Judges 13

1 And eft the sones of Israel diden yuel in the `siyt of the Lord, which bitook hem in to the hondis of Filisteis fourti yeer.

And again, the sons of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord. And he delivered them into the hands of the Philistines for forty years.

2 Forsothe a man was of Saraa, and of the kynrede of Dan, `Manue bi name, and he hadde a bareyn wijf.

Now there was a certain man from Zorah, and of the stock of Dan, whose name was Manoah, having a barren wife.

3 To `which wijf an aungel of the Lord apperide, and seide to hir, Thou art bareyn, and with out fre children; but thou schalt conseyue, and schalt bere a sone.

And an Angel of the Lord appeared to her, and he said: “You are barren and without children. But you shall conceive and bear a son.

4 Therfor be thou war, lest thou drynke wyn, and sydur, nethir ete thou ony vnclene thing;

Therefore, take care that you do not drink wine or strong drink. Neither shall you eat anything unclean.

5 for thou schalt conceyue and schalt bere a sone, whos heed a rasour schal not towche; for he schal be a Nazarei of God fro his yong age, and fro the modris wombe; and he schal bigynne to delyuere Israel fro the hond of Filisteis.

For you shall conceive and bear a son, whose head no razor shall touch. For he shall be a Nazirite of God, from his infancy and from his mother’s womb. And he shall begin to free Israel from the hand of the Philistines.”

6 And whanne sche hadde come to hir hosebonde, sche seide to hym, The man of God cam to me, and hadde an aungel cheer, and he was ful ferdful, `that is, worschipful `and reuerent; and whanne Y hadde axide hym, who he was, and fro whannus he cam, and bi what name he was clepid, he nolde seie to me;

And when she had gone to her husband, she said to him: “A man of God came to me, having the countenance of an Angel, exceedingly terrible. And when I had inquired of him, who he was, and where he was from, and what name he was called, he was not willing to tell me.

7 but he answeride this, Lo! thou schalt conseyue, and schalt bere a sone; be thou war, that thou drynke not wyn ne sidur, nether ete ony vncleene thing; for the child schal be a Nazarey, `that is, hooli of the Lord, fro his yonge age and fro the modris wombe `til to the dai of his deeth.

But he responded: ‘Behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. Take care that you do not drink wine or strong drink. And you shall not consume anything unclean. For the boy shall be a Nazirite of God from his infancy, from his mother’s womb, even until the day of his death.’”

8 Therfor Manue preide the Lord, and seide, Lord, Y biseche, that the man of God, whom thou sentist, come eft, and teche vs, what we owen to do of the child, that schal be borun.

And so Manoah prayed to the Lord, and he said, “I beg you Lord, that the man of God, whom you sent, may come again, and may teach us what we ought to do about the boy who is to be born.”

9 And the Lord herde Manue preiynge; and the aungel of the Lord apperide eft to his wijf sittynge in the feeld; forsothe Manue, hir hosebonde, was not with hir. And whanne sche hadde seyn the aungel,

And the Lord heeded the prayer of Manoah, and the Angel of the Lord appeared again to his wife, sitting in a field. But her husband Manoah was not with her. And when she had seen the Angel,

10 sche hastide, and ran to hir hosebonde, and telde to hym, and seide, Lo! the man whom Y siy bifore, apperide to me.

she hurried and ran to her husband. And she reported to him, saying, “Behold, the man appeared to me, whom I had seen before.”

11 Which roos, and suede his wijf; and he cam to the man, and seide to hym, Art thou he, that hast spoke to the womman? And he answeride, Y am.

And he rose up and followed his wife. And going to the man, he said to him, “Are you the one who spoke to my wife?” And he responded, “I am.”

12 To whom Manue seide, Whanne thi word schal be fillid, what wolt thou, that the child do, ethir fro what thing schal he kepe hym silf?

And Manoah said to him: “When will your word be fulfilled. What do you want the boy to do? Or from what should he keep himself?”

13 And the `aungel of the Lord seide to Manue, Absteyne he hym silf fro alle thingis which Y spak to thi wijf.

And the Angel of the Lord said to Manoah: “Concerning all the things about which I have spoken to your wife, she herself should abstain.

14 And ete he not what euer thing cometh forth of the vyner, drynke he not wyn, and sidur, ete he not ony vncleene thing and fille he; and kepe that, that Y comaundide to hym.

And let her eat nothing from the vine. She may not drink wine or strong drink. She may consume nothing unclean. And let her observe and keep what I have instructed to her.”

15 Therfor Manue seide to the `aungel of the Lord, Y biseche, that thou assente to my preieris, and we aray to thee a `kide of the geet.

And Manoah said to the Angel of the Lord, “I beg you to agree to my petition, and to let us prepare a kid from the goats.”

16 To whom the aungel of the Lord answeride, Thouy thou constreynest me, Y schal not ete thi looues; forsothe if thou wolt make brent sacrifice, offre thou it to the Lord. And Manue wiste not, that it was `an aungel of the Lord.

And the Angel answered him: “Even if you compel me, I will not eat from your bread. But if you are willing to offer a holocaust, offer it to the Lord.” And Manoah did not know that he was an Angel of the Lord.

17 And Manue seide to hym, What name is to thee, that if thi word be fillid, we onoure thee?

And he said to him, “What is your name, so that, if your word is fulfilled, we may honor you?”

18 To whom he answeride, Whi axist thou my name, which is wondurful?

And he answered him, “Why do you ask my name, which is a wonder?”

19 Therfor Manue took a `kide of the geet, and fletynge sacrifices, and puttide on the stoon, and offryde to the Lord that doith wondirful thingis. Forsothe he and his wijf bihelden.

And so, Manoah took a kid from the goats, and libations, and he placed them upon a rock, as an offering to the Lord, who accomplishes wonders. Then he and his wife watched.

20 And whanne the flawme of the auter stiede in to heuene, the aungel of the Lord stiede togidere in the flawme. And whanne Manue and his wijf hadden seyn this, thei felden lowe to erthe.

And when the flame of the altar ascended to heaven, the Angel of the Lord ascended in the flame. And when Manoah and his wife had seen this, they fell prone on the ground.

21 And the aungel of the Lord apperide no more to hem. And anoon Manue vndurstood, that he was an aungel of the Lord.

And the Angel of the Lord no longer appeared to them. And immediately, Manoah understood him to be an Angel of the Lord.

22 And he seide to his wijf, We schulen die bi deeth, for we sien the Lord.

And he said to his wife, “We shall certainly die, since we have seen God.”

23 To whom the womman answeride, If the Lord wolde sle vs, he schulde not haue take of oure hondis brent sacrifices, and moiste sacrifices, but nether he schulde haue schewid alle thingis to vs, nether `he schulde haue seid tho thingis, that schulen come.

And his wife answered him, “If the Lord wished to kill us, he would not have accepted the holocaust and the libations from our hands. He would not have revealed all these things to us, nor would he have told us the things that are in the future.”

24 Therfor sche childide a sone, and clepide his name Sampson; and the child encreesside, and the Lord blesside hym.

And so she bore a son, and she called his name Samson. And the boy grew up, and the Lord blessed him.

25 And the spirit of the Lord bigan to be with hym in the castels of Dan, bitwixe Saraa and Escahol.

And the Spirit of the Lord began to be with him in the camp of Dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.