Judges 13

¹And the children of Israel again did evil in the eyes of the Lord; and the Lord gave them into the hands of the Philistines for forty years.

²Now there was a certain man of Zorah of the family of the Danites, and his name was Manoah; and his wife had never given birth to a child.

³And the angel of the Lord came to the woman, and said to her, See now! though you have never given birth to children, you will be with child and give birth to a son.

⁴Now then take care to have no wine or strong drink and to take no unclean thing for food;

⁵For you are with child and will give birth to a son; his hair is never to be cut, for the child is to be separate to God from his birth; and he will take up the work of freeing Israel from the hands of the Philistines.

⁶Then the woman came in, and said to her husband, A man came to me, and his form was like the form of a god, causing great fear; I put no question to him about where he came from, and he did not give me his name;

⁷But he said to me, You are with child and will give birth to a son; and now do not take any wine or strong drink or let anything unclean be your food; for the child will be separate to God from his birth to the day of his death.

⁸Then Manoah made prayer to the Lord, and said, O Lord, let the man of God whom you sent come to us again and make clear to us what we are to do for the child who is to come.

⁹And God gave ear to the voice of Manoah; and the angel of God came to the woman again when she was seated in the field; but her husband Manoah was not with her.

¹⁰So the woman, running quickly, gave her husband the news, saying, I have seen the man who came to me the other day.

¹¹And Manoah got up and went after his wife, and came up to the man and said to him, Are you the man who was talking to this woman? And he said, I am.

¹²And Manoah said, Now when your words come true, what is to be the rule for the child and what will be his work?

¹³And the angel of the Lord said to Manoah, Let the woman take note of what I have said to her.

¹⁴She is to have nothing which comes from the vine for her food, and let her take no wine or strong drink or anything which is unclean; let her take care to do all I have given her orders to do.

¹⁵And Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, Now let us keep you while we make ready a young goat for you.

¹⁶And the angel of the Lord said to Manoah, Though you keep me I will not take of your food; but if you will make a burned offering, let it be offered to the Lord. For it had not come into Manoah's mind that he was the angel of the Lord.

¹⁷Then Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, What is your name, so that when your words come true we may give you honour?

¹⁸But the angel of the Lord said to him, Why are you questioning me about my name, seeing that it is a wonder?

¹⁹So Manoah took the young goat with its meal offering, offering it on the rock to the Lord, who did strange things.

²⁰And when the flame went up to heaven from the altar, the angel of the Lord went up in the flame of the altar, while Manoah and his wife were looking on; and they went down on their faces to the earth.

²¹But the angel of the Lord was seen no more by Manoah and his wife. Then it was clear to Manoah that he was the angel of the Lord.

²²And Manoah said to his wife, Death will certainly be our fate, for it is a god whom we have seen.

²³But his wife said to him, If the Lord was purposing our death, he would not have taken our burned offering and our meal offering, or have given us such orders about the child.

²⁴So the woman gave birth to a son, and gave him the name Samson; and he became a man and the blessing of the Lord was on him.

²⁵And the spirit of the Lord first came on him in Mahaneh-dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.

Judges 13

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

²There was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren, and did not bear. .

³The angel of the Lord appeared to the woman, and said to her, "See now, you are barren, and do not bear; but you shall conceive, and bear a son.

⁴Now therefore please be careful and drink no wine nor strong drink, and do not eat any unclean thing.

⁵For behold, you shall conceive, and bear a son; and no razor shall come on his head; for the child shall be a Nazirite to 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 to me, and his face was like the face of the angel of God, very awesome; and 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, and do not eat any unclean thing; for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb until the day of his death.'"

⁸Then Manoah entreated the Lord, and said, "Oh, Lord, please let the man of God whom you did send come again to us, and teach us what we shall 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 ran quickly, and told her husband, and said to him, "Behold, the man who came to me the other day has appeared to me."

¹¹Manoah arose, and went after his wife, and came to the man, and said to him, "Are you the man who spoke to the woman?" He said, "I am."

¹²Manoah said, "Now let your words happen. How shall the child be raised and what is he to do?"

¹³The angel of the Lord said to Manoah, "Of all that I said to the woman let her be careful.

¹⁴She may not eat of anything that comes of the vine, neither let her drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing. All that I have commanded her she is to observe."

¹⁵Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, "Please, stay a bit longer that we may prepare a young goat for you."

¹⁶The angel of the Lord said to Manoah, "Though you detain me, I won't eat of your bread. And if you prepare a burnt offering, you must offer it to the Lord." For Manoah did not know that he was the angel of the Lord.

¹⁷Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, "What is your name, that when your words come true we may honor you?"

¹⁸And the angel of the Lord said to him, "Why do you ask for my name? It is incomprehensible."

¹⁹So Manoah took the young goat and a grain offering, and offered it on the rock to the Lord, who works wonders. Then the angel did a wonderful thing as Manoah and his wife looked on.

²⁰For it happened, when the flame went up toward the sky from off the altar, that the angel of the Lord 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 the Lord did not appear again to Manoah or to his wife. Then Manoah knew that he was the angel of the Lord.

²²Manoah said to his wife, :We shall surely die, because we have seen God."

²³But his wife said to him, "If the Lord meant to kill us, he wouldn't have received a burnt offering and a grain offering from us, neither would he have shown us all these things, nor would he have spoken to us now like this."

²⁴The woman bore a son, and named him Samson. And the child grew, and the Lord blessed him.

²⁵And the Spirit of the Lord began to direct him in Mahaneh Dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.