Judges 13:1–15

Birth of Samson, the Last Judge

13The Israelites again did what was evil in the Lord’s sight, ^gso the Lord handed them over to the Philistines 40 years. ²There was a certain man from Zorah, ^hfrom the family of Dan, whose name was Manoah; his wife was unable to conceive and had no children. ³The Angel of the Lord appeared to the woman and said to her, “It is true that you are unable to conceive and have no children, but you will conceive and give birth to a son. ⁴Now please be careful not to drink wine or beer, ⁱor to eat anything unclean; ^j5for indeed, you will conceive and give birth to a son. You must never cut his hair, ^kbecause the boy will be a Nazirite ^lto God from birth, and he will begin to save Israel from the power of the Philistines.”

⁶Then 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. ⁷He 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.’ ”

⁸Manoah prayed ^mto 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.”

⁹God listened ⁿto ^oManoah, and the Angel of God came again to the woman. She was sitting in the field, and her husband Manoah was not with her. ¹⁰The woman ran quickly to her husband and told him, “The man who came to me today has just come back!”

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 true, what will the boy’s responsibilities and mission ^pbe?”

¹³The Angel of the Lord answered Manoah, “Your wife needs to do everything I told her. ¹⁴She 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 ^qfor You.”