13 Delilah told Samson, “You’re still making fun of me by telling me lies. Tell me how you can be tied up.”Samson replied, “Just weave the seven braids of my hair with the other threads in the loom.”
14 So Delilah tied his braids to the loom shuttle. Then she said to him, “Samson, the Philistines are attacking!” But Samson woke up and tore his braids and the threads out of the loom shuttle.
15 Delilah said to Samson, “How can you say that you love me when your heart isn’t mine? You’ve made fun of me three times now, but you still haven’t told me what makes you so strong.”
16 Every day she made his life miserable with her questions. She pestered him until he wished he were dead.
17 Finally, he told her the truth. He told her, “Because I’m a Nazirite, no one has ever cut the hair on my head. I was dedicated to God before I was born. If my hair is ever shaved off, my strength will leave me. Then I’ll be like any other man.”
18 When Delilah realized that he had told her everything, she sent a message to the Philistine rulers, “Come here once more.” (She did this because Samson had told her everything.) So the Philistine rulers arrived with the money in their hands.
19 Delilah put Samson to sleep on her lap. She called for a man to shave off his seven braids. Then she began to torture him because his strength had left him.