Judges 13:2-25
Lexham English Bible
2 There was a certain man from Zorah, from the tribe of the Danites, and his name was Manoah; his wife was infertile and did not bear children. 3 And an angel of Yahweh appeared to the woman, and he said to her, “Behold, you are infertile and have not borne children, but you will conceive and bear a son. 4 So then, be careful and do not drink wine or strong drink, and do not eat anything unclean, 5 because you will conceive and bear a son. No razor will touch[a] his head, because the boy will be a Nazirite of God[b] from birth.[c] And it is he who will begin to deliver Israel from the hand of the Philistines.” 6 And the woman came and told her husband, saying, “A man of God came to me, and his appearance was like the appearance of an angel of God, very awesome. I did not ask him from where he came, and he did not tell me his name. 7 And he said to me, ‘Look, you will conceive and bear a son, so then, do not drink wine or strong drink, and do not eat anything unclean, for the boy will be a Nazirite of God from birth[d] until the day of his death.’”
8 Then Manoah prayed to Yahweh and said, “Excuse me, my Lord, please let the man of God whom you sent again come to us and teach us what we should do concerning the boy who will be born.” 9 And God listened to the voice of Manoah, and an angel of God came again to the woman; she was sitting in the field, but Manoah her husband was not with her. 10 The woman quickly ran and told her husband, and she said to him, “Look! The man who came to me the other day appeared to me.” 11 So Manoah got up and went after his wife, and he came to the man and said to him, “Are you the man that spoke to the woman?” And he said, “I am.” 12 And Manoah said to him, “Now when your words come true,[e] what will be the boy’s manner of life[f] and work?” 13 And the angel of Yahweh said to Manoah, “Let the woman be attentive to all that I said. 14 She should not eat of anything that comes from the vine, or drink wine or strong drink, or eat anything unclean; she should keep all that I commanded.”
15 And Manoah said to the angel of Yahweh, “Please stay,[g] and let us prepare a young goat[h] for you.” 16 The angel of Yahweh said to Manoah, “If you keep me, I will not eat your food, but if you prepare a burnt offering for Yahweh, you can offer it (for Manoah did not know that he was an angel of Yahweh).” 17 And Manoah said to the angel of Yahweh, “What is your name so that when your words come true we may honor you?” 18 But the angel of Yahweh said to him, “Why do you ask my name? It is too wonderful.”
19 And Manoah took the young goat[i] and the grain offering, and he offered it to Yahweh on the rock, to the one who performs miracles.[j] And Manoah and his wife were watching. 20 And when the flame went up toward the heaven from the altar, the angel of Yahweh went up in the flame of the altar to heaven while Manoah and his wife were watching. And they fell on their faces to the ground. 21 The angel of Yahweh did not appear again to Manoah and his wife, and then Manoah knew that he was a messenger[k] of Yahweh. 22 And Manoah said to his wife, “We will certainly die because we have seen God.” 23 But his wife said to him, “If Yahweh wanted to kill us he would not have taken[l] from our hand the burnt offering and the grain offering, or shown us all these things, or now announced to us things such as these.”
24 The woman bore a son, and she called him Samson; the boy grew big, and Yahweh blessed him. 25 And the Spirit of Yahweh began to stir him in the camp of Dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Judges 13:5 Literally “will go upon”
- Judges 13:5 Literally “consecrated of God” or “devoted of God”
- Judges 13:5 Literally “from the womb”
- Judges 13:7 Or “the womb”
- Judges 13:12 Literally “when your words will come”
- Judges 13:12 Literally “measure”
- Judges 13:15 Literally “Please, let us hold you back”
- Judges 13:15 Literally “kid of goat”
- Judges 13:19 Literally “kid of goat”
- Judges 13:19 Or “the one who works wonders”
- Judges 13:21 Or “angel”
- Judges 13:23 Or “accepted”
Judges 13:2-25
New American Standard Bible
2 And there was a man of (A)Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was infertile and had not given birth to any children. 3 (B)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. 4 And now, be careful (C)not to drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any [a]unclean thing. 5 (D)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 (E)Nazirite to God from the womb; and he will begin to save Israel from the hands of the Philistines.” 6 Then the woman came and told her husband, saying, “(F)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. 7 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.’”
8 Then Manoah pleaded with the Lord and said, “Lord, please let (G)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.” 9 And God listened to the voice of Manoah; and (H)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, (I)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 (J)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 (K)the angel of the Lord said to Manoah, “(L)The woman shall pay attention [f]to all that I said. 14 She shall not eat anything that comes from the (M)vine nor drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing; she shall keep all that I commanded.”
15 Then Manoah said to (N)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, (O)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, “(P)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](Q)wonderful?” 19 So (R)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 (S)fell on their faces to the ground.
21 Now the angel of the Lord did not appear to Manoah or his wife again. (T)Then Manoah knew that he was the angel of the Lord. 22 So Manoah said to his wife, “(U)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 (V)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 (W)child grew up and the Lord blessed him. 25 And (X)the Spirit of the Lord began to stir him when he was in [j](Y)Mahaneh-dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Judges 13:4 I.e., ritually unclean
- Judges 13:7 I.e., ritually unclean
- Judges 13:10 Lit husband, and said to him
- Judges 13:10 Lit came to me
- Judges 13:12 Lit come
- Judges 13:13 Lit from
- Judges 13:16 Lit bread
- Judges 13:17 Lit come
- Judges 13:18 I.e., incomprehensible
- Judges 13:25 I.e., the camp of Dan
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