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.

The people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of Yahweh, and he gave 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;

There was a man from Zorah, of the clan of the Danites, whose name was Manoah. His wife was not able to become pregnant and so she had not given birth.

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 Yahweh appeared to the woman and said to her, “See now, you have been unable to become pregnant, and you have not given birth, but you will become pregnant and you will 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 be careful not to drink wine or strong drink, and do not 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.'

Look, you will become pregnant and give birth to a son. No razor will be used upon his head, for the child will be a Nazirite to God from the womb, and he will begin to deliver 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;

Then the woman came and told her husband, “A man of God came to me, and his appearance was like that of an angel of God, very terrible. 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.'

He said to me, 'Look! You will become pregnant, and you will give birth to a son. So then drink no wine or strong drink, and do not eat any food that the law declares to be unclean, because the child will be a Nazirite to God from the time he is in your 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 Yahweh and said, “Oh, Lord, please let the man of God you sent come again to us so that he may teach us what we are to do for the child who soon will 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,

God listened to the voice of Manoah, and the angel of God came to the woman again when she was sitting in the field. But Manoah her husband 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.'

So the woman ran quickly and told her husband, “Look! The man has appeared to me—the one who came to me the other day!”

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].'

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

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

So Manoah said, “Now may your words come true. What will be the rules for the child, and what will be his work?”

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

The angel of Yahweh said to Manoah, “She must carefully do everything that I said to 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 may not eat anything that comes from the vines, and do not let her drink wine or strong drink or eat anything unclean. She must obey everything I have commanded her to do.”

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.'

Manoah said to the angel of Yahweh, “Please stay for a while, to give us time to 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.

The angel of Yahweh said to Manoah, “Even if I stay, I will not eat your food. But if you prepare a burnt offering, offer it to Yahweh.” (Manoah did not know that he was the angel of Yahweh.)

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

Manoah said to the angel of Yahweh, “What is your name, so we may honor you when your words come true?”

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

The angel of Yahweh said to him, “Why do you ask my name? It is wonderful!”

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,

So Manoah took the young goat with the grain offering and offered them on the rock to Yahweh. He did something marvelous while Manoah and his wife were watching.

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 toward the sky, the angel of Yahweh went up in the flame of the altar. Manoah and his wife saw this and lay facedown on 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.

The angel of Yahweh did not appear again to Manoah or his wife. Then Manoah knew that he was the angel of Yahweh.

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

Manoah said to his wife, “We are sure to die, because 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 said to him, “If Yahweh wanted to kill us, he would not have received the burnt offering and the grain offering we gave him. He would not have shown us all these things, nor at this time would he have let us hear such things.”

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

Later the woman gave birth to a son, and called his name Samson. The child grew up and Yahweh blessed him.

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

Yahweh's Spirit began to stir him in Mahaneh Dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.