Judges, 13

1. Again the Israelites began doing what is evil in Yahweh's eyes, and Yahweh delivered them into the power of the Philistines for forty years.

1. And 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.

2. There was a man of Zorah of the tribe of Dan, called Manoah. His wife was barren; she had borne no children.

2. And 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.

3. The Angel of Yahweh appeared to this woman and said to her, 'You are barren and have had no child, but you are going to conceive and give birth to a son.

3. And 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.

4. From now on, take great care. Drink no wine or fermented liquor, and eat nothing unclean.

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

5. For you are going to conceive and give birth to a son. No razor is to touch his head, for the boy is to be God's nazirite from his mother's womb; and he will start rescuing Israel from the power of the Philistines.'

5. For, 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.

6. The woman then went and told her husband, 'A man of God has just come to me, who looked like the Angel of God, so majestic was he. I did not ask him where he came from, and he did not tell me his name.

6. Then 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:

7. But he said to me, "You are going to conceive and will give birth to a son. From now on, drink no wine or fermented liquor, and eat nothing unclean. For the boy is to be God's nazirite from his mother's womb to his dying day." '

7. But 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.

8. Manoah then pleaded with Yahweh and said, 'I beg you, Lord, let the man of God that you sent come to us again and instruct us what to do about the child when he is born.'

8. Then 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.

9. Yahweh heard Manoah's prayer, and the Angel of Yahweh visited the woman again while she was sitting in a field and when her husband Manoah was not with her.

9. And 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.

10. The woman quickly ran and told her husband, 'Look,' she said, 'the man who came to me the other day has appeared to me again.'

10. And 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.

11. Manoah got up, followed his wife, came to the man and said to him, 'Are you the man who spoke to this woman?' He replied, 'I am.'

11. And 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].

12. Manoah then said, 'When your words come true, what will be the boy's way of life?'

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

13. The Angel of Yahweh replied to Manoah, 'From everything that I forbade this woman, let her abstain.

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

14. Let her swallow nothing that comes from the vine, let her drink no wine or fermented liquor, let her eat nothing unclean and let her obey all the orders that I have given her.'

14. She 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.

15. Manoah then said to the Angel of Yahweh, 'Allow us to detain you while we prepare a kid for you' -- for Manoah did not know that this was the Angel of Yahweh.

15. And 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.

16. The Angel of Yahweh said to Manoah, 'Even if you did detain me, I should not eat your food; but if you wish to prepare a burnt offering, offer it to Yahweh.'

16. And 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.

17. Manoah then said to the Angel of Yahweh, 'What is your name, so that we may honour you when your words come true?'

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

18. The Angel of Yahweh replied, 'Why ask my name? It is a name of wonder.'

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

19. Manoah then took the kid and the oblation and offered it on the rock as a burnt offering to Yahweh the Wonderworker. Manoah and his wife looked on.

19. So 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.

20. Now, as the flame rose heavenwards from the altar, the Angel of Yahweh ascended in this flame before the eyes of Manoah and his wife, and they fell face downwards on the ground.

20. For 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.

21. After this, the Angel of Yahweh did not appear any more to Manoah and his wife, but Manoah understood that this had been the Angel of Yahweh.

21. But 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.

22. And Manoah said to his wife, 'We are certain to die, because we have seen God.'

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

23. His wife replied, 'If Yahweh had meant to kill us, he would not have accepted a burnt offering and oblation from us, he would not have let us see all this and, at the same time, have told us such things.'

23. But 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.

24. The woman gave birth to a son and called him Samson. The child grew, and Yahweh blessed him;

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

25. and the spirit of Yahweh began to stir him in the Camp of Dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.

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