that he was in their city, they shut the gates, and were quiet all the night, saying, "In the morning, when it is day, we shall kill him.” "But Samson went at midnight, and took the gates, and the two posts, and went away with them, bar and all, and put them upon his shoulders, and carried them to the top of an hill that is before Hebron." So impossible was it to oppose his strength by any human obstacles.

At length, however, the strength which Samson could not be deprived of by the power of his enemies, was lost by his disobeying the Divine command, and revealing the secret of the vow on the observance of which, probably as a trial of his faith, his miraculous might depended. He loved Delilah, a woman who lived in the valley of Sorek. To her the lords of the Philistines came, and offered her a high bribe if she would entice Samson to disclose to her the secret in which his strength lay, and reveal it to them. To this treacherous proposal she consented.

"And Delilah said to Samson, Tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength lieth, and wherewith thou mightest be bound to afflict thee.”

"And Samson said unto her, If they bind me with seven green withs that were never dried, then shall I be weak, and be as another man."

"Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven green withs which had not been

dried, and she bound him with them. Now there were men lying in wait, abiding with her in the chamber. And she said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee Samson. And he broke the withs as a thread of tow is broken when it toucheth the fire. So his strength was not known."

"And Delilah said unto Samson, Behold thou hast mocked me, and told me lies: now tell me, I pray thee, wherewith thou mightest be bound. And he said unto her, if they bind me fast with new ropes that never were occupied, then shall I be weak, and be as another man."

"Delilah therefore took new ropes, and bound him therewith, and said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And there were liers in wait abiding in the chamber. And he brake them from off his arm like a thread."

"And Delilah said unto Samson, Hitherto thou hast mocked me and told me lies: tell me wherewith thou mightest be bound. And he said unto her, If thou weavest the seven locks of my head with the web. And she fastened it with the pin, and said unto him, the Philistines be upon thee, Samson; and he awaked out of his sleep, and went away with the pin of the beam, and the web."

"And she said unto him, How canst thou say I love thee, when thine heart is not with me? thou hast mocked me these three times, and hast not told me wherein thy great strength lieth. And it came to pass when she pressed him daily

with her words, and urged him, so that his soul was vexed unto death; that he told her all his heart, and said unto her, There hath not come a razor upon my head; for I have been a Nazarite unto God from my birth: if I be shaven, then my strength will go from me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man. And when Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called for the lords of the Philistines, saying, come up this once, for he hath shewed me all his heart. Then the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and brought money in their hand."

This time Samson had truly revealed the secret of his miraculous power: and when Delilah, during his sleep, caused a man to cut off his hair and beard, his great might departed from him, and he became weak as another man. The Philistines fell upon him; and though he went out against them as at other times, not knowing at first that his strength had left him, he was quickly overcome and taken, for "the LORD had departed from him."

Then "the Philistines took him, and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass: and he did grind in the prison house."

"Howbeit the hair of his head began to grow again after he was shaven."

"Then the lords of the Philistines gathered them together for to offer a great sacrifice unto Dagon their god, and to rejoice: for they said,

Our god hath delivered into our hands our enemy, and the destroyer of our country, which slew many of us. And it came to pass when their hearts were merry, that they said, Call for Samson, that he may make us sport. And they called for Samson out of the prison house; and he made them sport: and they set him between the pillars."

"And Samson said unto the lad that held him by the hand, Suffer me that I may feel the pillars whereupon the house standeth, that I lean upon them."

may

"Now the house was full of men and women: and all the lords of the Philistines were there; and there were upon the roof about three thousand men and women, that beheld while Samson made sport."

"And Samson called unto the LORD, and said, O LORD God, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, O God, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes."

And

"And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars upon which the house stood, and on which it was borne up, of the one with his right hand, and of the other with his left. And Samson said, Let me die with the Philistines. he bowed himself with all his might; and the house fell upon the lords, and upon all the people that were therein: So the dead which he slew at his death were more than they which he slew in his life."

"Then his brethren, and all the house of his father came down, and took him, and brought him up, and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol, in the burying place of Manoah his father. And he judged Israel twenty years."

Samson was the last of the Judges, properly so called. Before proceeding with the historical narrative, we shall give a short account of the Book of Ruth; a beautiful and touching story, the events of which occurred during this period, probably in the time of Gideon.

CHAPTER VIII.

THE STORY OF RUTH.

"Now it came to pass in the days when the Judges ruled, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Bethlehem-judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he, and his wife, and his two sons. And the name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife Naomi, and the name of his two sons Mahlon, and Chilion, Ephrathites of Bethlehemjudah. And they came into the country of Moab, and continued there."

As famines and other public calamities which afflicted the Israelites were, at this period of their history, never sent but as chastisements