< Judges 13 >

1 And the sons of Israel add to do the evil thing in the eyes of Jehovah, and Jehovah giveth them into the hand of the Philistines 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 And there is a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danite, and his name [is] Manoah, his wife [is] barren, and hath not borne;
And there was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren, and bare not.
3 and a messenger of Jehovah appeareth unto the woman, and saith unto her, 'Lo, I pray thee, thou [art] barren, and hast not borne; when thou hast conceived, then thou hast borne a son.
And the angel of the LORD appeared unto the woman, and said unto her, Behold now, you are barren, and bear not: but you shall conceive, and bear a son.
4 And, now, take heed, I pray thee, and do not drink wine, and strong drink, and do not eat any unclean thing,
Now therefore beware, I pray you, and drink not wine nor strong drink, and eat not any unclean thing:
5 for, lo, thou art conceiving and bearing a son, and a razor doth not go up on his head, for a Nazarite to God is the youth from the womb, and he doth begin to save Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.'
For, lo, you shall conceive, and bear a son; and no razor shall come on his head: for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb: and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.
6 And the woman cometh and speaketh to her husband, saying, 'A man of God hath come unto me, and his appearance [is] as the appearance of a messenger of God, very fearful, and I have not asked him whence he [is], and his name he hath not declared to me;
Then the woman came and told her husband, saying, A man of God came unto me, and his countenance was like the countenance of an angel of God, very terrible: but I asked him not whence he was, neither told he me his name:
7 and he saith to me, Lo, thou art pregnant, and bearing a son, and now do not drink wine and strong drink, and do not eat any unclean thing, for a Nazarite to God is the youth from the womb till the day of his death.'
But he said unto me, Behold, you shall 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 the womb to the day of his death.
8 And Manoah maketh entreaty unto Jehovah, and saith, 'O, my Lord, the man of God whom Thou didst send, let him come in, I pray thee, again unto us, and direct us what we do to the youth who is born.'
Then Manoah implored the LORD, and said, O my Lord, let the man of God which you did send come again unto us, and teach us what we shall do unto the child that shall be born.
9 And God hearkeneth to the voice of Manoah, and the messenger of God cometh again unto the woman, and she [is] sitting in a field, and Manoah her husband is not with her,
And God hearkened to the voice of Manoah; and the angel of God came again unto the woman as she sat in the field: but Manoah her husband was not with her.
10 and the woman hasteth, and runneth, and declareth to her husband, and saith unto him, 'Lo, he hath appeared unto me — the man who came on [that] day unto me.'
And the woman made haste, and ran, and showed her husband, and said unto him, Behold, the man has appeared unto me, that came unto me the other day.
11 And Manoah riseth, and goeth after his wife, and cometh unto the man, and saith to him, 'Art thou the man who spake unto the woman?' and he saith, 'I [am].'
And Manoah arose, and went after his wife, and came to the man, and said unto him, Are you the man that spoke unto the woman? And he said, I am.
12 And Manoah saith, 'Now let thy words come to pass; what is the custom of the youth — and his work?'
And Manoah said, Now let your words come to pass. How shall we order the child, and how shall we do unto him?
13 And the messenger of Jehovah saith unto Manoah, 'Of all that I said unto the woman let her take heed;
And the angel of the LORD said unto Manoah, Of all that I said unto the woman let her beware.
14 of anything which cometh out from the wine-vine she doth not eat, and wine and strong drink she doth not drink, and any unclean thing she doth not eat; all that I have commanded her she doth observe.'
She may not eat of any thing that comes 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 saith unto the messenger of Jehovah, 'Let us detain thee, we pray thee, and prepare before thee a kid of the goats.'
And Manoah said unto the angel of the LORD, I pray you, let us detain you, until we shall have made ready a kid for you.
16 And the messenger of Jehovah saith unto Manoah, 'If thou detain me — I do not eat of thy bread; and if thou prepare a burnt-offering — to Jehovah thou dost offer it;' for Manoah hath not known that He [is] a messenger of Jehovah.
And the angel of the LORD said unto Manoah, Though you detain me, I will not eat of your bread: and if you will offer a burnt offering, you must offer it unto the LORD. For Manoah knew not that he was an angel of the LORD.
17 And Manoah saith unto the messenger of Jehovah, 'What [is] thy name? when thy words come to pass, then we have honoured thee.'
And Manoah said unto the angel of the LORD, What is your name, that when your sayings come to pass we may do you honour?
18 And the messenger of Jehovah saith to him, 'Why [is] this — thou dost ask for My name? — and it [is] Wonderful.'
And the angel of the LORD said unto him, Why ask you thus after my name, seeing it is secret?
19 And Manoah taketh the kid of the goats, and the present, and offereth on the rock to Jehovah, and He is doing wonderfully, and Manoah and his wife are looking on,
So Manoah took a kid with a food offering, and offered it upon a rock unto the LORD: and the angel did wondrously; and Manoah and his wife looked on.
20 and it cometh to pass, in the going up of the flame from off the altar toward the heavens, that the messenger of Jehovah goeth up in the flame of the altar, and Manoah and his wife are looking on, and they fall on their faces to the earth,
For it came to pass, when the flame went up toward 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 and the messenger of Jehovah hath not added again to appear unto Manoah, and unto his wife, then hath Manoah known that He [is] a messenger of Jehovah.
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 saith unto his wife, 'We certainly die, for we have seen God.'
And Manoah said unto his wife, We shall surely die, because we have seen God.
23 And his wife saith to him, 'If Jehovah were desirous to put us to death, He had not received from our hands burnt-offering and present, nor shewed us all these things, nor as [at this] time caused us to hear [anything] like this.'
But his wife said unto him, If the LORD were pleased to kill us, he would not have received a burnt offering and a food 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 And the woman beareth a son, and calleth his name Samson, and the youth groweth, and Jehovah doth bless him,
And the woman bare a son, and called his name Samson: and the child grew, and the LORD blessed him.
25 and the Spirit of Jehovah beginneth to move him in the camp of 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.

< Judges 13 >