Philistines Oppress Again

13 Now the sons of Israel (A)again did evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord handed them over to the Philistines for forty years.

And there was a man of (B)Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was infertile and had not given birth to any children. (C)Then the angel of the Lord appeared to the woman and said to her, “Behold now, you are infertile and have not given birth; but you will conceive and give birth to a son. And now, be careful (D)not to drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any [a]unclean thing. (E)For behold, you will conceive and give birth to a son, and no razor shall come upon his head, for the boy shall be a (F)Nazirite to God from the womb; and he will begin to save Israel from the hands of the Philistines.” Then the woman came and told her husband, saying, “(G)A man of God came to me, and his appearance was like the appearance of the angel of God, very awesome. So I did not ask him where he came from, nor did he tell me his name. But he said to me, ‘Behold, you shall conceive and give birth to a son, and now you shall not drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any [b]unclean thing, for the boy shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb to the day of his death.’”

Then Manoah pleaded with the Lord and said, “Lord, please let (H)the man of God whom You have sent come to us again so that he may teach us what we are to do for the boy who is to be born.” And God listened to the voice of Manoah; and (I)the angel of God came again to the woman as she was sitting in the field, but Manoah her husband was not with her. 10 So the woman hurried and ran, and told her [c]husband, “Behold, (J)the man who [d]came the other day has appeared to me!” 11 So Manoah got up and followed his wife, and when he came to the man he said to him, “Are you (K)the man who spoke to the woman?” And he said, “I am.” 12 Then Manoah said, “Now when your words [e]are fulfilled, what shall be the boy’s way of life and his vocation?” 13 And (L)the angel of the Lord said to Manoah, “(M)The woman shall pay attention [f]to all that I said. 14 She shall not eat anything that comes from the (N)vine nor drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing; she shall keep all that I commanded.”

15 Then Manoah said to (O)the angel of the Lord, “Please let us detain you so that we may prepare a young goat for you.” 16 But the angel of the Lord said to Manoah, “Though you detain me, (P)I will not eat your [g]food, but if you prepare a burnt offering, offer it to the Lord.” For Manoah did not know that he was the angel of the Lord. 17 And Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, “(Q)What is your name, so that when your words [h]are fulfilled, we may honor you?” 18 But the angel of the Lord said to him, “Why do you ask my name, for it is [i](R)wonderful?” 19 So (S)Manoah took the young goat along with the grain offering and offered it on the rock to the Lord; and He performed wonders while Manoah and his wife looked on. 20 For it came about when the flame went up from the altar toward heaven, that the angel of the Lord ascended in the flame of the altar. When Manoah and his wife saw this, they (T)fell on their faces to the ground.

21 Now the angel of the Lord did not appear to Manoah or his wife again. (U)Then Manoah knew that he was the angel of the Lord. 22 So Manoah said to his wife, “(V)We will certainly die, for we have seen God.” 23 But his wife said to him, “If the Lord had desired to kill us, He would not have accepted a burnt offering and a grain offering from our hands, nor would He have (W)shown us all these things, nor would He have let us hear things like this at this time.”

24 So the woman gave birth to a son, and named him Samson; and the (X)child grew up and the Lord blessed him. 25 And (Y)the Spirit of the Lord began to stir him when he was in [j](Z)Mahaneh-dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.

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Footnotes

  1. Judges 13:4 I.e., ritually unclean
  2. Judges 13:7 I.e., ritually unclean
  3. Judges 13:10 Lit husband, and said to him
  4. Judges 13:10 Lit came to me
  5. Judges 13:12 Lit come
  6. Judges 13:13 Lit from
  7. Judges 13:16 Lit bread
  8. Judges 13:17 Lit come
  9. Judges 13:18 I.e., incomprehensible
  10. Judges 13:25 I.e., the camp of Dan

The Birth of Samson

13 Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord, so the Lord delivered them into the hands of the Philistines(A) for forty years.(B)

A certain man of Zorah,(C) named Manoah,(D) from the clan of the Danites,(E) had a wife who was childless,(F) unable to give birth. The angel of the Lord(G) appeared to her(H) and said, “You are barren and childless, but you are going to become pregnant and give birth to a son.(I) Now see to it that you drink no wine or other fermented drink(J) and that you do not eat anything unclean.(K) You will become pregnant and have a son(L) whose head is never to be touched by a razor(M) because the boy is to be a Nazirite,(N) dedicated to God from the womb. He will take the lead(O) in delivering Israel from the hands of the Philistines.”

Then the woman went to her husband and told him, “A man of God(P) came to me. He looked like an angel of God,(Q) very awesome.(R) I didn’t ask him where he came from, and he didn’t tell me his name. But he said to me, ‘You will become pregnant and have a son. Now then, drink no wine(S) or other fermented drink(T) and do not eat anything unclean, because the boy will be a Nazirite of God from the womb until the day of his death.(U)’”

Then Manoah(V) prayed to the Lord: “Pardon your servant, Lord. I beg you to let the man of God(W) you sent to us come again to teach us how to bring up the boy who is to be born.”

God 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. 10 The woman hurried to tell her husband, “He’s here! The man who appeared to me(X) the other day!”

11 Manoah 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.

12 So Manoah asked him, “When your words are fulfilled, what is to be the rule that governs the boy’s life and work?”

13 The angel of the Lord answered, “Your wife must do all that I have told her. 14 She must not eat anything that comes from the grapevine, nor drink any wine or other fermented drink(Y) nor eat anything unclean.(Z) She must do everything I have commanded her.”

15 Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, “We would like you to stay until we prepare a young goat(AA) for you.”

16 The 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,(AB) offer it to the Lord.” (Manoah did not realize(AC) that it was the angel of the Lord.)

17 Then Manoah inquired of the angel of the Lord, “What is your name,(AD) so that we may honor you when your word comes true?”

18 He replied, “Why do you ask my name?(AE) It is beyond understanding.[a] 19 Then Manoah took a young goat, together with the grain offering, and sacrificed it on a rock(AF) to the Lord. And the Lord did an amazing thing while Manoah and his wife watched: 20 As the flame(AG) blazed up from the altar toward heaven, the angel of the Lord ascended in the flame. Seeing this, Manoah and his wife fell with their faces to the ground.(AH) 21 When the angel of the Lord did not show himself again to Manoah and his wife, Manoah realized(AI) that it was the angel of the Lord.

22 “We are doomed(AJ) to die!” he said to his wife. “We have seen(AK) God!”

23 But 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.”(AL)

24 The woman gave birth to a boy and named him Samson.(AM) He grew(AN) and the Lord blessed him,(AO) 25 and the Spirit of the Lord began to stir(AP) him while he was in Mahaneh Dan,(AQ) between Zorah and Eshtaol.

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Footnotes

  1. Judges 13:18 Or is wonderful