Judges 13

1 And the sons 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.

And 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.

2 And there 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.

Now 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.

3 And the agent of Jehovah appeared to the woman, and said to her, Behold now, thou are barren, and do not bear, but thou shall conceive, and bear a son.

And 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.

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

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

5 for, lo, thou shall conceive, and bear a son. And no razor shall come upon 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.

For 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.

6 Then the woman came and told her husband, saying, A man of God came to me, and his countenance was like the countenance of the agent of God, very awesome. And I did not ask him from where he was, neither did he tell me his name,

Then 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;

7 but he said to me, Behold, thou 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 to the day of his death.

But 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.

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

Then 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.

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

And 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.

10 And the woman made haste, and ran, and told her husband, and said to him, Behold, the man has appeared to me, who came to me the other day.

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

11 And Manoah arose, and went after his wife, and came to the man, and said to him, Are thou the man who spoke to the woman? And he said, I am.

And 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.

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

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

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

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

14 She 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 commanded her let her observe.

She 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.

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

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

16 And the agent of Jehovah said to Manoah, Though thou detain me, I will not eat of thy bread, and if thou will make ready a burnt offering, thou must offer it to Jehovah. For Manoah did not know that he was the agent of Jehovah.

And 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.

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

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

18 And the agent of Jehovah said to him, Why do thou ask after my name, seeing it is wonderful?

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

19 So Manoah took the kid with the meal offering, and offered it upon the rock to Jehovah. And the agent did wondrously, and Manoah and his wife looked on,

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

20 for it came to pass, when the flame went up toward heaven from off the altar, that the agent 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.

And 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.

21 But the agent of Jehovah appeared no more to Manoah or to his wife. Then Manoah knew that he was the agent of Jehovah.

But 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.

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

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

23 But his wife said to 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 shown us all these things, nor would at this time have told such things as these.

But 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.

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

So 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.

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

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