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 the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the Lord: and he delivered them into the hands of the Philistines 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 of Saraa, and of the race of Dan, whose name was Manue, and his wife was barren.

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 said: Thou art barren and without children: but thou shalt conceive and bear a son.

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

Now therefore beware and drink no wine nor strong drink, and eat not any unclean thing.

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.

Because thou shalt conceive and bear a son, and no razor shall touch his head: for he shall be a Nazarite of God, from his infancy, and from his mother’s womb, and he shall begin to deliver Israel from the hands 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 was come to her husband she said to him: A man of God came to me, having the countenance of an angel, very awful. And when I asked him who he was, and whence he came, and by what name he was called, he would not 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 answered thus: Behold thou shalt conceive and bear a son: beware thou drink no wine, nor strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing: for the child shall be a Nazarite of God from his infancy, from his mother’s womb 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.

Then Manue prayed to the Lord, and said: I beseech thee, O Lord, that the mail of God, whom thou didst send, may come again, and teach us what we ought to do concerning the child that shall 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 heard the prayer of Manue, and the angel of the Lord appeared again to his wife as she was sitting in the field. But Manue her husband was not with her. And when she saw 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 made haste and ran to her husband: and told him saying: Behold the man hath appeared to me whom I saw 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.

He rose up and followed his wife: and coming to the man, said to him: Art thou he that spoke to the woman? And he answered: 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 Manue said to him: When thy word shall come to pass, what wilt thou that the child should do? or from what shall 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 Manue: From all the things I have spoken of to thy wife, let her refrain herself:

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 that cometh of the vine, neither let her drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing: and whatsoever I have commanded her, let her fulfill and observe.

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 Manue said to the angel of the Lord: I beseech thee to consent to my request, and let us dress a kid for thee.

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: If thou press me, I will not eat of thy bread: but if thou wilt offer a holocaust, offer it to the Lord. And Manue knew not it was the 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 thy name, that, if thy word shall come to pass, we may honour thee?

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

And he answered him: Why askest thou my name, which is wonderful?

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.

Then Manue took a kid of the flocks, and the libations, and put them upon a rock, offering to the Lord, who doth wonderful things: and he and his wife looked on.

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 from the altar went up towards heaven, the angel of the lord ascended also in the flame. And when Manue and his wife saw this, they fell flat 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 appeared to them no more. And forthwith Manue understood that it was 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, because 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 had a mind to kill us, he would not have received a holocaust and libations at our hands, neither would he have shewed us all these things, nor have told us the things that are to come.

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

And she bore a son, and called his name Samson. And the child grew, 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 Saraa and Esthaol.