Judges 13
English Standard Version
The Birth of Samson
13 And the people of Israel again (A)did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, so the Lord gave them (B)into the hand of the Philistines for forty years.
2 There was a certain man of (C)Zorah, of the tribe of the Danites, whose name was Manoah. (D)And his wife was barren and had no children. 3 (E)And 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. 4 Therefore be careful (F)and drink no wine or strong drink, and eat nothing unclean, 5 for behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. (G)No razor shall come upon his head, for the child shall be (H)a Nazirite to God from the womb, and he shall (I)begin to save Israel from the hand of the Philistines.” 6 Then the woman came and told her husband, (J)“A man of God came to me, and his appearance was like the appearance of the angel of God, very awesome. (K)I did not ask him where he was from, and he did not tell me his name, 7 but he said to me, (L)‘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.’”
8 Then 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.” 9 And 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. 10 So the woman ran quickly and told her husband, “Behold, the man who came to me the other day has appeared to me.” 11 And 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.” 12 And Manoah said, “Now when your words come true, (M)what is to be the child's manner of life, and what is his mission?” 13 And the angel of the Lord said to Manoah, “Of all that I said to the woman let her be careful. 14 She may not eat of anything that comes from the vine, (N)neither let her drink wine or strong drink, or eat any unclean thing. All that I commanded her let her observe.”
15 Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, “Please let us detain you and (O)prepare a young goat for you.” 16 And 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.) 17 And Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, (P)“What is your name, so that, when your words come true, we may honor you?” 18 And the angel of the Lord said to him, (Q)“Why do you ask my name, seeing (R)it is wonderful?” 19 So (S)Manoah took the young goat with the grain offering, and offered it on the rock to the Lord, to the one who works[a] wonders, and Manoah and his wife were watching. 20 And 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, (T)and they fell on their faces to the ground.
21 The angel of the Lord appeared no more to Manoah and to his wife. (U)Then Manoah knew that he was the angel of the Lord. 22 And Manoah said to his wife, (V)“We shall surely die, for we have seen God.” 23 But 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.” 24 And the woman bore a son and called his name Samson. (W)And the young man grew, and the Lord blessed him. 25 (X)And the Spirit of the Lord began to stir him in Mahaneh-dan, between (Y)Zorah and Eshtaol.
Footnotes
- Judges 13:19 Septuagint, Vulgate; Hebrew Lord, and working
Judges 13
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
The Birth of Samson
13 The Israelites again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord gave them into the hand of the Philistines forty years.(A)
2 There was a certain man of Zorah, of the tribe of the Danites, whose name was Manoah. His wife was barren, having borne no children.(B) 3 And the angel of the Lord appeared to the woman and said to her, “Although you are barren, having borne no children, you shall conceive and bear a son.(C) 4 Now be careful not to drink wine or strong drink or to eat anything unclean,(D) 5 for you shall conceive and bear a son. No razor is to come on his head, for the boy shall be a nazirite to God from birth. It is he who shall begin to deliver Israel from the hand of the Philistines.”(E) 6 Then the woman came and told her husband, “A man of God came to me, and his appearance was like that of an angel[a] of God, most awe-inspiring; I did not ask him where he came from, and he did not tell me his name,(F) 7 but he said to me, ‘You shall conceive and bear a son. So then, drink no wine or strong drink and eat nothing unclean, for the boy shall be a nazirite to God from birth to the day of his death.’ ”
8 Then Manoah entreated the Lord and said, “O my Lord, I pray, let the man of God whom you sent come to us again and teach us what we are to do concerning the boy who will be born.”(G) 9 God listened to Manoah, and the angel of God came again to the woman as she sat in the field, but her husband Manoah was not with her. 10 So the woman ran quickly and told her husband, “The man who came to me the other day has appeared to me.” 11 Manoah got up and followed 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.” 12 Then Manoah said, “Now when your words come true, what is to be the boy’s rule of life; what is he to do?” 13 The angel of the Lord said to Manoah, “Let the woman give heed to all that I said to her.(H) 14 She may not eat of anything that comes from the vine. She is not to drink wine or strong drink or eat any unclean thing. She is to observe everything that I commanded her.”(I)
15 Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, “Allow us to detain you and prepare a kid for you.”(J) 16 The angel of the Lord said to Manoah, “If you detain me, I will not eat your food, but if you want to prepare a burnt offering, then offer it to the Lord.” (For Manoah did not know that he was the angel of the Lord.)(K) 17 Then Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, “What is your name, so that we may honor you when your words come true?”(L) 18 But the angel of the Lord said to him, “Why do you ask my name? It is too wonderful.”(M)
19 So Manoah took the kid with the grain offering and offered it on the rock to the Lord, to him who works[b] wonders.[c](N) 20 When the flame went up toward heaven from the altar, the angel of the Lord ascended in the flame of the altar while Manoah and his wife looked on, and they fell on their faces to the ground.(O) 21 The angel of the Lord did not appear again to Manoah and his wife. Then Manoah realized that it was the angel of the Lord.(P) 22 And Manoah said to his wife, “We shall surely die, for we have seen God.”(Q) 23 But 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[d] announced to us such things as these.”
24 The woman bore a son and named him Samson. The boy grew, and the Lord blessed him.(R) 25 The spirit of the Lord began to stir him in Mahaneh-dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.(S)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.