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.

Again the Israeli people did things that Yahweh said were very evil. So Yahweh enabled the people of Philistia to conquer them. They ruled over the Israelis for 40 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.

There was a man named Manoah from the descendants of Dan who lived in Zorah [town]. His wife was unable to become pregnant, so they had no children.

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.

One day, Yahweh appeared to Manoah’s wife in the form of an angel, and said to her, “Even though you have not been able to give birth to any children until now, you will soon become pregnant and give birth to a son.

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

[From now until he is born], you must not drink any wine or other alcoholic/fermented drink, and you must not eat any food that will make you unacceptable to God.

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.

After you give birth to your son, you must never allow his hair to be cut. He must be dedicated to God from the day he is born until the day he dies. He is the one who will rescue [many of] the Israeli people from the people of Philistia.”

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.

The woman ran and told her husband, “A prophet came to me. He looked awesome, like an angel from God. I did not ask where he came from, and he did not tell me his name.

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 told me, ‘You will become pregnant and give birth to a son. Until then, you must not drink any wine or any alcoholic/fermented drink, and you must not eat any food that would make you unacceptable to God. Your son must be dedicated to God from the day he is born until the day he dies.’”

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 Manoah prayed to Yahweh, saying, “O Yahweh, I plead with you, allow that prophet whom you sent to us to come again, and teach us how we should raise the boy who will be born to us.”

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.

God did what Manoah asked, and Yahweh again appeared to his wife in the form of an angel, while she was out in the field. But again her husband Manoah was not with her.

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.

So she quickly ran and said to her husband, “The man who appeared to me a few days ago has come back again!”

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.

Manoah ran back with his wife, and asked, “Are you the man who talked with my wife a few days ago?” He replied, “Yes, 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?

Manoah asked him, “When what you promised occurs [and my wife gives birth to a son], what rules must he obey, and what work will he do [when he grows up]?”

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

Yahweh replied, “Your wife must obey all the instructions I gave her.

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.

[Before the baby is born], she must not eat grapes, or drink wine or any other alcoholic/fermented drink, or eat anything that would make her unacceptable to God.”

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.

Then Manoah said, “Please stay here until we can kill and cook a young goat for you.”

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.

Yahweh replied, “I will stay here, but I will not eat anything. However, you may kill an animal and sacrifice it as a burned offering to Yahweh.” (Manoah did not realize that the [man he thought was an] angel was really Yahweh.)

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?

Then Manoah asked him, “What is your name? When what you have promised happens, we want to honor you.”

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

Yahweh replied, “(Why do you ask me my name?/You should not ask me my name.) [RHQ] It is (wonderful/it cannot be understood).”

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 Manoah killed a young goat and burned it on a rock, along with a grain offering, as a sacrifice to Yahweh. And Yahweh did an amazing thing while Manoah and his wife watched.

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.

Flames from the altar blazed up toward the sky, and Yahweh ascended in the flames. When Manoah and his wife saw that, they prostrated themselves 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.

Although Yahweh did not appear in the form of an angel to Manoah and his wife again, Manoah realized that the [man they thought was an] angel was really Yahweh.

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

So he said, “Now we will 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.

But his wife said, “No, we will not die, because if Yahweh intended to kill us, he would not have accepted the burned offering and the grain offering. And he would not have appeared to us and told us the wonderful thing that would happen to us, and he would not have performed this miracle.”

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

When their son was born, they named him Samson. Yahweh blessed him as he grew up.

25 And the Spirit of the Lord began to move him in Machaneh-dan between Zor'ah and Eshtaol.

And while he was in Mahaneh-Dan, which is between Zorah and Eshtaol [towns], Yahweh’s Spirit began to control him.