Judges 13
Christian Standard Bible
Birth of Samson
13 The Israelites again did what was evil in the Lord’s sight,(A) so the Lord handed them over to the Philistines forty years. 2 There was a certain man from Zorah,(B) from the family of Dan, whose name was Manoah; his wife was unable to conceive and had no children. 3 The angel of the Lord appeared to the woman and said to her, “Although you are unable to conceive and have no children, you will conceive and give birth to a son. 4 Now please be careful not to drink wine or beer,(C) or to eat anything unclean;(D) 5 for indeed, you will conceive and give birth to a son. You must never cut his hair,[a] because the boy will be a Nazirite(E) to God from birth, and he will begin to save Israel from the power of the Philistines.”
6 Then the woman went and told her husband, “A man of God came to me. He looked like the awe-inspiring angel of God. I didn’t ask him where he came from, and he didn’t tell me his name. 7 He said to me, ‘You will conceive and give birth to a son. Therefore, do not drink wine or beer, and do not eat anything unclean, because the boy will be a Nazirite to God from birth until the day of his death.’”
8 Manoah prayed(F) to the Lord and said, “Please, Lord, let the man of God you sent come again to us and teach us what we should do for the boy who will be born.”
9 God listened(G) to Manoah, and the angel of God came again to the woman. She was sitting in the field, and her husband, Manoah, was not with her. 10 The woman ran quickly to her husband and told him, “The man who came to me the other day has just come back!”
11 So Manoah got up and followed his wife. When he came to the man, he asked, “Are you the man who spoke to my wife?”
“I am,” he said.
12 Then Manoah asked, “When your words come true, what will be the boy’s responsibilities and work?”
13 The angel of the Lord answered Manoah, “Your wife needs to do everything I told her. 14 She must not eat anything that comes from the grapevine or drink wine or beer. And she must not eat anything unclean. Your wife must do everything I have commanded her.”
15 “Please stay here,” Manoah told him, “and we will prepare a young goat(H) for you.”
16 The angel of the Lord said to him, “If I stay, I won’t eat your food. But if you want to prepare a burnt offering, offer it to the Lord.” (Manoah did not know he was the angel of the Lord.)
17 Then Manoah said to him, “What is your name, so that we may honor you when your words come true?”
18 “Why do you ask my name,” the angel of the Lord asked him, “since it is beyond understanding?”(I)
19 Manoah took a young goat and a grain offering and offered them on a rock to the Lord, who did something miraculous[b] while Manoah and his wife were watching. 20 When the flame went up from the altar to the sky, the angel of the Lord went up in its flame. When Manoah and his wife saw this, they fell facedown on the ground. 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.
22 “We’re certainly going to die,” he said to his wife, “because we have seen God!” (J)
23 But his wife said to him, “If the Lord had intended to kill us, he wouldn’t have accepted the burnt offering and the grain offering from us, and he would not have shown us all these things or spoken to us like this.”
24 So the woman gave birth to a son and named him Samson.(K) The boy grew,(L) and the Lord blessed him. 25 Then the Spirit of the Lord began to stir him in the Camp of Dan,[c] between Zorah and Eshtaol.(M)
Judges 13
New King James Version
The Birth of Samson(A)
13 Again the children of Israel (B)did evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord delivered them (C)into the hand of the Philistines for forty years.
2 Now there was a certain man from (D)Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren and had no children. 3 And the (E)Angel of the Lord appeared to the woman and said to her, “Indeed now, you are barren and have borne no children, but you shall conceive and bear a son. 4 Now therefore, please be careful (F)not to drink wine or similar drink, and not to eat anything unclean. 5 For behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. And no (G)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 deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.”
6 So the woman came and told her husband, saying, (J)“A Man of God came to me, and His (K)countenance[a] was like the countenance of the Angel of God, very awesome; but I (L)did not ask Him where He was from, and He did not tell me His name. 7 And He said to me, ‘Behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. Now drink no wine or similar drink, nor eat anything 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 my Lord, please let the Man of God whom You sent come to us again and teach us what we shall do for the child who will be born.”
9 And God listened to the voice of Manoah, and the Angel of God came to the woman again as she was sitting in the field; but Manoah her husband was not with her. 10 Then the woman ran in haste and told her husband, and said to him, “Look, the Man who came to me the other day has just now appeared to me!”
11 So Manoah arose and followed his wife. When he came to the Man, he said to Him, “Are You the Man who spoke to this woman?”
And He said, “I am.”
12 Manoah said, “Now let Your words come to pass! What will be the boy’s rule of life, and his work?”
13 So 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 anything that comes from the vine, (M)nor may she drink wine or similar drink, nor eat anything unclean. All that I commanded her let her observe.”
15 Then Manoah said to the Angel of the Lord, “Please (N)let us detain You, and we will prepare a young goat for You.”
16 And the Angel of the Lord said to Manoah, “Though you detain Me, I will not eat your food. But if you offer a burnt offering, you must offer it to the Lord.” (For Manoah did not know He was the Angel of the Lord.)
17 Then Manoah said to the Angel of the Lord, “What is Your name, that when Your words come to pass we may honor You?”
18 And the Angel of the Lord said to him, (O)“Why do you ask My name, seeing it is wonderful?”
19 So Manoah took the young goat with the grain offering, (P)and offered it upon the rock to the Lord. And He did a wondrous thing while Manoah and his wife looked on— 20 it happened as the flame went up toward heaven from the altar—the Angel of the Lord ascended in the flame of the altar! When Manoah and his wife saw this, they (Q)fell on their faces to the ground. 21 When the Angel of the Lord appeared no more to Manoah and his wife, (R)then Manoah knew that He was the Angel of the Lord.
22 And Manoah said to his wife, (S)“We shall surely die, because 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 shown us all these things, nor would He have told us such things as these at this time.”
24 So the woman bore a son and called his name (T)Samson; and (U)the child grew, and the Lord blessed him. 25 (V)And the Spirit of the Lord began to move upon him at [b]Mahaneh Dan (W)between Zorah and (X)Eshtaol.
Footnotes
- Judges 13:6 appearance
- Judges 13:25 Lit. Camp of Dan, Judg. 18:12
The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible®, and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers, all rights reserved.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
