Judges 13

1 And the children of Israel did again the evil in the eyes of the Lord; and the Lord delivered them into the hand of the Philistines forty years.

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.

2 And there was a certain man of Zor'ah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoach; and his wife was barren, and did not bear.

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

3 And there appeared an angel of the Lord unto the woman, and he said unto her, Behold, thou art barren, and hast not born; but thou wilt conceive, and bear a son.

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.

4 And now do beware, and drink neither wine nor strong drink, and eat not any thing unclean.

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

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

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.

6 And the woman came and told her husband, saying, A man of God came unto me, and his appearance was like the appearance of an angel of God, very terrible; but I asked him not whence he might be, and his name he did not tell me.

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.

7 And he said unto me, Behold, thou wilt conceive, and bear a son; and now thou must drink neither wine nor strong drink, and not eat anything unclean; for the child shall be a Nazarite of God from the womb until the day of his death.

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.

8 And Manoach entreated the Lord, and said, Hear me, O Lord, let the man of God, whom thou didst send, come again unto us, and instruct us what we shall do unto the child that is to be born.

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.

9 And God hearkened to the voice of Manoach; and the angel of God came again unto the woman, as she was sitting in the field; and Manoach her husband was not with her.

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,

10 And the woman made haste, and ran, and informed her husband; and she said unto him, Behold, there hath appeared unto me the man, that came unto me the other day.

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

11 And Manoach arose, and went after his wife; and he came to the man, and said unto him, Art thou the man that spokest unto the woman? and he said, I am.

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.

12 And Manoach said, If now thy words come to pass, what shall be [our] proceeding with the child, and what shall be done unto him?

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?

13 And the angel of the Lord said unto Manoach, Of all that I have said unto the woman must she beware.

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

14 Of any thing that cometh of the grape-vine she may not eat, and wine or strong drink she may not drink, and any thing unclean she may not eat: all that I commanded her must she observe.

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.

15 And Manoach said unto the angel of the Lord, Let us, I pray thee, detain thee, and we will make a kid ready for thee.

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.

16 And the angel of the Lord said unto Manoach, Though thou detain me, I will not eat of thy bread; but if thou wilt offer a burnt-offering, thou must offer it unto the Lord; for Manoach knew not that he was an angel of the Lord.

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.

17 And Manoach said unto the angel of the Lord, What is thy name, that, when thy word cometh to pass, we may do thee honor?

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

18 And the angel of the Lord said unto him, Why is it that thou wilt ask after my name, seeing it is secret?

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

19 And Manoach took the kid and the meat-offering, and offered it upon the rock unto the Lord: and he did wondrously; and Manoach and his wife looked on.

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.

20 And it came to pass, when the flame went up from off the altar toward heaven, that the angel of the Lord ascended in the flame of the altar; and Manoach and his wife looked on, and they fell on their faces to the ground.

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.

21 And the angel of the Lord was no longer visible to Manoach and to his wife: then knew Manoach that he was an angel of the Lord.

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

22 And Manoach said unto his wife, We shall surely die, because a divine being have we seen.

And he said to his wife: We shall certainly 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 from our hand a burnt-offering and a meat-offering, nor would he have let us see all these things, and at this time he would not have let us hear [such a thing] as this.

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.

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

And she 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 move him in Machaneh-dan between Zor'ah and Eshtaol.

And the spirit of the Lord began to be with him in the camp of Dan, between Saraa and Esthaol.