Judges 13

1 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.

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

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 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.

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

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

5 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.

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 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.

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, 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.

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 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.

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 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.

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 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.

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

11 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.

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

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

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

14 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.

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 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.

“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 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.

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

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

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

19 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.

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, 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.

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

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 Manoah 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 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.

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 bore a son, and called his name Samson. And the child grew, and Jehovah 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 Jehovah began to move him at Mahaneh-Dan, between Zoreah and Eshtaol.

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