141 Then Samson went down to Timnah and saw a woman in Timnah , one of the daughters of the Philistines . 2 So he came back and told his father and mother , "I saw a woman in Timnah , one of the daughters of the Philistines ; now therefore, get her for me as a wife ." 3 Then his father and his mother said to him, "Is there no woman among the daughters of your relatives , or among all our people , that you go to take a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines ?" But Samson said to his father , "Get her for me, for she looks e good to me." 4 However, his father and mother did not know that it was of the Lord , for He was seeking an occasion against the Philistines . Now at that time the Philistines were ruling over Israel . 5 Then Samson went down to Timnah with his father and mother , and came as far as the vineyards of Timnah ; and behold , a young lion came roaring toward him. 6 The Spirit of the Lord came upon him mightily , so that he tore him as one tears a young goat though he had nothing e in his hand ; but he did not tell his father or mother what he had done . 7 So he went down and talked to the woman ; and she looked e good to Samson . 8 When he returned later e to take her, he turned aside to look at the carcass of the lion ; and behold , a swarm of bees and honey were in the body of the lion . 9 So he scraped the honey into his hands and went on, eating as he went . When he came to his father and mother , he gave some to them and they ate it; but he did not tell them that he had scraped the honey out of the body of the lion .
10 Then his father went down to the woman ; and Samson made a feast there , for the young men customarily did this . 11 When they saw him, they brought thirty companions to be with him. 12 Then Samson said to them, "Let me now propound a riddle to you; if you will indeed tell it to me within the seven days of the feast , and find it out, then I will give you thirty linen wraps and thirty changes of clothes . 13 "But if you are unable e to tell me, then you shall give me thirty linen wraps and thirty changes of clothes ." And they said to him, "Propound your riddle , that we may hear it." 14 So he said to them, "Out of the eater came something to eat , And out of the strong came something sweet ." But they could not tell the riddle in three days . 15 Then it came about on the fourth day that they said to Samson's wife , " Entice your husband , so that he will tell us the riddle , or we will burn you and your father's house with fire . Have you invited us to impoverish us? Is this not so?" 16 Samson's wife wept before him and said , " You only hate me, and you do not love me; you have propounded a riddle to the sons of my people , and have not told it to me." And he said to her, "Behold , I have not told it to my father or mother ; so should I tell you?" 17 However she wept before him seven days while their feast lasted . And on the seventh day he told her because she pressed him so hard . She then told the riddle to the sons of her people . 18 So the men of the city said to him on the seventh day before the sun went down, "What is sweeter than honey ? And what is stronger than a lion ?" And he said to them, "If you had not plowed with my heifer , You would not have found out my riddle ." 19 Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon him mightily , and he went down to Ashkelon and killed thirty of them and took their spoil and gave the changes of clothes to those who told the riddle . And his anger burned , and he went up to his father's house . 20 But Samson's wife was given to his companion who had been his friend .
