7 Then Samson said to the Philistines, “Since you did this, I will hurt you, too! I won’t stop until I pay you back!”
8 Samson attacked the Philistines and killed many of them. Then he went down and stayed in a cave. It was in the rock of Etam.
9 Then the Philistines went up and camped in the land of Judah. They stopped near a place named Lehi.
10 The men of Judah asked them, “Why have you come here to fight us?”They answered, “We have come to make Samson our prisoner. We want to pay him back for what he did to our people.”
11 Then 3,000 men of Judah went to the cave in the rock of Etam. They said to Samson, “What have you done to us? Don’t you know that the Philistines rule over us?”Samson answered, “I only paid them back for what they did to me!”
12 Then they said to him, “We have come to tie you up. We will give you to the Philistines.”Samson said to them, “Promise me you will not hurt me yourselves.”
13 The men from Judah said, “We agree. We will just tie you up and give you to the Philistines. We will not kill you.” So they tied Samson with two new ropes. Then they led him up from the cave in the rock.