Judges 13

1 And the sons of Israel add to do evil in the eyes of YHWH, and YHWH gives them into the hand of the Philistines [for] forty years.

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.

2 And there is a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danite, and his name [is] Manoah, his wife [is] barren, and has not borne;

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.

3 and the Messenger of YHWH appears to the woman and says to her, “Now behold, you [are] barren and have not borne; when you have conceived, then you have borne a son.

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.

4 And now, please take heed and do not drink wine and strong drink, and do not eat any unclean thing,

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

5 for behold, you are conceiving and bearing a son, and a razor does not go up on his head, for the youth is a Nazarite to God from the womb, and he begins to save Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.”

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.

6 And the woman comes and speaks to her husband, saying, “A Man of God has come to me, and His appearance [is] as the appearance of the Messenger of God, very fearful, and I have not asked Him where He [is] from, and he has not declared His Name to me;

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.

7 and He says to me, Behold, you are pregnant, and bearing a son, and now do not drink wine and strong drink, and do not eat any unclean thing, for the youth is a Nazarite to God from the womb until the day of his death.”

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.

8 And Manoah makes plea to YHWH and says, “O my Lord, the Man of God whom You sent, please let Him come in again to us, and direct us what we do to the youth who is born.”

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.

9 And God listens to the voice of Manoah, and the Messenger of God comes again to the woman, and she [is] sitting in a field, and her husband Manoah is not with her,

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.

10 and the woman hurries, and runs, and declares [it] to her husband, and says to him, “Behold, He has appeared to me—the Man who came on [that] day to me.”

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.

11 And Manoah rises, and goes after his wife, and comes to the Man, and says to Him, “Are you the Man who spoke to the woman?” And He says, “I [am].”

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.

12 And Manoah says, “Now let Your words come to pass; what is the custom of the youth—and his work?”

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?

13 And the Messenger of YHWH says to Manoah, “Of all that I said to the woman let her take heed;

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

14 she does not eat of anything which comes out from the wine-vine, and she does not drink wine and strong drink, and she does not eat any unclean thing; she observes all that I have commanded her.”

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.

15 And Manoah says to the Messenger of YHWH, “Please let us detain You, and we prepare a kid of the goats before You.”

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.

16 And the Messenger of YHWH says to Manoah, “If you detain Me—I do not eat of your bread; and if you prepare a burnt-offering—offer it to YHWH”; for Manoah has not known that He [is] the Messenger of YHWH.

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.

17 And Manoah says to the Messenger of YHWH, “What [is] Your Name? When Your words come to pass, then we have honored You.”

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?

18 And the Messenger of YHWH says to him, “Why do you ask this, My Name, since it [is] incomprehensible?”

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

19 And Manoah takes the kid of the goats, and the present, and offers on the rock to YHWH, and He is doing wonderfully, and Manoah and his wife are looking on,

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.

20 and it comes to pass, in the going up of the flame from off the altar toward the heavens, that the Messenger of YHWH goes up in the flame of the altar, and Manoah and his wife are looking on, and they fall on their faces to the earth,

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.

21 and the Messenger of YHWH has not added again to appear to Manoah, and to his wife, then Manoah has known that He [is] the Messenger of YHWH.

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.

22 And Manoah says to his wife, “We certainly die, for we have seen God.”

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

23 And his wife says to him, “If YHWH were desirous to put us to death, He had not received burnt-offering and present from our hands, nor showed us all these things, nor caused us to hear [anything] like this as [at this] time.”

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.

24 And the woman bears a son, and calls his name Samson, and the youth grows, and YHWH blesses him,

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

25 and the Spirit of YHWH begins to move him in the camp of Dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.

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