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.
Rursumque filii Israel fecerunt malum in conspectu Domini: qui tradidit eos in manus Philisthinorum quadraginta annis.
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.
Erat autem quidam vir de Saraa, et de stirpe Dan, nomine Manue, habens uxorem sterilem.
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.
Cui apparuit Angelus Domini, et dixit ad eam: Sterilis es et absque liberis: sed concipies et paries filium:
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.
Cave ergo ne bibas vinum ac siceram, nec immundum quidquam comedas:
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.”
quia concipies, et paries filium, cuius non tanget caput novacula: erit enim Nazaræus Dei ab infantia sua, et ex matris utero, et ipse incipiet liberare Israel de manu Philisthinorum.
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.
Quæ cum venisset ad maritum suum, dixit ei: Vir Dei venit ad me, habens vultum angelicum, terribilis nimis. Quem cum interrogassem, quis esset, et unde venisset, et quo nomine vocaretur, noluit mihi dicere:
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.’”
sed hoc respondit: Ecce concipies et paries filium: cave ne vinum bibas, nec siceram, et ne aliquo vescaris immundo: erit enim puer Nazaræus Dei ab infantia sua, ex utero matris suæ usque ad diem mortis suæ.
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.”
Oravit itaque Manue Dominum, et ait: Obsecro Domine, ut vir Dei, quem misisti, veniat iterum, et doceat nos quid debeamus facere de puero, qui nasciturus est.
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.
Exaudivitque Dominus deprecantem Manue, et apparuit rursum Angelus Dei uxori eius sedenti in agro. Manue autem maritus eius non erat cum ea. Quæ cum vidisset Angelum,
10 So she quickly ran and said to her husband, “The man who appeared to me a few days ago has come back again!”
festinavit, et cucurrit ad virum suum: nunciavitque ei, dicens: Ecce apparuit mihi vir, quem ante videram.
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.”
Qui surrexit, et secutus est uxorem suam: veniensque ad virum, dixit ei: Tu es qui locutus es mulieri? Et ille respondit: Ego sum.
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]?”
Cui Manue: Quando, inquit, sermo tuus fuerit expletus, quid vis ut faciat puer? Aut a quo se observare debebit?
13 Yahweh replied, “Your wife must obey all the instructions I gave her.
Dixitque Angelus Domini ad Manue: Ab omnibus, quæ locutus sum uxori tuæ, abstineat se:
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.”
et quidquid ex vinea nascitur, non comedat: vinum et siceram non bibat, nullo vescatur immundo: et quod ei præcepi, impleat atque custodiat.
15 Then Manoah said, “Please stay here until we can kill and cook a young goat for you.”
Dixitque Manue ad Angelum Domini: Obsecro te ut acquiescas precibus meis, et faciamus tibi hœdum de capris.
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.)
Cui respondit Angelus: Si me cogis, non comedam panes tuos: si autem vis holocaustum facere, offer illud Domino. Et nesciebat Manue quod Angelus Domini esset.
17 Then Manoah asked him, “What is your name? When what you have promised happens, we want to honor you.”
Dixitque ad eum: Quod est tibi nomen, ut, si sermo tuus fuerit expletus, honoremus te?
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).”
Cui ille respondit: Cur quæris nomen meum, quod est mirabile?
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.
Tulit itaque Manue hœdum de capris, et libamenta, et posuit super petram, offerens Domino, qui facit mirabilia: ipse autem et uxor eius intuebantur.
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.
Cumque ascenderet flamma altaris in cælum, Angelus Domini pariter in flamma ascendit. Quod cum vidissent Manue et uxor eius, proni ceciderunt in terram,
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.
et ultra eis non apparuit Angelus Domini. Statimque intellexit Manue, Angelum Domini esse,
22 So he said, “Now we will die, because we have seen God!”
et dixit ad uxorem suam: Morte moriemur, quia vidimus Deum.
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.”
Cui respondit mulier: Si Dominus nos vellet occidere, de manibus nostris holocaustum et libamenta non suscepisset, nec ostendisset nobis hæc omnia neque ea, quæ sunt ventura, dixisset.
24 When their son was born, they named him Samson. Yahweh blessed him as he grew up.
Peperit itaque filium, et vocavit nomen eius Samson. Crevitque puer, et benedixit ei Dominus.
25 And while he was in Mahaneh-Dan, which is between Zorah and Eshtaol [towns], Yahweh’s Spirit began to control him.
Cœpitque Spiritus Domini esse cum eo in castris Dan inter Saraa et Esthaol.
