Judges 13

1 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.

And the children of Israel yet again committed iniquity before the Lord; and the Lord delivered them into the hand of the Phylistines forty years.

2 Now there was a certain man of Saraa, and of the race of Dan, whose name was Manue, and his wife was barren.

And there was a man of Saraa, of the family of the kindred of Dan, and his name was Manoe, and his wife was barren, and bore not.

3 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.

And an angel of the Lord appeared to the woman, and said to her, Behold, you are barren and have not born; yet you shall conceive a son.

4 Now therefore beware and drink no wine nor strong drink, and eat not any unclean thing.

And now be very cautious, and drink no wine nor strong drink, and eat no unclean thing;

5 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.

for behold, you are with child, and shall bring forth a son; and there shall come no razor upon his head, for the child shall be a Nazarite to God from the womb; and he shall begin to save Israel from the hand of the Phylistines.

6 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.

And the woman went in, and spoke to her husband, saying, A man of God came to me, and his appearance [was as] of an angel of God, very dreadful; and I did not ask him whence he was, and he did not tell me his name.

7 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.

And he said to me, Behold, you are with child, and shall bring forth a son; and now drink no wine nor strong drink, and eat no unclean thing; for the child shall be holy to God from the womb until the day of his death.

8 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.

And Manoe prayed to the Lord and said, I pray you, O Lord my lord, [concerning] the man of God whom you sent; let him now come to us once more, and teach us what we shall do to the child about to be born.

9 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,

And the Lord heard the voice of Manoe, and the angel of God came yet again to the woman; and she sat in the field, and Manoe her husband was not with her.

10 She made haste and ran to her husband: and told him saying: Behold the man hath appeared to me whom I saw before.

And the woman hasted, and ran, and brought word to her husband, and said to him, Behold the man who came in [the other] day to me has appeared to me.

11 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.

And Manoe arose and followed his wife, and came to the man, and said to him, Are you the man that spoke to the woman? and the angel said, I [am].

12 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?

And Manoe said, Now shall [your] word come to pass: what shall be the ordering of the child, and our dealings with him?

13 And the angel of the Lord said to Manue: From all the things I have spoken of to thy wife, let her refrain herself:

And the angel of the Lord said to Manoe, Of all things concerning which I spoke to the woman, she shall beware.

14 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.

She shall eat of nothing that comes of the vine yielding wine, and let her not drink wine or strong liquor, and let her not eat anything unclean: all things that I have charged her she shall observe.

15 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.

And Manoe said to the angel of the Lord, Let us detain you here, and prepare before you a kid of the goats.

16 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.

And the angel of the Lord said to Manoe, If you should detain me, I will not eat of your bread; and if you would offer a whole burnt offering, to the Lord you shall offer it: for Manoe knew not that he [was] an angel of the Lord.

17 And he said to him: What is thy name, that, if thy word shall come to pass, we may honour thee?

And Manoe said to the angel of the Lord, What [is] your name, that [when] your word shall come to pass, we may glorify you?

18 And he answered him: Why askest thou my name, which is wonderful?

And the angel of the Lord said to him, Why do you thus ask after my name; whereas it is wonderful?

19 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.

And Manoe took a kid of the goats and its meat-offering, and offered it on the rock to the Lord; and [the angel] wrought a distinct work, and Manoe and his wife were looking on.

20 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.

And it came to pass when the flame went up above the altar towards heaven, that the angel of the Lord went up in the flame; and Manoe and his wife were looking, and they fell upon their face to the earth.

21 And the angel of the Lord appeared to them no more. And forthwith Manue understood that it was an angel of the Lord,

And the angel appeared no more to Manoe and to his wife: then Manoe knew that this [was] an angel of the Lord.

22 And he said to his wife: We shall certainly die, because we have seen God.

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

23 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.

But his wife said to him, If the Lord were pleased to kill us, he would not have received of our hand a whole burnt offering and a meat-offering; and he would not have shown us all these things, neither would he have caused us to hear all these things

24 And she bore a son, and called his name Samson. And the child grew, and the Lord blessed him.

And the woman brought forth a son, and she called his name Sampson; and the child grew, and the Lord blessed him.

25 And the spirit of the Lord began to be with him in the camp of Dan, between Saraa and Esthaol.

And the Spirit of the Lord began to go out with him in the camp of Dan, and between Saraa and Esthaol.