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.

The Israelites continued to do what was evil in the Lord's sight, so the Lord handed them over to the Philistines to rule them 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.

At that time there was a man named Manoah. He was from the tribe of Dan and lived in the town of Zorah. His wife couldn't conceive and had no children.

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.

The Angel of the Lord appeared to her and told her, “It's true that you couldn't conceive, and have no children, but now you're going to become pregnant 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,

So then please be careful not to drink any wine or other alcoholic drink, and don't 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.

You're going to become pregnant and have a son whose head a razor must never touch, because the boy is to be a Nazirite, dedicated to God from birth. He will start the process of saving Israel from 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,

The woman went and told her husband, “A man of God came to me. He looked like the Angel of God, really frightening. I didn't ask him where he came from, and he didn't did not tell 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 told me, ‘You're going to become pregnant and give birth to a son. You must not drink wine or any other alcoholic drink, and don't eat anything unclean. For the boy is to be a Nazirite, dedicated to God from birth 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.

Then Manoah prayed to the Lord, “Please, Lord, let the man of God you sent us return to us to explain what we're supposed to do with 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.

God responded to Manoah's request, and the Angel of God returned to the woman while she was sitting out in the field. However, 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 she ran quickly to tell her husband, “Look! The man who appeared to me the other day has come back!”

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.

Manoah got up and went back with his wife, and asked, “Are you the man who spoke to my wife before?” “Yes I am,” he replied.

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?

So Manoah said, “May your promise come true! What shall be decided for the boy, and what is to be his vocation?”

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

“Make sure your wife is careful to follow everything I told her,” the angel of the Lord replied.

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 must not eat anything that comes from the vine or drink wine or any other alcoholic drink. She must not eat anything unclean. Your wife must follow everything I instructed her 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.

Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, “Please let us keep you here while we prepare a meal of 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.

The angel of the Lord replied, “I'll stay, but I won't eat your food. However, if you prepare a burnt offering, you can present it to the Lord.” (Manoah didn't know 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?

Manoah asked the angel of the Lord, “What is your name, so when your promise comes true we may honor you?”

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

“Why do you ask this?” the angel of the Lord responded. “My name is beyond comprehension.”

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,

Manoah took a young goat and a grain offering and presented them on a rock to the Lord. As Manoah and his wife watched, the LORD did something amazing.

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.

As the flame from the altar blazed up into the sky, the angel of the Lord ascended in the flame. Manoah and his wife saw what happened and fell with their faces to 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.

The angel of the Lord did not appear to Manoah or his wife again, and Manoah realized that he was the angel of the Lord.

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

“We're definitely going to die,” he told his wife, “for 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.

But his wife replied, “If the Lord had wanted to kill us he wouldn't have accepted our burnt offering and grain offering. He wouldn't have shown us all these things, and he wouldn't have come now and announced this to us.”

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

She gave birth to a son and named him Samson. 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.

The Spirit of the Lord began to prompt him at Mahaneh Dan, a place between Zorah and Eshtaol.