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.

The children of Israel again did that which was evil in the LORD’s sight; 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;

There was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren, and childless.

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.

The LORD’s angel appeared to the woman, and said to her, “See now, you are barren and childless; but you shall 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 please beware and drink no wine nor strong drink, and don’t eat 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, behold, you shall conceive and give birth to a son. No razor shall come on his head, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb. 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 to me, and his face was like the face of the angel of God, very awesome. I didn’t ask him where he was from, neither did he tell 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 to me, ‘Behold, you shall conceive and bear a son; and now drink no wine nor strong drink. Don’t eat any unclean thing, for the child shall be a Nazirite to 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, please let the man of God whom you sent come again to us, and teach us what we should do to the child who 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,

God listened to the voice of Manoah, and the angel of God came again to the woman as she sat in the field; but Manoah, her husband, wasn’t 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.”

The woman hurried and ran, and told her husband, saying to him, “Behold, the man who came to me that day has appeared to me.”

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].”

Manoah arose and followed his wife, and came to the man, and said to him, “Are you the man who spoke to my wife?” 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?”

Manoah said, “Now let your words happen. What shall the child’s way of life and mission be?”

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

The LORD’s angel said to Manoah, “Of all that I said to 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 anything that comes of the vine, neither let her drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing. Let her observe all that I commanded her.”

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

Manoah said to the LORD’s angel, “Please stay with us, that we may make a young goat ready for you.”

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.

The LORD’s angel said to Manoah, “Though you detain me, I won’t eat your bread. If you will prepare a burnt offering, you must offer it to the LORD.” For Manoah didn’t know that he was the LORD’s angel.

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

Manoah said to the LORD’s angel, “What is your name, that when your words happen, we may honor you?”

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

The LORD’s angel said to him, “Why do you ask about my name, since it is incomprehensible?”

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 young goat with the meal offering, and offered it on the rock to the LORD. Then the angel did an amazing thing as Manoah and his wife watched.

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 when the flame went up toward the sky from off the altar, the LORD’s angel ascended in the flame of the altar. Manoah and his wife watched; 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 LORD’s angel didn’t appear to Manoah or to his wife any more. Then Manoah knew that he was the LORD’s angel.

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

Manoah said to 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 to him, “If the LORD were pleased to kill us, he wouldn’t have received a burnt offering and a meal offering at our hand, and he wouldn’t have shown us all these things, nor would he have told us such things as these at this time.”

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

The woman bore a son and named him Samson. 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.

The LORD’s Spirit began to move him in Mahaneh Dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.