< 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 again did that which was evil in the sight 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 Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren, and bare not.
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 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.
4 And now, please take heed and do not drink wine and strong drink, and do not eat any unclean thing,
Now therefore beware, I pray thee, and drink no wine nor strong drink, and eat not any unclean thing:
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 shalt conceive, and bear a son; and no razor shall come upon his head: for the child shall be a Nazirite unto God from the womb: and he shall begin to save 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;
Then the woman came and told her husband, saying, A man of God came unto me, and his countenance was like the countenance of the angel of God, very terrible; and I asked him not whence he was, neither told he me his name:
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.”
but he said unto me, Behold, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and now drink no wine nor strong drink, and eat not any unclean thing: for the child shall be a Nazirite unto God from the womb to 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.”
Then Manoah entreated the LORD, and said, Oh Lord, I pray thee, let the man of God whom thou didst send come again unto us, and teach us what we shall do onto the child that shall 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 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.
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 told her husband, and said unto him, Behold, the man hath appeared unto me, 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 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.
12 And Manoah says, “Now let Your words come to pass; what is the custom of the youth—and his work?”
And Manoah said, Now let thy words come to pass: what shall be the manner of the child, and [what shall be] his work?
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 Manoah, Of all that I said unto the woman let her 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.”
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 Manoah says to the Messenger of YHWH, “Please let us detain You, and we prepare a kid of the goats before You.”
And Manoah said unto the angel of the LORD, I pray thee, let us detain thee, that we may make ready a kid 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 Manoah, Though thou detain me, I will not eat of thy bread: and if thou wilt make ready a burnt offering, thou must offer it onto the LORD. For Manoah knew not that he was the 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 Manoah said unto the angel of the LORD, What is thy name, that when thy words come to pass we may do thee honour?
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, Wherefore askest thou after my name, seeing it is wonderful?
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,
So Manoah took the kid with the meal offering, and offered it upon the rock unto the LORD: and [the angel] did wondrously, and Manoah 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,
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; 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.
But the angel of the LORD did no more appear to Manoah or to his wife. Then Manoah knew that he was the angel of the LORD.
22 And Manoah says to his wife, “We certainly die, for we have seen God.”
And Manoah said unto his wife, We shall surely die, because we have seen God.
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 a burnt offering and a meal offering at our hand, neither would he have shewed us all these things, nor would at this time have told us such things as these.
24 And the woman bears a son, and calls his name Samson, and the youth grows, and YHWH blesses him,
And the woman bare a son, and called his name Samson: and the child grew, 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 Mahaneh-dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.

< Judges 13 >