< Judges 13 >

1 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.
And the children of Israel yet again committed iniquity before the Lord; and the Lord delivered them into the hand of the Phylistines forty years.
2 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.
And there was a man of Saraa, of the family of the kindred of Dan, and his name was Manoe, and his wife was barren, and bore not.
3 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.
And an angel of the Lord appeared to the woman, and said to her, Behold, you are barren and have not born; yet you shall conceive a son.
4 [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.
And now be very cautious, and drink no wine nor strong drink, and eat no unclean thing;
5 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.”
for behold, you are with child, and shall bring forth a son; and there shall come no razor upon his head, for the child shall be a Nazarite to God from the womb; and he shall begin to save Israel from the hand of the Phylistines.
6 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.
And the woman went in, and spoke to her husband, saying, A man of God came to me, and his appearance [was as] of an angel of God, very dreadful; and I did not ask him whence he was, and he did not tell me his name.
7 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.’”
And he said to me, Behold, you are with child, and shall bring forth a son; and now drink no wine nor strong drink, and eat no unclean thing; for the child shall be holy to God from the womb until the day of his death.
8 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.”
And Manoe prayed to the Lord and said, I pray you, O Lord my lord, [concerning] the man of God whom you sent; let him now come to us once more, and teach us what we shall do to the child about to be born.
9 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.
And the Lord heard the voice of Manoe, and the angel of God came yet again to the woman; and she sat in the field, and Manoe her husband was not with her.
10 So she quickly ran and said to her husband, “The man who appeared to me a few days ago has come back again!”
And the woman hasted, and ran, and brought word to her husband, and said to him, Behold the man who came in [the other] day to me has appeared to me.
11 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.”
And Manoe arose and followed his wife, and came to the man, and said to him, Are you the man that spoke to the woman? and the angel said, I [am].
12 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]?”
And Manoe said, Now shall [your] word come to pass: what shall be the ordering of the child, and our dealings with him?
13 Yahweh replied, “Your wife must obey all the instructions I gave her.
And the angel of the Lord said to Manoe, Of all things concerning which I spoke to the woman, she shall beware.
14 [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.”
She shall eat of nothing that comes of the vine yielding wine, and let her not drink wine or strong liquor, and let her not eat anything unclean: all things that I have charged her she shall observe.
15 Then Manoah said, “Please stay here until we can kill and cook a young goat for you.”
And Manoe said to the angel of the Lord, Let us detain you here, and prepare before you a kid of the goats.
16 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.)
And the angel of the Lord said to Manoe, If you should detain me, I will not eat of your bread; and if you would offer a whole burnt offering, to the Lord you shall offer it: for Manoe knew not that he [was] an angel of the Lord.
17 Then Manoah asked him, “What is your name? When what you have promised happens, we want to honor you.”
And Manoe said to the angel of the Lord, What [is] your name, that [when] your word shall come to pass, we may glorify you?
18 Yahweh replied, “(Why do you ask me my name?/You should not ask me my name.) [RHQ] It is (wonderful/it cannot be understood).”
And the angel of the Lord said to him, Why do you thus ask after my name; whereas it is wonderful?
19 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.
And Manoe took a kid of the goats and its meat-offering, and offered it on the rock to the Lord; and [the angel] wrought a distinct work, and Manoe and his wife were looking on.
20 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.
And it came to pass when the flame went up above the altar toward heaven, that the angel of the Lord went up in the flame; and Manoe and his wife were looking, and they fell upon their face to the earth.
21 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.
And the angel appeared no more to Manoe and to his wife: then Manoe knew that this [was] an angel of the Lord.
22 So he said, “Now we will die, because we have seen God!”
And Manoe said to his wife, We shall surely die, because we have seen God.
23 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.”
But his wife said to him, If the Lord were pleased to kill us, he would not have received of our hand a whole burnt offering and a meat-offering; and he would not have shown us all these things, neither would he have caused us to hear all these things
24 When their son was born, they named him Samson. Yahweh blessed him as he grew up.
And the woman brought forth a son, and she called his name Sampson; and the child grew, and the Lord blessed him.
25 And while he was in Mahaneh-Dan, which is between Zorah and Eshtaol [towns], Yahweh’s Spirit began to control him.
And the Spirit of the Lord began to go out with him in the camp of Dan, and between Saraa and Esthaol.

< Judges 13 >