1And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, so the Lord gave them into the hand of the Philistines for forty years. (Jud 2:11; Jud 3:31; Jud 10:7; 1Sa 12:9)2There was a certain man of Zorah, of the tribe of the Danites, whose name was Manoah. And his wife was barren and had no children. (Jos 15:33; Jos 19:41; 1Sa 1:2; Lu 1:7)3And the angel of the Lord appeared to the woman and said to her, “Behold, you are barren and have not borne children, but you shall conceive and bear a son. (Jud 6:12; Lu 1:11; Lu 1:13)4Therefore be careful and drink no wine or strong drink, and eat nothing unclean, (Nu 6:2; Jud 13:7; Jud 13:14; Lu 1:15)5for behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. No razor shall come upon his head, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb, and he shall begin to save Israel from the hand of the Philistines.” (Nu 6:5; Jud 13:4; Jud 16:17; 1Sa 1:11; 1Sa 7:13; 2Sa 8:1; 1Ch 18:1)6Then the woman came and told her husband, “A man of God came to me, and his appearance was like the appearance of the angel of God, very awesome. I did not ask him where he was from, and he did not tell me his name, (De 33:1; Jud 13:17)7but he said to me, ‘Behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. So then drink no wine or strong drink, and eat nothing unclean, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb to the day of his death.’” (Jud 13:3)8Then Manoah prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord, please let the man of God whom you sent come again to us and teach us what we are to do with the child who will be born.”9And God listened 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.10So the woman ran quickly and told her husband, “Behold, the man who came to me the other day has appeared to me.”11And Manoah arose and went after his wife and came to the man and said to him, “Are you the man who spoke to this woman?” And he said, “I am.”12And Manoah said, “Now when your words come true, what is to be the child’s manner of life, and what is his mission?” (Lu 1:66)13And the angel of the Lord said to Manoah, “Of all that I said to the woman let her be careful.14She may not eat of anything that comes from the vine, neither let her drink wine or strong drink, or eat any unclean thing. All that I commanded her let her observe.” (Jud 13:4; Jud 13:7)15Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, “Please let us detain you and prepare a young goat for you.” (Ge 18:5; Jud 6:19)16And the angel of the Lord said to Manoah, “If you detain me, I will not eat of your food. But if you prepare a burnt offering, then offer it to the Lord.” (For Manoah did not know that he was the angel of the Lord.)17And Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, “What is your name, so that, when your words come true, we may honor you?” (Jud 13:6)18And the angel of the Lord said to him, “Why do you ask my name, seeing it is wonderful?” (Ge 32:29; Isa 9:6)19So Manoah took the young goat with the grain offering, and offered it on the rock to the Lord, to the one who works[1] wonders, and Manoah and his wife were watching. (Jud 6:19)20And when the flame went up toward heaven from the altar, the angel of the Lord went up in the flame of the altar. Now Manoah and his wife were watching, and they fell on their faces to the ground. (Le 9:24; 1Ch 21:16; Eze 1:28)21The angel of the Lord appeared no more to Manoah and to his wife. Then Manoah knew that he was the angel of the Lord. (Jud 6:22)22And Manoah said to his wife, “We shall surely die, for we have seen God.” (Jud 13:21)23But his wife said to him, “If the Lord had meant to kill us, he would not have accepted a burnt offering and a grain offering at our hands, or shown us all these things, or now announced to us such things as these.”24And the woman bore a son and called his name Samson. And the young man grew, and the Lord blessed him. (1Sa 2:21; 1Sa 3:19; Lu 1:80; Lu 2:52)25And the Spirit of the Lord began to stir him in Mahaneh-dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol. (Jos 15:33; Jud 3:10; Jud 18:11)
Judges 13
New International Version
The birth of Samson
1Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord, so the Lord delivered them into the hands of the Philistines for forty years.2A certain man of Zorah, named Manoah, from the clan of the Danites, had a wife who was childless, unable to give birth.3The angel of the Lord appeared to her and said, ‘You are barren and childless, but you are going to become pregnant and give birth to a son.4Now see to it that you drink no wine or other fermented drink and that you do not eat anything unclean.5You will become pregnant and have a son whose head is never to be touched by a razor because the boy is to be a Nazirite, dedicated to God from the womb. He will take the lead in delivering Israel from the hands of the Philistines.’6Then the woman went to her husband and told him, ‘A man of God came to me. He looked like an angel of God, very awesome. I didn’t ask him where he came from, and he didn’t tell me his name.7But he said to me, “You will become pregnant and have a son. Now then, drink no wine or other fermented drink and do not eat anything unclean, because the boy will be a Nazirite of God from the womb until the day of his death.” ’8Then Manoah prayed to the Lord: ‘Pardon your servant, Lord. I beg you to let the man of God you sent to us come again to teach us how to bring up the boy who is to be born.’9God heard Manoah, and the angel of God came again to the woman while she was out in the field; but her husband Manoah was not with her.10The woman hurried to tell her husband, ‘He’s here! The man who appeared to me the other day!’11Manoah got up and followed his wife. When he came to the man, he said, ‘Are you the man who talked to my wife?’ ‘I am,’ he said.12So Manoah asked him, ‘When your words are fulfilled, what is to be the rule that governs the boy’s life and work?’13The angel of the Lord answered, ‘Your wife must do all that I have told her.14She must not eat anything that comes from the grapevine, nor drink any wine or other fermented drink nor eat anything unclean. She must do everything I have commanded her.’15Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, ‘We would like you to stay until we prepare a young goat for you.’16The angel of the Lord replied, ‘Even though you detain me, I will not eat any of your food. But if you prepare a burnt offering, offer it to the Lord.’ (Manoah did not realise that it was the angel of the Lord.)17Then Manoah enquired of the angel of the Lord, ‘What is your name, so that we may honour you when your word comes true?’18He replied, ‘Why do you ask my name? It is beyond understanding.[1]’19Then Manoah took a young goat, together with the grain offering, and sacrificed it on a rock to the Lord. And the Lord did an amazing thing while Manoah and his wife watched:20as the flame blazed up from the altar towards heaven, the angel of the Lord ascended in the flame. Seeing this, Manoah and his wife fell with their faces to the ground.21When the angel of the Lord did not show himself again to Manoah and his wife, Manoah realised that it was the angel of the Lord.22‘We are doomed to die!’ he said to his wife. ‘We have seen God!’23But his wife answered, ‘If the Lord had meant to kill us, he would not have accepted a burnt offering and grain offering from our hands, nor shown us all these things or now told us this.’24The woman gave birth to a boy and named him Samson. He grew and the Lord blessed him,25and the Spirit of the Lord began to stir him while he was in Mahaneh Dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.