Judges 13

1 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.

And the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of Jehovah; and Jehovah gave them into the hand of the Philistines forty years.

2 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.

And there was a certain man of Zoreah, of the family of the Danites, and his name was Manoah. And his wife was barren and did not bear.

3 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.

And the Angel of Jehovah appeared to the woman, and said to her, Behold now, thou art barren and bearest not; but thou shalt conceive and bear a son.

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

And now beware, I pray thee, and drink not wine nor strong drink, and eat nothing unclean.

5 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.

For lo, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son, and no razor shall come on his head; for the boy shall be a Nazarite of God from the womb; and he shall begin to save Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.

6 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;

And the woman came and told her husband, saying, A man of God came to me, and his appearance was like the appearance of an angel of God, very terrible; but I did not ask him whence he was, neither did he tell me his name.

7 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.

And he said to me, Behold, thou shalt conceive and bear a son; and now drink not wine nor strong drink, and eat not anything unclean; for the boy shall be a Nazarite of God from the womb to the day of his death.

8 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.

Then Manoah prayed to Jehovah, and said, Ah Lord! let the man of God which thou didst send come again unto us, I pray thee, and teach us what we shall do unto the child that shall be born.

9 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.

And God hearkened to the voice of Manoah; and the Angel of God came again to the woman whilst she sat in the field; but Manoah her husband was not with her.

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

Then the woman hasted and ran, and informed her husband, and said to him, Behold, the man has appeared to me, that came to me that day.

11 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.

And Manoah rose up and went after his wife, and came to the man, and said to him, Art thou the man that didst speak to the woman? And he said, I am.

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

And Manoah said, When thy words then come to pass, what shall be the child's manner and his doing?

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

And the Angel of Jehovah said to Manoah, Of all that I said unto the woman let her beware:

14 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.

she shall not eat of anything that cometh of the vine, neither shall she drink wine or strong drink, nor eat anything unclean: all that I commanded her shall she observe.

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

And Manoah said to the Angel of Jehovah, I pray thee, let us detain thee, and we will make ready a kid of the goats for thee.

16 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.

And the Angel of Jehovah said to Manoah, Though thou shouldest detain me, I will not eat of thy bread; and if thou wilt offer a burnt-offering, thou shalt offer it up to Jehovah. For Manoah knew not that he was the Angel of Jehovah.

17 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?

And Manoah said to the Angel of Jehovah, What is thy name, that when thy word cometh to pass we may do thee honour?

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

And the Angel of Jehovah said to him, How is it that thou askest after my name, seeing it is wonderful?

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

Then Manoah took the kid and the oblation, and offered it up to Jehovah upon the rock. And he did wondrously, and Manoah and his wife looked on.

20 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.

And it came to pass, as the flame went up from off the altar towards the heavens, that the Angel of Jehovah ascended in the flame of the altar; and Manoah and his wife looked on, and fell on their faces to the ground.

21 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.

And the Angel of Jehovah appeared no more to Manoah and to his wife. Then Manoah knew that it was the Angel of Jehovah.

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

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

23 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.

But his wife said to him, If Jehovah were pleased to kill us, he would not have received a burnt-offering and an oblation at our hands, neither would he have shewed us all these things, nor would he at this time have told us [such things] as these.

24 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.

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

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

And the Spirit of Jehovah began to move him at Mahaneh-Dan, between Zoreah and Eshtaol.