Judges 13

¹Bvt the children of Israel continued to commit wickednesse in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord deliuerd them into the handes of the Philistims fourtie yeere.

²Then there was a man in Zorah of the familie of the Danites, named Manoah, whose wife was baren, and bare not.

³And the Angel of the Lord appeared vnto the woman, and said vnto her, Beholde nowe, thou art baren, and bearest not: but thou shalt conceiue, and beare a sonne.

⁴And nowe therefore beware that thou drinke no wine, nor strong drinke, neither eate any vncleane thing.

⁵For loe, thou shalt conceiue and beare a sonne, and no rasor shall come on his head: for the childe shall be a Nazarite vnto God from his birth: and he shall begin to saue Israel out of the handes of the Philistims.

⁶Then the wife came, and tolde her husband, saying, A man of God came vnto me, and the facion of him was like the facion of the Angel of God exceeding feareful, but I asked him not whence he was, neither told he me his name,

⁷But he saide vnto me, Beholde, thou shalt conceiue, and beare a sonne, and nowe thou shalt drinke no wine, nor strong drinke, neither eate any vncleane thing: for the childe shalbe a Nazarite to God from his birth to the day of his death.

⁸Then Manoah prayed to the Lord and saide, I pray thee, my Lord, Let the man of God, whome thou sentest, come againe nowe vnto vs, and teach vs what we shall doe vnto the child when he is borne.

⁹And God heard the voyce of Manoah, and the Angel of God came againe vnto the wife, as she sate in the fielde, but Manoah her husband was not with her.

¹⁰And the wife made haste and ranne, and shewed her husband and sayde vnto him, Behold, the man hath appeared vnto me, that came vnto me to day.

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

¹²Then Manoah sayde, Nowe let thy saying come to passe: but howe shall we order the childe and doe vnto him?

¹³And the Angell of the Lord saide vnto Manoah, The woman must beware of all that I said vnto her.

¹⁴She may eate of nothing that commeth of the vinetree: she shall not drinke wine nor strong drinke, nor eate any vncleane thing: let her obserue all that I haue commanded her.

¹⁵Manoah then said vnto the Angell of the Lord, I pray thee, let vs reteine thee, vntill we haue made readie a kid for thee.

¹⁶And the Angel of the Lord said vnto Manoah, Though thou make me abide, I will not eate of thy bread, and if thou wilt make a burnt offring, offer it vnto the Lord: for Manoah knewe not that it was an Angel of the Lord.

¹⁷Againe Manoah said vnto the Angell of the Lord, What is thy name, that when thy saying is come to passe, we may honour thee?

¹⁸And the Angell of the Lord saide vnto him, Why askest thou thus after my name, which is secret?

¹⁹Then Manoah tooke a kid with a meate offering, and offered it vpon a stone vnto the Lord: and the Angell did wonderously, whiles Manoah and his wife looked on.

²⁰For when the flame came vp toward heauen from the altar, the Angel of the Lord ascended vp in the flame of the altar, and Manoah and his wife behelde it, and fell on their faces vnto the grounde.

²¹(So the Angel of the Lord did no more appeare vnto Manoah and his wife.) Then Manoah knewe that it was an Angel of the Lord.

²²And Manoah said vnto his wife, We shall surely dye, because we haue seene God.

²³But his wife saide vnto him, If the Lord woulde kill vs, he woulde not haue receiued a burnt offring, and a meate offring of our hands, neither would he haue shewed vs all these things, nor would now haue tolde vs any such.

²⁴And the wife bare a sonne, and called his name Samson: and the childe grewe, and the Lord blessed him.

²⁵And the Spirite of the Lord beganne to strengthen him in the host of Dan, betweene Zorah, and Eshtaol.

Judges 13

¹And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the Lord; and the Lord 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 the Lord 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 not wine nor strong drink, and eat not any unclean thing:

⁵For, lo, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and no razor shall come on his head: for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb: and he shall begin to deliver 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 an angel of God, very terrible: but 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, neither eat any unclean thing: for the child shall be a Nazarite to God from the womb to the day of his death.

⁸Then Manoah intreated the Lord, and said, O my Lord, let the man of God which 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 shewed 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. How shall we order the child, and how shall we do unto him?

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

¹⁴She may not eat of any thing 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 the Lord, I pray thee, let us detain thee, until we shall have made ready a kid for thee.

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

¹⁷And Manoah said unto the angel of the Lord, What is thy name, that when thy sayings come to pass we may do thee honour?

¹⁸And the angel of the Lord said unto him, Why askest thou thus after my name, seeing it is secret?

¹⁹So Manoah took a kid with a meat offering, and offered it upon a rock unto the Lord: 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 the Lord ascended in the flame of the altar. And Manoah and his wife looked on it, and fell on their faces to the ground.

²¹But the angel of the Lord did no more appear to Manoah and to his wife. Then Manoah knew that he was an angel of the Lord.

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

²³But his wife said unto him, If the Lord were pleased to kill us, he would not have received a burnt offering and a meat offering at our hands, neither would he have shewed us all these things, nor would as at this time have told us such things as these.

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

²⁵And the Spirit of the Lord began to move him at times in the camp of Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol.