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.

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 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.

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 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.

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

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

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 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;

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, 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.

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 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 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 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.

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 So the woman, running quickly, gave her husband the news, saying, I have seen the man 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 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.

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

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

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

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

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 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.

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 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?

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

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

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

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

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 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.

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 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.

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, Death will certainly be our fate, for it is a god whom we have seen.

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

She gave birth to a son and named him Samson. The boy grew up, and the Lord blessed him.

25 And the spirit of the Lord first came on 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.