Judges 13

1 And the sons of Israel add to do the evil thing in the eyes of Jehovah, and Jehovah giveth them into the hand of the Philistines forty years.

Again the Israelites did evil in the sight of the LORD, so He delivered them into the hand of the Philistines for 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 hath not borne;

Now there was a man from Zorah named Manoah, from the clan of the Danites, whose wife was barren and had no children.

3 and a messenger of Jehovah appeareth unto the woman, and saith unto her, 'Lo, I pray thee, thou [art] barren, and hast not borne; when thou hast conceived, then thou hast borne a son.

The angel of the LORD appeared to the woman and said to her, “It is true that you are barren and have no children; but you will conceive and give birth to a son.

4 And, now, take heed, I pray thee, and do not drink wine, and strong drink, and do not eat any unclean thing,

Now please be careful not to drink wine or strong drink, and not to eat anything unclean.

5 for, lo, thou art conceiving and bearing a son, and a razor doth not go up on his head, for a Nazarite to God is the youth from the womb, and he doth begin to save Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.'

For behold, you will conceive and give birth to a son. And no razor shall come over his head, because the boy will be a Nazirite to God from the womb, and he will begin the deliverance of Israel from the hand of the Philistines.”

6 And the woman cometh and speaketh to her husband, saying, 'A man of God hath come unto me, and his appearance [is] as the appearance of a messenger of God, very fearful, and I have not asked him whence he [is], and his name he hath not declared to me;

So the woman went and told her husband, “A man of God came to me. His appearance was like the angel of God, exceedingly awesome. I did not ask him where he came from, and he did not tell me his name.

7 and he saith to me, Lo, thou art pregnant, and bearing a son, and now do not drink wine and strong drink, and do not eat any unclean thing, for a Nazarite to God is the youth from the womb till the day of his death.'

But he said to me, ‘Behold, you will conceive and give birth to a son. Now, therefore, do not drink wine or strong drink, and do not eat anything unclean, because the boy will be a Nazirite to God from the womb until the day of his death.’”

8 And Manoah maketh entreaty unto Jehovah, and saith, 'O, my Lord, the man of God whom Thou didst send, let him come in, I pray thee, again unto us, and direct us what we do to the youth who is born.'

Then Manoah prayed to the LORD, “Please, O Lord, let the man of God You sent us come to us again to teach us how to raise the boy who is to be born.”

9 And God hearkeneth to the voice of Manoah, and the messenger of God cometh again unto the woman, and she [is] sitting in a field, and Manoah her husband is not with her,

And God listened to the voice of Manoah, and the angel of God returned to the woman as she was sitting in the field; but her husband Manoah was not with her.

10 and the woman hasteth, and runneth, and declareth to her husband, and saith unto him, 'Lo, he hath appeared unto me — the man who came on [that] day unto me.'

The woman ran quickly to tell her husband, “Behold, the man who came to me the other day has reappeared!”

11 And Manoah riseth, and goeth after his wife, and cometh unto the man, and saith to him, 'Art thou the man who spake unto the woman?' and he saith, 'I [am].'

So Manoah got up and followed his wife. When he came to the man, he asked, “Are you the man who spoke to my wife?” “I am,” he said.

12 And Manoah saith, 'Now let thy words come to pass; what is the custom of the youth — and his work?'

Then Manoah asked, “When your words come to pass, what will be the boy’s rule of life and mission?”

13 And the messenger of Jehovah saith unto Manoah, 'Of all that I said unto the woman let her take heed;

So the angel of the LORD answered Manoah, “Your wife is to do everything I told her.

14 of anything which cometh out from the wine-vine she doth not eat, and wine and strong drink she doth not drink, and any unclean thing she doth not eat; all that I have commanded her she doth observe.'

She must not eat anything that comes from the vine, nor drink any wine or strong drink, nor eat anything unclean. She must do everything I have commanded her.”

15 And Manoah saith unto the messenger of Jehovah, 'Let us detain thee, we pray thee, and prepare before thee a kid of the goats.'

“Please stay here,” Manoah said to the angel of the LORD, “and we will prepare a young goat for you.”

16 And the messenger of Jehovah saith unto Manoah, 'If thou detain me — I do not eat of thy bread; and if thou prepare a burnt-offering — to Jehovah thou dost offer it;' for Manoah hath not known that He [is] a messenger of Jehovah.

And the angel of the LORD replied, “Even if I stay, I will not eat your food. But if you prepare a burnt offering, offer it to the LORD.” For Manoah did not know that it was the angel of the LORD.

17 And Manoah saith unto the messenger of Jehovah, 'What [is] thy name? when thy words come to pass, then we have honoured thee.'

Then Manoah said to the angel of the LORD, “What is your name, so that we may honor you when your word comes to pass?”

18 And the messenger of Jehovah saith to him, 'Why [is] this — thou dost ask for My name? — and it [is] Wonderful.'

“Why do you ask my name,” said the angel of the LORD, “since it is beyond comprehension?”

19 And Manoah taketh the kid of the goats, and the present, and offereth on the rock to Jehovah, and He is doing wonderfully, and Manoah and his wife are looking on,

Then Manoah took a young goat and a grain offering and offered them on a rock to the LORD. And as Manoah and his wife looked on, the LORD did a marvelous thing.

20 and it cometh to pass, in the going up of the flame from off the altar toward the heavens, that the messenger of Jehovah goeth up in the flame of the altar, and Manoah and his wife are looking on, and they fall on their faces to the earth,

When the flame went up from the altar to the sky, the angel of the LORD ascended in the flame. When Manoah and his wife saw this, they fell facedown to the ground.

21 and the messenger of Jehovah hath not added again to appear unto Manoah, and unto his wife, then hath Manoah known that He [is] a messenger of Jehovah.

And when the angel of the LORD did not appear again to Manoah and his wife, Manoah realized that it had been the angel of the LORD.

22 And Manoah saith unto his wife, 'We certainly die, for we have seen God.'

“We are going to die,” he said to his wife, “for we have seen God!”

23 And his wife saith to him, 'If Jehovah were desirous to put us to death, He had not received from our hands burnt-offering and present, nor shewed us all these things, nor as [at this] time caused us to hear [anything] like this.'

But his wife replied, “If the LORD had intended to kill us, He would not have accepted the burnt offering and the grain offering from our hands, nor would He have shown us all these things or spoken to us this way.”

24 And the woman beareth a son, and calleth his name Samson, and the youth groweth, and Jehovah doth bless him,

So the woman gave birth to a son and named him Samson. The boy grew, and the LORD blessed him.

25 and the Spirit of Jehovah beginneth to move him in the camp of Dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.

And the Spirit of the LORD began to stir him at Mahaneh-dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.