Judges 13

1 And again, the sons of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord. And he delivered them into the hands of the Philistines for forty years.

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.

2 Now there was a certain man from Zorah, and of the stock of Dan, whose name was Manoah, having a barren wife.

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.

3 And an Angel of the Lord appeared to her, and he said: “You are barren and without children. But you shall conceive and bear a son.

And an angel of the Lord appeared to the woman, and said to her, Behold, thou art barren and hast not born; yet thou shalt conceive a son.

4 Therefore, take care that you do not drink wine or strong drink. Neither shall you eat anything unclean.

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

5 For you shall conceive and bear a son, whose head no razor shall touch. For he shall be a Nazirite of God, from his infancy and from his mother’s womb. And he shall begin to free Israel from the hand of the Philistines.”

for behold, thou art with child, and shalt 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.

6 And when she had gone to her husband, she said to him: “A man of God came to me, having the countenance of an Angel, exceedingly terrible. And when I had inquired of him, who he was, and where he was from, and what name he was called, he was not willing to tell me.

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.

7 But he responded: ‘Behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. Take care that you do not drink wine or strong drink. And you shall not consume anything unclean. For the boy shall be a Nazirite of God from his infancy, from his mother’s womb, even until the day of his death.’”

And he said to me, Behold, thou art with child, and shalt 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.

8 And so Manoah prayed to the Lord, and he said, “I beg you Lord, that the man of God, whom you sent, may come again, and may teach us what we ought to do about the boy who is to be born.”

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

9 And the Lord heeded the prayer of Manoah, and the Angel of the Lord appeared again to his wife, sitting in a field. But her husband Manoah was not with her. And when she had seen the Angel,

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.

10 she hurried and ran to her husband. And she reported to him, saying, “Behold, the man appeared to me, whom I had seen before.”

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.

11 And he rose up and followed his wife. And going to the man, he said to him, “Are you the one who spoke to my wife?” And he responded, “I am.”

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

12 And Manoah said to him: “When will your word be fulfilled. What do you want the boy to do? Or from what should he keep himself?”

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

13 And the Angel of the Lord said to Manoah: “Concerning all the things about which I have spoken to your wife, she herself should abstain.

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

14 And let her eat nothing from the vine. She may not drink wine or strong drink. She may consume nothing unclean. And let her observe and keep what I have instructed to her.”

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.

15 And Manoah said to the Angel of the Lord, “I beg you to agree to my petition, and to let us prepare a kid from the goats.”

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

16 And the Angel answered him: “Even if you compel me, I will not eat from your bread. But if you are willing to offer a holocaust, offer it to the Lord.” And Manoah did not know that he was an Angel of the Lord.

And the angel of the Lord said to Manoe, If thou shouldest detain me, I will not eat of thy bread; and if thou wouldest offer a whole-burnt-offering, to the Lord thou shalt offer it: for Manoe knew not that he [was] an angel of the Lord.

17 And he said to him, “What is your name, so that, if your word is fulfilled, we may honor you?”

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

18 And he answered him, “Why do you ask my name, which is a wonder?”

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

19 And so, Manoah took a kid from the goats, and libations, and he placed them upon a rock, as an offering to the Lord, who accomplishes wonders. Then he and his wife watched.

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.

20 And when the flame of the altar ascended to heaven, the Angel of the Lord ascended in the flame. And when Manoah and his wife had seen this, they fell prone on the ground.

And it came to pass when the flame went up above the altar toward 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.

21 And the Angel of the Lord no longer appeared to them. And immediately, Manoah understood him to be an Angel of the Lord.

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

22 And he said to his wife, “We shall certainly die, since we have seen God.”

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

23 And his wife answered him, “If the Lord wished to kill us, he would not have accepted the holocaust and the libations from our hands. He would not have revealed all these things to us, nor would he have told us the things that are in the future.”

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

24 And so she bore a son, and she called his name Samson. And the boy grew up, and the Lord blessed him.

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

25 And the Spirit of the Lord began to be with him in the camp of Dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.

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