Judges 13

1And the sons of Israel again did what was evil in the eyes of Yahweh, and Yahweh gave them into the hand of the Philistines for forty years.

2There was a certain man from Zorah, from the clan of the Danites, and his name was Manoah. His wife was barren and had not borne children.

3And the angel of the LORD appeared to the woman and said to her, “Look, please—you are barren and have not borne children, but you will conceive and bear a son.”

4Now please be careful, and do not drink wine or strong drink, and do not eat anything unclean.

5For behold, you are pregnant and will bear a son. No razor shall come upon his head, for the boy shall be a Nazirite of God from the womb, and he will begin to save Israel from the hand of the Philistines.

6Then the woman came and said to her husband, “A man of God came to me, and his appearance was like the appearance of an angel of God, very fearsome. I did not ask him where he was from, and he did not tell me his name.”

7For he said to me, ‘Look, you will conceive and bear a son. So now, do not drink wine or strong drink, and do not eat anything unclean, for the boy will be a Nazirite of God from the womb until the day of his death.’

8Then Manoah entreated Yahweh and said, “Please, Lord, let the man of God whom you sent come again to us and teach us what we should do for the boy who is to be born.”

9And God listened to the voice of Manoah, and the angel of God came again to the woman while she was sitting in the field, and Manoah her husband was not with her.

10So the woman hurried and ran and told her husband, and said to him, “Look, the man who came to me that day has appeared to me.”

11So Manoah arose and went after his wife, and came to the man and said to him, “Are you the man who spoke to the woman?” And he said, “I am.”

12Then Manoah said, “Now let your words come true. What will be the rule for the boy and for his work?”

13And the angel of Yahweh said to Manoah, “The woman must be careful to do everything that I said to her.”

14She must not eat anything that comes from the grapevine, and she must not drink wine or strong drink, and she must not eat anything unclean. She must keep all that I commanded her.

15Then Manoah said to the angel of the LORD, “Please let us detain you, and we will prepare a young goat for you.”

16And the angel of Yahweh said to Manoah, “If you detain me, I will not eat your food. But if you prepare a burnt offering, offer it up to Yahweh.” For Manoah did not know that he was the angel of Yahweh.

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

18And the angel of Yahweh said to him, “Why do you ask my name, seeing it is wonderful?”

19So Manoah took the young goat and the grain offering, and offered them on the rock to Yahweh, and he did a wondrous thing while Manoah and his wife were watching.

20And when the flame went up from the altar toward heaven, the angel of Yahweh went up in the flame of the altar, while Manoah and his wife were watching; and they fell on their faces to the ground.

21And the angel of Yahweh did not appear again to Manoah and to his wife. Then Manoah knew that he was the angel of Yahweh.

22And Manoah said to his wife, “We will surely die, because we have seen God.”

23But his wife said to him, “If the LORD had intended to kill us, he would not have accepted from our hand a burnt offering and a grain offering, or shown us all these things, or now announced to us such a thing as this.”

24And the woman bore a son and called his name Samson. And the boy grew, and Yahweh blessed him.

25And the Spirit of Yahweh began to stir him in Mahaneh-dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.