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)

² 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. ³ 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) 4} Now see to it that you drink no wine or other fermented drink^(J) and that you do not eat anything unclean.^{(K) 5} 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.”

⁶ 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. ⁷ 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)’”

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

¹⁸ He replied, “Why do you ask my name?^(B) It is beyond understanding.^[a]” ¹⁹ Then Manoah took a young goat, together with the grain offering, and sacrificed it on a rock^(C) to the Lord. And the Lord did an amazing thing while Manoah and his wife watched: ²⁰ As the flame^(D) 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.^{(E) 21} When the angel of the Lord did not show himself again to Manoah and his wife, Manoah realized^(F) that it was the angel of the Lord.

²² “We are doomed^(G) to die!” he said to his wife. “We have seen^(H) 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.”^(I)

²⁴ The woman gave birth to a boy and named him Samson.^(J) He grew^(K) and the Lord blessed him,^{(L) 25} and the Spirit of the Lord began to stir^(M) him while he was in Mahaneh Dan,^(N) between Zorah and Eshtaol.