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.

The people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of Yahweh, and he gave 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.

There was a man from Zorah, of the clan of the Danites, whose name was Manoah. His wife was not able to become pregnant and so she had not given birth.

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 Yahweh appeared to the woman and said to her, “See now, you have been unable to become pregnant, and you have not given birth, but you will become pregnant and you will give birth to a son.

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

Now be careful not to drink wine or strong drink, and do not 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.

Look, you will become pregnant and give birth to a son. No razor will be used upon his head, for the child will be a Nazirite to God from the womb, and he will begin to deliver 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.

Then the woman came and told her husband, “A man of God came to me, and his appearance was like that of an angel of God, very terrible. 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.

He said to me, 'Look! You will become pregnant, and you will give birth to a son. So then drink no wine or strong drink, and do not eat any food that the law declares to be unclean, because the child will be a Nazirite to God from the time he is in your 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 Yahweh and said, “Oh, Lord, please let the man of God you sent come again to us so that he may teach us what we are to do for the child who soon will 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.

God listened to the voice of Manoah, and the angel of God came to the woman again when she was sitting in the field. But Manoah her husband 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.

So the woman ran quickly and told her husband, “Look! The man has appeared to me—the one who came to me the other day!”

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.

Manoah got up and followed his wife. When he came to the man, he said, “Are you the man who spoke with my wife?” The man said, “I am.”

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

So Manoah said, “Now may your words come true. What will be the rules for the child, and what will be his work?”

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

The angel of Yahweh said to Manoah, “She must carefully do everything that I said to 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 may not eat anything that comes from the vines, and do not let her drink wine or strong drink or eat anything unclean. She must obey everything I have commanded her to do.”

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.

Manoah said to the angel of Yahweh, “Please stay for a while, to give us time to 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.

The angel of Yahweh said to Manoah, “Even if I stay, I will not eat your food. But if you prepare a burnt offering, offer it to Yahweh.” (Manoah did not know that he was the angel of Yahweh.)

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?

Manoah said to the angel of Yahweh, “What is your name, so we may honor you when your words come true?”

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

The angel of Yahweh said to him, “Why do you ask my name? It is wonderful!”

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.

So Manoah took the young goat with the grain offering and offered them on the rock to Yahweh. He did something marvelous while Manoah and his wife were watching.

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 toward the sky, the angel of Yahweh went up in the flame of the altar. Manoah and his wife saw this and lay facedown on 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.

The angel of Yahweh did not appear again to Manoah or his wife. Then Manoah knew that he was the angel of Yahweh.

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

Manoah said to his wife, “We are sure to die, because 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 said to him, “If Yahweh wanted to kill us, he would not have received the burnt offering and the grain offering we gave him. He would not have shown us all these things, nor at this time would he have let us hear such things.”

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

Later the woman gave birth to a son, and called his name Samson. The child grew up and Yahweh blessed him.

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

Yahweh's Spirit began to stir him in Mahaneh Dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.