Judges 13

1 The Israelites continued to do what was evil in the Lord's sight, so the Lord handed them over to the Philistines to rule them for forty years.

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 At that time there was a man named Manoah. He was from the tribe of Dan and lived in the town of Zorah. His wife couldn't conceive and had no children.

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

3 The Angel of the Lord appeared to her and told her, “It's true that you couldn't conceive, and have no children, but now you're going to become pregnant and give birth to a son.

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 So then please be careful not to drink any wine or other alcoholic drink, and don't eat anything unclean.

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

5 You're going to become pregnant and have a son whose head a razor must never touch, because the boy is to be a Nazirite, dedicated to God from birth. He will start the process of saving Israel from the Philistines.”

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 The woman went and told her husband, “A man of God came to me. He looked like the Angel of God, really frightening. I didn't ask him where he came from, and he didn't did not tell me his name.

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 But he told me, ‘You're going to become pregnant and give birth to a son. You must not drink wine or any other alcoholic drink, and don't eat anything unclean. For the boy is to be a Nazirite, dedicated to God from birth until the day of his death.’”

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 Then Manoah prayed to the Lord, “Please, Lord, let the man of God you sent us return to us to explain what we're supposed to do with the boy who is to be born.”

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 God responded to Manoah's request, and the Angel of God returned to the woman while she was sitting out in the field. However, her husband Manoah was not with her.

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 So she ran quickly to tell her husband, “Look! The man who appeared to me the other day has come back!”

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

11 Manoah got up and went back with his wife, and asked, “Are you the man who spoke to my wife before?” “Yes I am,” he replied.

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 So Manoah said, “May your promise come true! What shall be decided for the boy, and what is to be his vocation?”

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 “Make sure your wife is careful to follow everything I told her,” the angel of the Lord replied.

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 “She must not eat anything that comes from the vine or drink wine or any other alcoholic drink. She must not eat anything unclean. Your wife must follow everything I instructed her to do.”

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 Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, “Please let us keep you here while we prepare a meal of a young goat for you.”

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 The angel of the Lord replied, “I'll stay, but I won't eat your food. However, if you prepare a burnt offering, you can present it to the Lord.” (Manoah didn't know he was the angel of the Lord.)

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 Manoah asked the angel of the Lord, “What is your name, so when your promise comes true we may honor you?”

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

18 “Why do you ask this?” the angel of the Lord responded. “My name is beyond comprehension.”

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

19 Manoah took a young goat and a grain offering and presented them on a rock to the Lord. As Manoah and his wife watched, the LORD did something amazing.

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 As the flame from the altar blazed up into the sky, the angel of the Lord ascended in the flame. Manoah and his wife saw what happened and fell with their faces to the ground.

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 The angel of the Lord did not appear to Manoah or his wife again, and Manoah realized that he was the angel of the Lord.

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

22 “We're definitely going to die,” he told his wife, “for we have seen God!”

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

23 But his wife replied, “If the Lord had wanted to kill us he wouldn't have accepted our burnt offering and grain offering. He wouldn't have shown us all these things, and he wouldn't have come now and announced this to us.”

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 She gave birth to a son and named him Samson. The boy grew up, and the Lord blessed him.

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

25 The Spirit of the Lord began to prompt him at Mahaneh Dan, a place between Zorah and Eshtaol.

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