Judges 13

1 Again the Israelites did evil in the sight of the LORD, so He delivered them into the hand of the Philistines for 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 Now there was a man from Zorah named Manoah, from the clan of the Danites, whose wife was barren and had no children.

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 The angel of the LORD appeared to the woman and said to her, “It is true that you are barren and have no children; but you will conceive and give birth to 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 please be careful not to drink wine or strong drink, and not to eat anything unclean.

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

5 For behold, you will conceive and give birth to a son. And no razor shall come over his head, because the boy will be a Nazirite to God from the womb, and he will begin the deliverance of Israel from 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 So the woman went and told her husband, “A man of God came to me. His appearance was like the angel of God, exceedingly awesome. I did not ask him where he came from, and he did not 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, you will conceive and give birth to a son. Now, therefore, do not drink wine or strong drink, and do not eat anything unclean, because the boy will be a Nazirite to God from the womb until 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 prayed to the LORD, “Please, O Lord, let the man of God You sent us come to us again to teach us how to raise the boy who is to 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 listened to the voice of Manoah, and the angel of God returned to the woman as she was sitting in the field; but her husband Manoah 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 The woman ran quickly to tell her husband, “Behold, the man who came to me the other day has reappeared!”

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

11 So Manoah got up and followed his wife. When he came to the man, he asked, “Are you the man who spoke to my wife?” “I am,” he said.

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 Then Manoah asked, “When your words come to pass, what will be the boy’s rule of life and mission?”

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 So the angel of the LORD answered Manoah, “Your wife is to do everything I told her.

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

14 She must not eat anything that comes from the vine, nor drink any wine or strong drink, nor eat anything unclean. She must do everything I have commanded her.”

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 “Please stay here,” Manoah said to the angel of the LORD, “and we will prepare a young goat for you.”

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 angel of the LORD replied, “Even if I stay, I will not eat your food. But if you prepare a burnt offering, offer it to the LORD.” For Manoah did not know that it was the angel of the LORD.

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 Then Manoah said to the angel of the LORD, “What is your name, so that we may honor you when your word comes to pass?”

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 “Why do you ask my name,” said the angel of the LORD, “since it is beyond comprehension?”

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

19 Then Manoah took a young goat and a grain offering and offered them on a rock to the LORD. And as Manoah and his wife looked on, the LORD did a marvelous thing.

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

20 When the flame went up from the altar to the sky, the angel of the LORD ascended in the flame. When Manoah and his wife saw this, they fell facedown 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 And when the angel of the LORD did not appear again to Manoah and his wife, Manoah realized that it had been the angel of the LORD.

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 “We are going to die,” he said to his wife, “for 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 replied, “If the LORD had intended to kill us, He would not have accepted the burnt offering and the grain offering from our hands, nor would He have shown us all these things or spoken to us this way.”

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 So the woman gave birth to a son and named him Samson. The boy grew, and the LORD 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 the LORD began to stir him at Mahaneh-dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.

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