Judges 13

1 And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the Lord: and he delivered them into the hands of the Philistines forty years.

And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the LORD; and the LORD delivered them into the hand of the Philistines forty years.

2 Now there was a certain man of Saraa, and of the race of Dan, whose name was Manue, and his wife was barren.

And there was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name [was] Manoah; and his wife [was] barren, and bore not.

3 And an angel of the Lord appeared to her, and said: Thou art barren and without children: but thou shalt conceive and bear a son.

And the angel of the LORD appeared to the woman, and said to her, Behold, now, thou [art] barren, and bearest not: but thou shalt conceive, and bear a son.

4 Now therefore beware and drink no wine nor strong drink, and eat not any unclean thing.

Now therefore beware, I pray thee, and drink not wine, nor strong drink, and eat not any unclean [thing]:

5 Because thou shalt conceive and bear a son, and no razor shall touch his head: for he shall be a Nazarite of God, from his infancy, and from his mother’s womb, and he shall begin to deliver Israel from the hands of the Philistines.

For lo, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and no razor shall come on his head: for the child shall be a Nazarite to God from his birth: and he shall begin to deliver Israel from the hand of the Philistines.

6 And when she was come to her husband she said to him: A man of God came to me, having the countenance of an angel, very awful. And when I asked him who he was, and whence he came, and by what name he was called, he would not tell me.

Then the woman came and told her husband, saying, A man of God came to me, and his countenance [was] like the countenance of an angel of God, very terrible: but I asked him not whence he [was], neither did he tell me his name:

7 But he answered thus: Behold thou shalt conceive and bear a son: beware thou drink no wine, nor strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing: for the child shall be a Nazarite of God from his infancy, from his mother’s womb until the day of his death.

But he said to me, Behold, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and now drink no wine nor strong drink, neither eat any unclean [thing]: for the child shall be a Nazarite to God from his birth to the day of his death.

8 Then Manue prayed to the Lord, and said: I beseech thee, O Lord, that the mail of God, whom thou didst send, may come again, and teach us what we ought to do concerning the child that shall be born.

Then Manoah entreated the LORD, and said, O my LORD, let the man of God, whom thou didst send come again to us, and teach us what we shall do to the child that shall be born.

9 And the Lord heard the prayer of Manue, and the angel of the Lord appeared again to his wife as she was sitting in the field. But Manue her husband was not with her. And when she saw the angel,

And God hearkened to the voice of Manoah; and the angel of God came again to the woman as she sat in the field: but Manoah her husband [was] not with her.

10 She made haste and ran to her husband: and told him saying: Behold the man hath appeared to me whom I saw before.

And the woman made haste, and ran, and showed her husband, and said to him, Behold, the man hath appeared to me, that came to me the [other] day.

11 He rose up and followed his wife: and coming to the man, said to him: Art thou he that spoke to the woman? And he answered: I am.

And Manoah arose, 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].

12 And Manue said to him: When thy word shall come to pass, what wilt thou that the child should do? or from what shall he keep himself?

And Manoah said, Now let thy words come to pass. How shall we order the child, and [how] shall we do to him?

13 And the angel of the Lord said to Manue: From all the things I have spoken of to thy wife, let her refrain herself:

And the angel of the LORD said to Manoah, Of all that I said to the woman, let her beware.

14 And let her eat nothing that cometh of the vine, neither let her drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing: and whatsoever I have commanded her, let her fulfill and observe.

She may not eat of any [thing] that cometh of the vine, neither let her drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean [thing]; all that I commanded her let her observe.

15 And Manue said to the angel of the Lord: I beseech thee to consent to my request, and let us dress a kid for thee.

And Manoah said to the angel of the LORD, I pray thee, let us detain thee, until we shall have made ready a kid for thee.

16 And the angel answered him: If thou press me, I will not eat of thy bread: but if thou wilt offer a holocaust, offer it to the Lord. And Manue knew not it was the angel of the Lord.

And the angel of the LORD said to Manoah, Though thou shouldst detain me, I will not eat of thy bread: and if thou wilt offer a burnt-offering, thou must offer it to the LORD. For Manoah knew not that he [was] an angel of the LORD.

17 And he said to him: What is thy name, that, if thy word shall come to pass, we may honour thee?

And Manoah said to the angel of the LORD, What [is] thy name, that when thy sayings come to pass, we may do thee honor?

18 And he answered him: Why askest thou my name, which is wonderful?

And the angel of the LORD said to him, why askest thou thus after my name, seeing it [is] secret?

19 Then Manue took a kid of the flocks, and the libations, and put them upon a rock, offering to the Lord, who doth wonderful things: and he and his wife looked on.

So Manoah took a kid, with a meat-offering, and offered [it] upon a rock to the LORD; and [the angel] did wonderously, and Manoah and his wife looked on.

20 And when the flame from the altar went up towards heaven, the angel of the lord ascended also in the flame. And when Manue and his wife saw this, they fell flat on the ground.

For it came to pass, when the flame ascended towards heaven from off the altar, that the angel of the LORD ascended in the flame of the altar. And Manoah and his wife looked on [it], and fell on their faces to the ground.

21 And the angel of the Lord appeared to them no more. And forthwith Manue understood that it was an angel of the Lord,

But the angel of the LORD did no more appear to Manoah and to his wife. Then Manoah knew that he [was] an angel of the LORD.

22 And he said to his wife: We shall certainly die, because we have seen God.

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

23 And his wife answered him: If the Lord had a mind to kill us, he would not have received a holocaust and libations at our hands, neither would he have shewed us all these things, nor have told us the things that are to come.

But his wife said to him, If the LORD were pleased to kill us, he would not have received a burnt-offering and a meat-offering at our hands, neither would he have showed us all these [things], nor would, as at this time, have told us [such things] as these.

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

And the woman bore a son, and called his name Samson. 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 Saraa and Esthaol.

And the Spirit of the LORD began to move him at times in the camp of Dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.