Judges. Samson et Uxor Eius.
Douay-Rheims translation
14.1 Then Samson went down to Thamnatha, and seeing there a woman of the daughters
of the Philistines,
14.2 He came up, and told his father and his mother, saying: I saw a woman
in Thamnatha of the daughters of the Philistines: I beseech you, take her
for me to wife.
14.3 And his father and mother said to him: Is there no woman among the daughters
of thy brethren, or among all my people, that thou wilt take a wife of the
Philistines, who are uncircumcised? And Samson said to his father: Take this
woman for me; for she hath pleased my eyes.
[...]
14.5 Then Samson went down with his father and mother to Thamnatha. And when
they were come to the vineyards of the town, behold a young lion met him,
raging and roaring.
14.6 And the Spirit of the Lord came upon Samson, and he tore the lion as
he would have torn a kid in pieces, having nothing at all in his hand: and
he would not tell this to his father and mother.
14.7 And he went down, and spoke to the woman that had pleased his eyes.
14.8 And after some days, returning to take her, he went aside to see the
carcass of the lion, and behold there was a swarm of bees in the mouth of
the lion, and a honey-comb.
[...]
14.10 So his father went down to the woman, and made a feast for his son Samson:
for so the young men used to do.
14.11 And when the citizens of that place saw him, they brought him thirty
companions to be with him.
14.12 And Samson said to them: I will propose to you a riddle, which if you
declare unto me within the seven days of the feast, I will give you thirty
shirts, and as many coats:
14.13 But if you shall not be able to declare it, you shall give me thirty
shirts and the same number of coats. They answered him: Put forth the riddle,
that we may hear it.
14.14 And he said to them: Out of the eater came forth meat, and out of the
strong came forth sweetness. And they could not for three days expound the
riddle.
14.15 And when the seventh day came, they said to the wife of Samson: Sooth
thy husband, and persuade him to tell thee what the riddle meaneth. But if
thou wilt not do it, we will burn thee, and thy father's house. Have you called
us to the wedding on purpose to strip us?
14.16 So she wept before Samson and complained, saying: Thou hatest me, and
dost not love me: therefore thou wilt not expound to me the riddle, which
thou hast proposed to the sons of my people. But he answered: I would not
tell it to my father and mother: and how can I tell it to thee?
14.17 So she wept before him the seven days of the feast: and, at length,
on the seventh day, as she was troublesome to him, he expounded it. And she
immediately told her countrymen.
14.18 And they, on the seventh day before the sun went down, said to him:
What is sweeter than honey? and what is stronger than a lion? And he said
to them: If you had not ploughed with my heifer, you had not found out my
riddle.
14.19 And the Spirit of the Lord came upon him, and he went down to Ascalon,
and slew there thirty men whose garments he took away, and gave to them that
had declared the riddle. And being exceeding angry, he went up to his father's
house:
14.20 But his wife took one of his friends and bridal companions for her husband.