Old Testament · Judges 13:2–24Judges 14:5–6Judges 16:4–30
Samson — Bible Story for Kids
God gave Samson great strength. Samson made foolish choices, but at the end he prayed, and God answered.
This is a retelling for children, written by BibleKenya from the Bible passages shown on each picture. It is not a Bible translation.
An angel told a woman, "You will have a son. He must never cut his hair. He will begin to save Israel."
The angel of the LORD appeared to the wife of and said, "You will have a son. No razor shall come on his head, for the child shall be a to God. He shall begin to save Israel out of the hand of the Philistines."
Bible explorer Samson's mother is not named in the Bible.
grew up and God blessed him. One day a young lion roared at him, and God's Spirit gave him strength to defeat it with his bare hands.
The woman had a son and named him . The child grew, and the LORD blessed him. Once a young lion roared at him, and of the LORD came on him mightily, and he tore it apart with nothing in his hand.
loved a woman named . Samson's enemies paid her to find out the secret of his strength. At last he told her.
loved a woman named . The Philistine rulers offered her silver to find out what made him so strong. Three times he misled her, but she pressed him every day until he told her: "No razor has come on my head, for I have been a to God."
Bible explorer The Bible does not say Samson married Delilah.
While he slept, his hair was cut. His strength was gone, and his enemies put him in prison. But his hair began to grow again.
had his hair shaved while he slept, and his strength left him. He did not know that the LORD had departed from him. The Philistines captured him and put him in prison, where he had to grind grain. But the hair on his head began to grow again.
Bible explorer The Philistines also blinded him (Judges 16:21).
At a great party, prayed, "Lord, remember me and make me strong one more time." God answered his prayer.
The Philistines gathered in the temple of their god Dagon and brought out to make fun of him. Samson called to the LORD, "Remember me, please, and strengthen me only this once." He pushed on the two middle pillars with all his might, and the house fell on the rulers and the people in it.
Bible explorer Samson died with the Philistines (Judges 16:30). Hebrews 11:32 lists Samson among people of faith.
The end of the story
Read it in the Bible
This is the Bible text itself, from the version shown. Scripture in WEBWorld English Bible — Protestant Edition
Judges 13:2–24 WEB
2There was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren, and childless. 3The LORD’s angel appeared to the woman, and said to her, “See now, you are barren and childless; but you shall conceive and bear a son. 4Now therefore please beware and drink no wine nor strong drink, and don’t eat any unclean thing; 5for, behold, you shall conceive and give birth to a son. No razor shall come on his head, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb. He shall begin to save Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.” 6Then the woman came and told her husband, saying, “A man of God came to me, and his face was like the face of the angel of God, very awesome. I didn’t ask him where he was from, neither did he tell me his name; 7but he said to me, ‘Behold, you shall conceive and bear a son; and now drink no wine nor strong drink. Don’t eat any unclean thing, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb to the day of his death.’” 8Then Manoah entreated the LORD, and said, “Oh, Lord, please let the man of God whom you sent come again to us, and teach us what we should do to the child who shall be born.” 9God listened to the voice of Manoah, and the angel of God came again to the woman as she sat in the field; but Manoah, her husband, wasn’t with her. 10The woman hurried and ran, and told her husband, saying to him, “Behold, the man who came to me that day has appeared to me.” 11Manoah arose and followed his wife, and came to the man, and said to him, “Are you the man who spoke to my wife?” He said, “I am.” 12Manoah said, “Now let your words happen. What shall the child’s way of life and mission be?” 13The LORD’s angel said to Manoah, “Of all that I said to the woman let her beware. 14She may not eat of anything that comes of the vine, neither let her drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing. Let her observe all that I commanded her.” 15Manoah said to the LORD’s angel, “Please stay with us, that we may make a young goat ready for you.” 16The LORD’s angel said to Manoah, “Though you detain me, I won’t eat your bread. If you will prepare a burnt offering, you must offer it to the LORD.” For Manoah didn’t know that he was the LORD’s angel. 17Manoah said to the LORD’s angel, “What is your name, that when your words happen, we may honor you?” 18The LORD’s angel said to him, “Why do you ask about my name, since it is incomprehensible?” 19So Manoah took the young goat with the meal offering, and offered it on the rock to the LORD. Then the angel did an amazing thing as Manoah and his wife watched. 20For when the flame went up toward the sky from off the altar, the LORD’s angel ascended in the flame of the altar. Manoah and his wife watched; and they fell on their faces to the ground. 21But the LORD’s angel didn’t appear to Manoah or to his wife any more. Then Manoah knew that he was the LORD’s angel. 22Manoah said to his wife, “We shall surely die, because we have seen God.” 23But his wife said to him, “If the LORD were pleased to kill us, he wouldn’t have received a burnt offering and a meal offering at our hand, and he wouldn’t have shown us all these things, nor would he have told us such things as these at this time.” 24The woman bore a son and named him Samson. The child grew, and the LORD blessed him.
Judges 14:5–6 WEB
5Then Samson went down to Timnah with his father and his mother, and came to the vineyards of Timnah; and behold, a young lion roared at him. 6The LORD’s Spirit came mightily on him, and he tore him as he would have torn a young goat with his bare hands, but he didn’t tell his father or his mother what he had done.
Judges 16:4–30 WEB
4It came to pass afterward that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah. 5The lords of the Philistines came up to her and said to her, “Entice him, and see in which his great strength lies, and by what means we may prevail against him, that we may bind him to afflict him; and we will each give you eleven hundred pieces of silver.” 6Delilah said to Samson, “Please tell me where your great strength lies, and what you might be bound to afflict you.” 7Samson said to her, “If they bind me with seven green cords that were never dried, then shall I become weak, and be as another man.” 8Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven green cords which had not been dried, and she bound him with them. 9Now she had an ambush waiting in the inner room. She said to him, “The Philistines are on you, Samson!” He broke the cords as a flax thread is broken when it touches the fire. So his strength was not known. 10Delilah said to Samson, “Behold, you have mocked me, and told me lies. Now please tell me how you might be bound.” 11He said to her, “If they only bind me with new ropes with which no work has been done, then I will become weak, and be as another man.” 12So Delilah took new ropes and bound him with them, then said to him, “The Philistines are on you, Samson!” The ambush was waiting in the inner room. He broke them off his arms like a thread. 13Delilah said to Samson, “Until now, you have mocked me and told me lies. Tell me with what you might be bound.” He said to her, “If you weave the seven locks of my head with the fabric on the loom.” 14She fastened it with the pin, and said to him, “The Philistines are on you, Samson!” He awakened out of his sleep, and plucked away the pin of the beam and the fabric. 15She said to him, “How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when your heart is not with me? You have mocked me these three times, and have not told me where your great strength lies.” 16When she pressed him daily with her words and urged him, his soul was troubled to death. 17He told her all his heart and said to her, “No razor has ever come on my head; for I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother’s womb. If I am shaved, then my strength will go from me and I will become weak, and be like any other man.” 18When 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 has told me all his heart.” Then the lords of the Philistines came up to her and brought the money in their hand. 19She made him sleep on her knees; and she called for a man and shaved off the seven locks of his head; and she began to afflict him, and his strength went from him. 20She said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” He awoke out of his sleep, and said, “I will go out as at other times, and shake myself free.” But he didn’t know that the LORD had departed from him. 21The Philistines laid hold on him and put out his eyes; and they brought him down to Gaza and bound him with fetters of bronze; and he ground at the mill in the prison. 22However, the hair of his head began to grow again after he was shaved. 23The lords of the Philistines gathered together to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god, and to rejoice; for they said, “Our god has delivered Samson our enemy into our hand.” 24When the people saw him, they praised their god; for they said, “Our god has delivered our enemy and the destroyer of our country, who has slain many of us, into our hand.” 25When their hearts were merry, they said, “Call for Samson, that he may entertain us.” They called for Samson out of the prison; and he performed before them. They set him between the pillars; 26and Samson said to the boy who held him by the hand, “Allow me to feel the pillars on which the house rests, that I may lean on them.” 27Now the house was full of men and women; and all the lords of the Philistines were there; and there were on the roof about three thousand men and women, who saw while Samson performed. 28Samson called to the LORD, and said, “Lord GOD, remember me, please, and strengthen me, please, only this once, God, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes.” 29Samson took hold of the two middle pillars on which the house rested and leaned on them, the one with his right hand and the other with his left. 30Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines!” He bowed himself with all his might; and the house fell on the lords, and on all the people who were in it. So the dead that he killed at his death were more than those who he killed in his life.
Who is in the story?
Words to learn
- Holy Spirit
- The Holy Spirit is God's Spirit. At Pentecost the Holy Spirit came to Jesus' friends with a sound like wind and flames like fire.
- Judge
- In the book of Judges, a judge was a leader God chose to rescue his people. Deborah was a judge who helped Israel.
- Nazirite
- A Nazirite was a person who made a special promise to God. Samson was a Nazirite, so he never cut his hair.
What can we learn from this passage?
Samson's strength came from God, not from himself, and Judges shows the cost of his careless choices. At the end, he turned to God in prayer, and God heard him. Judges 14:6Judges 16:28