< Iudicum 13 >
1 Rursumque filii Israël fecerunt malum in conspectu Domini: qui tradidit eos in manus Philisthinorum quadraginta annis.
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 Erat autem quidam vir de Saraa, et de stirpe Dan, nomine Manue, habens uxorem sterilem.
Now there was a certain man of Saraa, and of the race of Dan, whose name was Manue, and his wife was barren.
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 said: Thou art barren and without children: but thou shalt conceive and bear a son.
4 Cave ergo ne bibas vinum ac siceram, nec immundum quidquam comedas:
Now therefore beware and drink no wine nor strong drink, and eat not any unclean thing.
5 quia concipies, et paries filium, cujus non tanget caput novacula: erit enim nazaræus Dei ab infantia sua et ex matris utero, et ipse incipiet liberare Israël de manu Philisthinorum.
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 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 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 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 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 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.
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 Exaudivitque Dominus deprecantem Manue, et apparuit rursum angelus Dei uxori ejus sedenti in agro: Manue autem maritus ejus non erat cum ea. Quæ cum vidisset angelum,
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 festinavit, et cucurrit ad virum suum: nuntiavitque ei, dicens: Ecce apparuit mihi vir, quem ante videram.
She made haste and ran to her husband: and told him saying: Behold the man hath appeared to me whom I saw 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.
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 Cui Manue: Quando, inquit, sermo tuus fuerit expletus, quid vis ut faciat puer? aut a quo se observare debebit?
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 Dixitque angelus Domini ad Manue: Ab omnibus, quæ locutus sum uxori tuæ, abstineat se,
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 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 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 Dixitque Manue ad angelum Domini: Obsecro te ut acquiescas precibus meis, et faciamus tibi hædum de capris.
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 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: 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 Dixitque ad eum: Quod est tibi nomen, ut, si sermo tuus fuerit expletus, honoremus te?
And he said to him: What is thy name, that, if thy word shall come to pass, we may honour thee?
18 Cui ille respondit: Cur quæris nomen meum, quod est mirabile?
And he answered him: Why askest thou my name, which is wonderful?
19 Tulit itaque Manue hædum de capris, et libamenta, et posuit super petram, offerens Domino, qui facit mirabilia: ipse autem et uxor ejus intuebantur.
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 Cumque ascenderet flamma altaris in cælum, angelus Domini pariter in flamma ascendit. Quod cum vidissent Manue et uxor ejus, proni ceciderunt in terram,
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 et ultra eis non apparuit angelus Domini. Statimque intellexit Manue angelum Domini esse,
And the angel of the Lord appeared to them no more. And forthwith Manue understood that it was 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, because 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 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 Peperit itaque filium, et vocavit nomen ejus Samson. Crevitque puer, et benedixit ei Dominus.
And she bore a son, and called his name Samson. And the child grew, 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 Saraa and Esthaol.