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.’”

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Footnotes

  1. Judges 13:4 I.e., ritually unclean
  2. Judges 13:7 I.e., ritually unclean

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)’”

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