² There was a certain man from Zorah, of the clan of the Danites,^[a] whose name was Manoah. His wife was barren and had borne no children.^{(A) 3 (B)}An angel of the Lord appeared to the woman and said to her: Though you are barren and have had no children, you will conceive and bear a son. ^4 (C)Now, then, be careful to drink no wine or beer and to eat nothing unclean, ⁵ for you will conceive and bear a son. No razor shall touch his head, for the boy is to be a nazirite for God^[b] from the womb. It is he who will begin to save Israel from the power of the Philistines.

⁶ The woman went and told her husband, “A man of God came to me; he had the appearance of an angel of God, fearsome indeed. I did not ask him where he came from, nor did he tell me his name. ⁷ But he said to me, ‘You will conceive and bear a son. So drink no wine or beer, and eat nothing unclean. For the boy shall be a nazirite for God from the womb, until the day of his death.’” ⁸ Manoah then prayed to the Lord. “Please, my Lord,” he said, “may the man of God whom you sent return to us to teach us what to do for the boy who is to be born.”

⁹ God heard the prayer of Manoah, and the angel of God came again to the woman as she was sitting in the field; but her husband Manoah was not with her. ¹⁰ The woman ran quickly and told her husband. “The man who came to me the other day has appeared to me,” she said to him; ¹¹ so Manoah got up and followed his wife. When he reached the man, he said to him, “Are you the one who spoke to my wife?” I am, he answered. ¹² Then Manoah asked, “Now, when what you say comes true, what rules must the boy follow? What must he do?” ¹³ The angel of the Lord answered Manoah: Your wife must be careful about all the things of which I spoke to her.

²⁴ The woman bore a son and named him Samson, and when the boy grew up the Lord blessed him. ²⁵ The spirit of the Lord came upon him for the first time^(A) in Mahaneh-dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.