Iudicum 13

1 Rursumque filii Israel fecerunt malum in conspectu Domini: qui tradidit eos in manus Philisthinorum quadraginta annis.

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 Erat autem quidam vir de Saraa, et de stirpe Dan, nomine Manue, habens uxorem sterilem.

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

3 Cui apparuit Angelus Domini, et dixit ad eam: Sterilis es et absque liberis: sed concipies et paries filium:

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 Cave ergo ne bibas vinum ac siceram, nec immundum quidquam comedas:

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

5 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.

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 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:

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 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.

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 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.

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 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,

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 festinavit, et cucurrit ad virum suum: nunciavitque ei, dicens: Ecce apparuit mihi vir, quem ante videram.

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 Qui surrexit, et secutus est uxorem suam: veniensque ad virum, dixit ei: Tu es qui locutus es mulieri? Et ille respondit: Ego sum.

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 Cui Manue: Quando, inquit, sermo tuus fuerit expletus, quid vis ut faciat puer? Aut a quo se observare debebit?

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 Dixitque Angelus Domini ad Manue: Ab omnibus, quæ locutus sum uxori tuæ, abstineat se:

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 et quidquid ex vinea nascitur, non comedat: vinum et siceram non bibat, nullo vescatur immundo: et quod ei præcepi, impleat atque custodiat.

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 Dixitque Manue ad Angelum Domini: Obsecro te ut acquiescas precibus meis, et faciamus tibi hœdum de capris.

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 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.

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 Dixitque ad eum: Quod est tibi nomen, ut, si sermo tuus fuerit expletus, honoremus te?

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

18 Cui ille respondit: Cur quæris nomen meum, quod est mirabile?

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

19 Tulit itaque Manue hœdum de capris, et libamenta, et posuit super petram, offerens Domino, qui facit mirabilia: ipse autem et uxor eius intuebantur.

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 Cumque ascenderet flamma altaris in cælum, Angelus Domini pariter in flamma ascendit. Quod cum vidissent Manue et uxor eius, proni ceciderunt in terram,

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 et ultra eis non apparuit Angelus Domini. Statimque intellexit Manue, Angelum Domini esse,

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

22 et dixit ad uxorem suam: Morte moriemur, quia vidimus Deum.

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

23 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.

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 Peperit itaque filium, et vocavit nomen eius Samson. Crevitque puer, et benedixit ei Dominus.

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

25 Cœpitque Spiritus Domini esse cum eo in castris Dan inter Saraa et Esthaol.

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