Judges 13

1 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.

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 Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren, and bare not.

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 the Lord appeared unto the woman, and said unto 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 Now therefore beware, I pray thee, and drink not wine nor strong drink, and eat not any unclean thing:

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 rasor shall come on his head: for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb: and he shall begin to deliver 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 Then the woman came and told her husband, saying, A man of God came unto me, and his countenance was like the countenance of an angel of God, very terrible: but I asked him not whence he was, neither told he 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 But he said unto 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 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 intreated the Lord, and said, O my Lord, let the man of God which thou didst send come again unto us, 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 unto the woman as 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 And the woman made haste, and ran, and shewed her husband, and said unto him, Behold, the man hath appeared unto me, that came unto me the other 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 arose, and went after his wife, and came to the man, and said unto him, Art thou the man that spakest unto 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, Now let thy words come to pass. How shall we order the child, and how shall we do unto him?

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 the Lord said unto 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 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.

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 unto the angel of the Lord, I pray thee, let us detain thee, until we shall have made ready a kid 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 the Lord said unto Manoah, Though thou detain me, I will not eat of thy bread: and if thou wilt offer a burnt offering, thou must offer it unto the Lord. For Manoah knew not that he was an angel of the Lord.

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 unto the angel of the Lord, What is thy name, that when thy sayings come 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 the Lord said unto him, Why askest thou thus after my name, seeing it is secret?

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

19 So Manoah took a kid with a meat offering, and offered it upon a rock unto the Lord: and the angel 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 For it came to pass, when the flame went up toward 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.

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 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.

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 unto 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 unto 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 shewed us all these things, nor would as 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 bare a son, and called his name Samson: and the child grew, and the Lord 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 the Lord began to move him at times in the camp of Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol.

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