Judges 16 · Grade 5

Remember Me, Please

Name Date

Read and Think

The last chapter of Samson's life shows strength wasted and then used one final time. In Gaza he escaped an ambush by carrying off the gate, doors, posts, and bar to a hill before Hebron. Then he loved Delilah of the valley of Sorek. The lords of the Philistines offered her eleven hundred pieces of silver each to discover how to bind and afflict him.

Delilah tried three times: seven green cords, new ropes, and weaving his seven locks into the loom. Each time Samson broke free, and each time she asked again. Her daily pressure troubled his soul to death, and he told her all his heart. She had his head shaved while he slept. He awoke expecting to shake himself free as at other times, but he didn't know that Yahweh had departed from him. The Philistines put out his eyes, bound him with bronze fetters, and set him grinding in the Gaza prison.

Yet the hair of his head began to grow again after he was shaved. At a great sacrifice to Dagon, the Philistines boasted that their god had given them Samson. They brought him out to perform, with about three thousand on the roof. Samson prayed, Lord Yahweh, remember me, please, and strengthen me, please, only this once. He pushed the two middle pillars and the house fell. Dagon had been praised, but Yahweh showed His power. Samson was buried in the tomb of his father Manoah after judging Israel twenty years. In the New Testament, Hebrews names Samson with Gideon, Barak, and Jephthah among people of faith (Hebrews 11:32).

Show What You Know

Where did Samson carry the gate?
What were Delilah's three attempts?
What did Samson expect when he awoke shaved?
How many were on the roof?
Where was Samson buried?

Crossword

Across

Lord Yahweh, ____ me
Samson pushed the two middle ones
The city whose gate Samson carried

Down

The woman in the valley of Sorek
The Philistines' god

Think About It

Samson told Delilah all his heart, even after she tried to trap him three times. Why do people keep ignoring warning signs?
Samson's last prayer was only this once. What does it teach that God heard a man who had failed so often?

Memory Verse

“However, the hair of his head began to grow again after he was shaved.”

Judges 16:22 (WEB)

Copy It

Prayer

Dear God, thank You for hearing me when I pray. Help me . Amen.

Take It Home

For families: talk about these together.

What warning signs should we pay attention to in our lives?
What hope does Samson's prayer give to people who have failed?
What is one way you could live out this chapter this week?