Judges 13

1And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the LORD; and the LORD delivered them into the hand of the Philistines forty years.footnote a

2And there was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren, and bare not.

3And the angel of the LORD appeared unto the woman, and said unto her, Behold now, thou art barren, and bearest not: but thou shalt conceive, and bear a son.

4Now therefore beware, I pray thee, and drink not wine nor strong drink, and eat not any unclean thing:

5For, lo, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and no razor shall come on his head: for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb: and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.

6Then the woman came and told her husband, saying, A man of God came unto me, and his countenance was like the countenance of an angel of God, very terrible: but I asked him not whence he was, neither told he me his name:

7But he said unto me, Behold, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and now drink no wine nor strong drink, neither eat any unclean thing: for the child shall be a Nazarite to God from the womb to the day of his death.

8Then Manoah intreated the LORD, and said, O my Lord, let the man of God which thou didst send come again unto us, and teach us what we shall do unto the child that shall be born.

9And God hearkened to the voice of Manoah; and the angel of God came again unto the woman as she sat in the field: but Manoah her husband was not with her.

10And the woman made haste, and ran, and shewed her husband, and said unto him, Behold, the man hath appeared unto me, that came unto me the other day.

11And Manoah arose, and went after his wife, and came to the man, and said unto him, Art thou the man that spakest unto the woman? And he said, I am.

12And Manoah said, Now let thy words come to pass. How shall we order the child, and how shall we do unto him?footnote bfootnote c

13And the angel of the LORD said unto Manoah, Of all that I said unto the woman let her beware.

14She may not eat of any thing that cometh of the vine, neither let her drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing: all that I commanded her let her observe.

15And Manoah said unto the angel of the LORD, I pray thee, let us detain thee, until we shall have made ready a kid for thee.footnote d

16And the angel of the LORD said unto Manoah, Though thou detain me, I will not eat of thy bread: and if thou wilt offer a burnt offering, thou must offer it unto the LORD. For Manoah knew not that he was an angel of the LORD.

17And Manoah said unto the angel of the LORD, What is thy name, that when thy sayings come to pass we may do thee honour?

18And the angel of the LORD said unto him, Why askest thou thus after my name, seeing it is secret?footnote e

19So Manoah took a kid with a meat offering, and offered it upon a rock unto the LORD: and the angel did wondrously; and Manoah and his wife looked on.

20For it came to pass, when the flame went up toward heaven from off the altar, that the angel of the LORD ascended in the flame of the altar. And Manoah and his wife looked on it, and fell on their faces to the ground.

21But the angel of the LORD did no more appear to Manoah and to his wife. Then Manoah knew that he was an angel of the LORD.

22And Manoah said unto his wife, We shall surely die, because we have seen God.

23But his wife said unto him, If the LORD were pleased to kill us, he would not have received a burnt offering and a meat offering at our hands, neither would he have shewed us all these things, nor would as at this time have told us such things as these.

24And the woman bare a son, and called his name Samson: and the child grew, and the LORD blessed him.

25And the Spirit of the LORD began to move him at times in the camp of Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol.footnote f

The Birth of Samson

1Again the Israelites did evil in the sight of the LORD, so He delivered them into the hand of the Philistines for forty years.

2Now there was a man from Zorah named Manoah, from the clan of the Danites, whose wife was barren and had no children. 3The angelfootnote a of the LORD appeared to the woman and said to her, “It is true that you are barren and have no children; but you will conceive and give birth to a son. 4Now please be careful not to drink wine or strong drink, and not to eat anything unclean. 5For behold, you will conceive and give birth to a son. And no razor shall touch his head, because the boy will be a Naziritefootnote b to God from the womb, and he will begin the deliverance of Israel from the hand of the Philistines.”

6So the woman went and told her husband, “A man of God came to me. His appearance was like the angel of God, exceedingly awesome. I did not ask him where he came from, and he did not tell me his name. 7But he said to me, ‘Behold, you will conceive and give birth to a son. Now, therefore, do not drink wine or strong drink, and do not eat anything unclean, because the boy will be a Nazirite to God from the womb until the day of his death.’”

8Then Manoah prayed to the LORD, “Please, O Lord, let the man of God You sent us come to us again to teach us how to raise the boy who is to be born.”

9And God listened to the voice of Manoah, and the angel of God returned to the woman as she was sitting in the field; but her husband Manoah was not with her. 10The woman ran quickly to tell her husband, “Behold, the man who came to me the other day has reappeared!”

11So 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.

12Then Manoah asked, “When your words come to pass, what will be the boy’s rule of life and mission?”

13So the angel of the LORD answered Manoah, “Your wife is to do everything I told her. 14She must not eat anything that comes from the vine, nor drink any wine or strong drink, nor eat anything unclean. She must do everything I have commanded her.”

15“Please stay here,” Manoah said to the angel of the LORD, “and we will prepare a young goat for you.”

16And the angel of the LORD replied, “Even if I stay, I will not eat your food. But if you prepare a burnt offering, offer it to the LORD.” For Manoah did not know that it was the angel of the LORD.

17Then Manoah said to the angel of the LORD, “What is your name, so that we may honor you when your word comes to pass?”

18“Why do you ask my name,” said the angel of the LORD, “since it is beyond comprehension?”

19Then Manoah took a young goat and a grain offering and offered them on a rock to the LORD. And as Manoah and his wife looked on, the LORD did a marvelous thing. 20When the flame went up from the altar to the sky, the angel of the LORD ascended in the flame.
When Manoah and his wife saw this, they fell facedown to the ground. 21And when the angel of the LORD did not appear again to Manoah and his wife, Manoah realized that it had been the angel of the LORD.

22“We are going to die,” he said to his wife, “for we have seen God!”

23But his wife replied, “If the LORD had intended to kill us, He would not have accepted the burnt offering and the grain offering from our hands, nor would He have shown us all these things or spoken to us this way.”

24So the woman gave birth to a son and named him Samson. The boy grew, and the LORD blessed him. 25And the Spirit of the LORD began to stir him at Mahaneh-dan,footnote c between Zorah and Eshtaol.