Judges 13

1 And the children of Israel yet again committed iniquity before the Lord; and the Lord delivered them into the hand of the Phylistines forty years.

Again the Israelites did evil in the sight of the LORD, so He delivered them into the hand of the Philistines for forty years.

2 And there was a man of Saraa, of the family of the kindred of Dan, and his name was Manoe, and his wife was barren, and bore not.

Now there was a man from Zorah named Manoah, from the clan of the Danites, whose wife was barren and had no children.

3 And an angel of the Lord appeared to the woman, and said to her, Behold, you are barren and have not born; yet you shall conceive a son.

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.

4 And now be very cautious, and drink no wine nor strong drink, and eat no unclean thing;

Now please be careful not to drink wine or strong drink, and not to eat anything unclean.

5 for behold, you are with child, and shall bring forth a son; and there shall come no razor upon his head, for the child shall be a Nazarite to God from the womb; and he shall begin to save Israel from the hand of the Phylistines.

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.”

6 And the woman went in, and spoke to her husband, saying, A man of God came to me, and his appearance [was as] of an angel of God, very dreadful; and I did not ask him whence he was, and he did not tell me his name.

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.

7 And he said to me, Behold, you are with child, and shall bring forth a son; and now drink no wine nor strong drink, and eat no unclean thing; for the child shall be holy to God from the womb until the day of his death.

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.’”

8 And Manoe prayed to the Lord and said, I pray you, O Lord my lord, [concerning] the man of God whom you sent; let him now come to us once more, and teach us what we shall do to the child about to be born.

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.”

9 And the Lord heard the voice of Manoe, and the angel of God came yet again to the woman; and she sat in the field, and Manoe her husband was not with her.

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.

10 And the woman hasted, and ran, and brought word to her husband, and said to him, Behold the man who came in [the other] day to me has appeared to me.

The woman ran quickly to tell her husband, “Behold, the man who came to me the other day has reappeared!”

11 And Manoe arose and followed his wife, and came to the man, and said to him, Are you the man that spoke to the woman? and the angel said, I [am].

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.

12 And Manoe said, Now shall [your] word come to pass: what shall be the ordering of the child, and our dealings with him?

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

13 And the angel of the Lord said to Manoe, Of all things concerning which I spoke to the woman, she shall beware.

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

14 She shall eat of nothing that comes of the vine yielding wine, and let her not drink wine or strong liquor, and let her not eat anything unclean: all things that I have charged her she shall observe.

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.”

15 And Manoe said to the angel of the Lord, Let us detain you here, and prepare before you a kid of the goats.

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

16 And the angel of the Lord said to Manoe, If you should detain me, I will not eat of your bread; and if you would offer a whole burnt offering, to the Lord you shall offer it: for Manoe knew not that he [was] an angel of the Lord.

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.

17 And Manoe said to the angel of the Lord, What [is] your name, that [when] your word shall come to pass, we may glorify you?

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?”

18 And the angel of the Lord said to him, Why do you thus ask after my name; whereas it is wonderful?

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

19 And Manoe took a kid of the goats and its meat-offering, and offered it on the rock to the Lord; and [the angel] wrought a distinct work, and Manoe and his wife were looking on.

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.

20 And it came to pass when the flame went up above the altar towards heaven, that the angel of the Lord went up in the flame; and Manoe and his wife were looking, and they fell upon their face to the earth.

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.

21 And the angel appeared no more to Manoe and to his wife: then Manoe knew that this [was] an angel of the Lord.

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.

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

“We are going to die,” he said to his wife, “for we have seen God!”

23 But his wife said to him, If the Lord were pleased to kill us, he would not have received of our hand a whole burnt offering and a meat-offering; and he would not have shown us all these things, neither would he have caused us to hear all these things

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.”

24 And the woman brought forth a son, and she called his name Sampson; and the child grew, and the Lord blessed him.

So the woman gave birth to a son and named him Samson. The boy grew, and the LORD blessed him.

25 And the Spirit of the Lord began to go out with him in the camp of Dan, and between Saraa and Esthaol.

And the Spirit of the LORD began to stir him at Mahaneh-dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.