Judges 13

¹And the children of Israel again did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah; and Jehovah delivered them into the hand of the Philistines forty years.

²And there was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren, and bare not.

³And the angel of Jehovah appeared unto the woman, and said unto her, Behold now, thou art barren, and bearest not; but thou shalt conceive, and bear a son.

⁴Now therefore beware, I pray thee, and drink no wine nor strong drink, and eat not any unclean thing:

⁵for, lo, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and no razor shall come upon his head; for the child shall be a Nazirite unto God from the womb: and 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 unto me, and his countenance was like the countenance of the angel of God, very terrible; and I asked him not whence he was, neither told he me his name:

⁷but he said unto me, Behold, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and now drink no wine nor strong drink, and eat not any unclean thing; for the child shall be a Nazirite unto God from the womb to the day of his death.

⁸Then Manoah entreated Jehovah, and said, Oh, Lord, I pray thee, let the man of God whom thou didst send come again unto us, and teach us what we shall do unto the child that shall be born.

⁹And God hearkened to the voice of Manoah; and the angel of God came again unto the woman as she sat in the field: but Manoah her husband was not with her.

¹⁰And the woman made haste, and ran, and told her husband, and said unto him, Behold, the man hath appeared unto me, that came unto me the other day.

¹¹And Manoah arose, and went after his wife, and came to the man, and said unto him, Art thou the man that spakest unto the woman? And he said, I am.

¹²And Manoah said, Now let thy words come to pass: what shall be the ordering of the child, and how shall we do unto him?

¹³And the angel of Jehovah said unto Manoah, Of all that I said unto the woman let her beware.

¹⁴She may not eat of anything that cometh of the vine, neither let her drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing; all that I commanded her let her observe.

¹⁵And Manoah said unto the angel of Jehovah, I pray thee, let us detain thee, that we may make ready a kid for thee.

¹⁶And the angel of Jehovah said unto Manoah, Though thou detain me, I will not eat of thy bread; and if thou wilt make ready a burnt-offering, thou must offer it unto Jehovah. For Manoah knew not that he was the angel of Jehovah.

¹⁷And Manoah said unto the angel of Jehovah, What is thy name, that, when thy words come to pass, we may do thee honor?

¹⁸And the angel of Jehovah said unto him, Wherefore askest thou after my name, seeing it is wonderful?

¹⁹So Manoah took the kid with the meal-offering, and offered it upon the rock unto Jehovah: and the angel did wondrously, and Manoah and his wife looked on.

²⁰For it came to pass, when the flame went up toward heaven from off the altar, that the angel of Jehovah ascended in the flame of the altar: and Manoah and his wife looked on; and they fell on their faces to the ground.

²¹But the angel of Jehovah did no more appear to Manoah or to his wife. Then Manoah knew that he was the angel of Jehovah.

²²And Manoah said unto his wife, We shall surely die, because we have seen God.

²³But his wife said unto him, If Jehovah were pleased to kill us, he would not have received a burnt-offering and a meal-offering at our hand, neither would he have showed us all these things, nor would at this time have told such things as these.

²⁴And the woman bare a son, and called his name Samson: and the child grew, and Jehovah blessed him.

²⁵And the Spirit of Jehovah began to move him in Mahaneh-dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.

Judges 13

¹And the sons of Israel add to do the evil thing in the eyes of Jehovah, and Jehovah giveth them into the hand of the Philistines forty years.

²And there is a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danite, and his name is Manoah, his wife is barren, and hath not borne;

³and a messenger of Jehovah appeareth unto the woman, and saith unto her, `Lo, I pray thee, thou art barren, and hast not borne; when thou hast conceived, then thou hast borne a son.

⁴And, now, take heed, I pray thee, and do not drink wine, and strong drink, and do not eat any unclean thing,

⁵for, lo, thou art conceiving and bearing a son, and a razor doth not go up on his head, for a Nazarite to God is the youth from the womb, and he doth begin to save Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.'

⁶And the woman cometh and speaketh to her husband, saying, `A man of God hath come unto me, and his appearance is as the appearance of a messenger of God, very fearful, and I have not asked him whence he is , and his name he hath not declared to me;

⁷and he saith to me, Lo, thou art pregnant, and bearing a son, and now do not drink wine and strong drink, and do not eat any unclean thing, for a Nazarite to God is the youth from the womb till the day of his death.'

⁸And Manoah maketh entreaty unto Jehovah, and saith, `O, my Lord, the man of God whom Thou didst send, let him come in, I pray thee, again unto us, and direct us what we do to the youth who is born.'

⁹And God hearkeneth to the voice of Manoah, and the messenger of God cometh again unto the woman, and she is sitting in a field, and Manoah her husband is not with her,

¹⁰and the woman hasteth, and runneth, and declareth to her husband, and saith unto him, `Lo, he hath appeared unto methe man who came on that day unto me.'

¹¹And Manoah riseth, and goeth after his wife, and cometh unto the man, and saith to him, `Art thou the man who spake unto the woman?' and he saith, `I am .'

¹²And Manoah saith, `Now let thy words come to pass; what is the custom of the youthand his work?'

¹³And the messenger of Jehovah saith unto Manoah, `Of all that I said unto the woman let her take heed;

¹⁴of anything which cometh out from the wine-vine she doth not eat, and wine and strong drink she doth not drink, and any unclean thing she doth not eat; all that I have commanded her she doth observe.'

¹⁵And Manoah saith unto the messenger of Jehovah, `Let us detain thee, we pray thee, and prepare before thee a kid of the goats.'

¹⁶And the messenger of Jehovah saith unto Manoah, `If thou detain meI do not eat of thy bread; and if thou prepare a burnt-offeringto Jehovah thou dost offer it;' for Manoah hath not known that He is a messenger of Jehovah.

¹⁷And Manoah saith unto the messenger of Jehovah, `What is thy name? when thy words come to pass, then we have honoured thee.'

¹⁸And the messenger of Jehovah saith to him, `Why is thisthou dost ask for My name? and it is Wonderful.'

¹⁹And Manoah taketh the kid of the goats, and the present, and offereth on the rock to Jehovah, and He is doing wonderfully, and Manoah and his wife are looking on,

²⁰and it cometh to pass, in the going up of the flame from off the altar toward the heavens, that the messenger of Jehovah goeth up in the flame of the altar, and Manoah and his wife are looking on, and they fall on their faces to the earth,

²¹and the messenger of Jehovah hath not added again to appear unto Manoah, and unto his wife, then hath Manoah known that He is a messenger of Jehovah.

²²And Manoah saith unto his wife, `We certainly die, for we have seen God.'

²³And his wife saith to him, `If Jehovah were desirous to put us to death, He had not received from our hands burnt-offering and present, nor shewed us all these things, nor as at this time caused us to hear anything like this.'

²⁴And the woman beareth a son, and calleth his name Samson, and the youth groweth, and Jehovah doth bless him,

²⁵and the Spirit of Jehovah beginneth to move him in the camp of Dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.