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 again, the sons of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord. And he delivered 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 from Zorah, and of the stock of Dan, whose name was Manoah, having a barren wife.

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 an Angel of the Lord appeared to her, and he said: “You are barren and without children. But you shall conceive and bear a son.

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

Therefore, take care that you do not drink wine or strong drink. Neither shall you eat anything unclean.

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 shall conceive and bear a son, whose head no razor shall touch. For he shall be a Nazirite of God, from his infancy and from his mother’s womb. And he shall begin to free Israel from the hand 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,

And when she had gone to her husband, she said to him: “A man of God came to me, having the countenance of an Angel, exceedingly terrible. And when I had inquired of him, who he was, and where he was from, and what name he was called, he was not willing to tell me.

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 responded: ‘Behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. Take care that you do not drink wine or strong drink. And you shall not consume anything unclean. For the boy shall be a Nazirite of God from his infancy, from his mother’s womb, even until 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.

And so Manoah prayed to the Lord, and he said, “I beg you Lord, that the man of God, whom you sent, may come again, and may teach us what we ought to do about the boy who is to be born.”

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 the Lord heeded the prayer of Manoah, and the Angel of the Lord appeared again to his wife, sitting in a field. But her husband Manoah was not with her. And when she had seen the Angel,

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.

she hurried and ran to her husband. And she reported to him, saying, “Behold, the man appeared to me, whom I had seen before.”

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 he rose up and followed his wife. And going to the man, he said to him, “Are you the one who spoke to my wife?” And he responded, “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 to him: “When will your word be fulfilled. What do you want the boy to do? Or from what should he keep himself?”

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: “Concerning all the things about which I have spoken to your wife, she herself should abstain.

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.

And let her eat nothing from the vine. She may not drink wine or strong drink. She may consume nothing unclean. And let her observe and keep what I have instructed to her.”

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, “I beg you to agree to my petition, and to let us prepare a kid from the goats.”

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 answered him: “Even if you compel me, I will not eat from your bread. But if you are willing to offer a holocaust, offer it to the Lord.” And Manoah did not know that he was an 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?

And he said to him, “What is your name, so that, if your word is fulfilled, we may honor you?”

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

And he answered him, “Why do you ask my name, which 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,

And so, Manoah took a kid from the goats, and libations, and he placed them upon a rock, as an offering to the Lord, who accomplishes wonders. Then he and his wife watched.

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 of the altar ascended to heaven, the Angel of the Lord ascended in the flame. And when Manoah and his wife had seen this, they fell prone on the ground.

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.

And the Angel of the Lord no longer appeared to them. And immediately, Manoah understood him to be an Angel of the Lord.

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

And he said to his wife, “We shall certainly die, since we have seen God.”

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.

And his wife answered him, “If the Lord wished to kill us, he would not have accepted the holocaust and the libations from our hands. He would not have revealed all these things to us, nor would he have told us the things that are in the future.”

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

And so she bore a son, and she called his name Samson. And the boy grew up, and the Lord blessed him.

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

And the Spirit of the Lord began to be with him in the camp of Dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.