1And Samson went down to Timnah, and saw a woman (ishah) in Timnah of the daughters of the Philistines.
2And he went up and told his father and his mother, and said: I have seen a woman (ishah) in Timnah of the daughters of the Philistines; and now take her for me for a wife (ishah).
3And his father and his mother said to him: Is there not among the daughters of your brothers or among all my people a woman (ishah), that you go to take a wife (ishah) from the uncircumcised Philistines? And Samson said to his father: Take her for me, for she is right in my eyes.
4And his father and his mother did not know that it was from YHWH, for he was seeking an occasion against the Philistines; and at that time the Philistines were ruling over Israel.
5And Samson went down, and his father and his mother, to Timnah, and they came to the vineyards of Timnah; and behold, a young lion roaring to meet him.
6And the spirit (ruach) of YHWH rushed upon him, and he tore it apart as one tears apart a kid, with nothing in his hand; but he did not tell his father or his mother what he had done.
7And he went down and spoke to the woman (ishah), and she was right in the eyes of Samson.
8And he returned after some days to take her, and he turned aside to see the carcass of the lion; and behold, a swarm of bees in the body of the lion, and honey.
9And he scraped it into his hands and went on, going and eating, and he went to his father and to his mother and gave to them, and they ate; but he did not tell them that he had scraped the honey out of the body of the lion.
10And his father went down to the woman (ishah); and Samson made there a feast, for so the young men used to do.
11And it came to pass, when they saw him, that they took thirty companions, and they were with him.
12And Samson said to them: Let me now put forth a riddle to you; if you can surely tell it to me within the seven days of the feast and find it out, then I will give you thirty linen garments and thirty changes of clothing.
13But if you cannot tell it to me, then you shall give me thirty linen garments and thirty changes of clothing. And they said to him: Put forth your riddle, that we may hear it.
14And he said to them: Out of the eater came forth food, and out of the strong came forth sweetness. And they could not tell the riddle in three days.
15And it came to pass on the seventh day, that they said to Samson's wife (ishah): Entice your husband (ish), that he may tell us the riddle, lest we burn you and your father's house with fire. Have you called us here to dispossess us? Is it not so?
16And Samson's wife (ishah) wept before him and said: You only hate me and do not love me; you have put forth the riddle to the sons of my people, and to me you have not told it. And he said to her: Behold, to my father and to my mother I have not told it, and to you shall I tell it?
17And she wept before him the seven days that their feast lasted; and it came to pass on the seventh day, that he told her, because she pressed him; and she told the riddle to the sons of her people.
18And the men (ish) 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.
19And the spirit (ruach) of YHWH rushed upon him, and he went down to Ashkelon and smote thirty men (ish) of them, and took their spoil, and gave the changes of clothing to those who told the riddle. And his anger was kindled, and he went up to his father's house.
20And Samson's wife (ishah) became his companion's, who had been his friend.