Judges 13

1 And the children of Israel again did evil in the eyes of the Lord; and the Lord gave them into the hands of the Philistines for forty years.

And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the LORD; and the LORD delivered them into the hand of the Philistines forty years.

2 Now there was a certain man of Zorah of the family of the Danites, and his name was Manoah; and his wife had never given birth to a child.

And there was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name [was] Manoah; and his wife [was] barren, and bore not.

3 And the angel of the Lord came to the woman, and said to her, See now! though you have never given birth to children, you will be with child and give birth to a son.

And the angel of the LORD appeared to the woman, and said to her, Behold, now, thou [art] barren, and bearest not: but thou shalt conceive, and bear a son.

4 Now then take care to have no wine or strong drink and to take no unclean thing for food;

Now therefore beware, I pray thee, and drink not wine, nor strong drink, and eat not any unclean [thing]:

5 For you are with child and will give birth to a son; his hair is never to be cut, for the child is to be separate to God from his birth; and he will take up the work of freeing Israel from the hands of the Philistines.

For lo, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and no razor shall come on his head: for the child shall be a Nazarite to God from his birth: and he shall begin to deliver Israel from the hand of the Philistines.

6 Then the woman came in, and said to her husband, A man came to me, and his form was like the form of a god, causing great fear; I put no question to him about where he came from, and he did not give me his name;

Then the woman came and told her husband, saying, A man of God came to me, and his countenance [was] like the countenance of an angel of God, very terrible: but I asked him not whence he [was], neither did he tell me his name:

7 But he said to me, You are with child and will give birth to a son; and now do not take any wine or strong drink or let anything unclean be your food; for the child will be separate to God from his birth to the day of his death.

But he said to me, Behold, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and now drink no wine nor strong drink, neither eat any unclean [thing]: for the child shall be a Nazarite to God from his birth to the day of his death.

8 Then Manoah made prayer to the Lord, and said, O Lord, let the man of God whom you sent come to us again and make clear to us what we are to do for the child who is to come.

Then Manoah entreated the LORD, and said, O my LORD, let the man of God, whom thou didst send come again to us, and teach us what we shall do to the child that shall be born.

9 And God gave ear to the voice of Manoah; and the angel of God came to the woman again when she was seated in the field; but her husband Manoah was not with her.

And God hearkened to the voice of Manoah; and the angel of God came again to the woman as she sat in the field: but Manoah her husband [was] not with her.

10 So the woman, running quickly, gave her husband the news, saying, I have seen the man who came to me the other day.

And the woman made haste, and ran, and showed her husband, and said to him, Behold, the man hath appeared to me, that came to me the [other] day.

11 And Manoah got up and went after his wife, and came up to the man and said to him, Are you the man who was talking to this woman? And he said, I am.

And Manoah arose, and went after his wife, and came to the man, and said to him, [Art] thou the man that didst speak to the woman? And he said, I [am].

12 And Manoah said, Now when your words come true, what is to be the rule for the child and what will be his work?

And Manoah said, Now let thy words come to pass. How shall we order the child, and [how] shall we do to him?

13 And the angel of the Lord said to Manoah, Let the woman take note of what I have said to her.

And the angel of the LORD said to Manoah, Of all that I said to the woman, let her beware.

14 She is to have nothing which comes from the vine for her food, and let her take no wine or strong drink or anything which is unclean; let her take care to do all I have given her orders to do.

She may not eat of any [thing] that cometh of the vine, neither let her drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean [thing]; all that I commanded her let her observe.

15 And Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, Now let us keep you while we make ready a young goat for you.

And Manoah said to the angel of the LORD, I pray thee, let us detain thee, until we shall have made ready a kid for thee.

16 And the angel of the Lord said to Manoah, Though you keep me I will not take of your food; but if you will make a burned offering, let it be offered to the Lord. For it had not come into Manoah's mind that he was the angel of the Lord.

And the angel of the LORD said to Manoah, Though thou shouldst detain me, I will not eat of thy bread: and if thou wilt offer a burnt-offering, thou must offer it to the LORD. For Manoah knew not that he [was] an angel of the LORD.

17 Then Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, What is your name, so that when your words come true we may give you honour?

And Manoah said to the angel of the LORD, What [is] thy name, that when thy sayings come to pass, we may do thee honor?

18 But the angel of the Lord said to him, Why are you questioning me about my name, seeing that it is a wonder?

And the angel of the LORD said to him, why askest thou thus after my name, seeing it [is] secret?

19 So Manoah took the young goat with its meal offering, offering it on the rock to the Lord, who did strange things.

So Manoah took a kid, with a meat-offering, and offered [it] upon a rock to the LORD; and [the angel] did wonderously, and Manoah and his wife looked on.

20 And when the flame went up to heaven from the altar, the angel of the Lord went up in the flame of the altar, while Manoah and his wife were looking on; and they went down on their faces to the earth.

For it came to pass, when the flame ascended towards heaven from off the altar, that the angel of the LORD ascended in the flame of the altar. And Manoah and his wife looked on [it], and fell on their faces to the ground.

21 But the angel of the Lord was seen no more by Manoah and his wife. Then it was clear to Manoah that he was the angel of the Lord.

But the angel of the LORD did no more appear to Manoah and to his wife. Then Manoah knew that he [was] an angel of the LORD.

22 And Manoah said to his wife, Death will certainly be our fate, for it is a god whom we have seen.

And Manoah said to his wife, We shall surely die, because we have seen God.

23 But his wife said to him, If the Lord was purposing our death, he would not have taken our burned offering and our meal offering, or have given us such orders about the child.

But his wife said to him, If the LORD were pleased to kill us, he would not have received a burnt-offering and a meat-offering at our hands, neither would he have showed us all these [things], nor would, as at this time, have told us [such things] as these.

24 So the woman gave birth to a son, and gave him the name Samson; and he became a man and the blessing of the Lord was on him.

And the woman bore a son, and called his name Samson. And the child grew, and the LORD blessed him.

25 And the spirit of the Lord first came on him in Mahaneh-dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.

And the Spirit of the LORD began to move him at times in the camp of Dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.