Judges 13

The Birth of Samson

13Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord, so the Lord delivered them into the hands of the Philistines^q for forty years.^r

²A certain man of Zorah,^s named Manoah,^t from the clan of the Danites,^u had a wife who was childless,^v unable to give birth. ³The angel of the Lord^w appeared to her^x and said, “You are barren and childless, but you are going to become pregnant and give birth to a son.^{y 4}Now see to it that you drink no wine or other fermented drink^z and that you do not eat anything unclean.^{a 5}You will become pregnant and have a son^b whose head is never to be touched by a razor^c because the boy is to be a Nazirite,^d dedicated to God from the womb. He will take the lead^e in delivering Israel from the hands of the Philistines.”

⁶Then the woman went to her husband and told him, “A man of God^f came to me. He looked like an angel of God,^g very awesome.^h I didn’t ask him where he came from, and he didn’t tell me his name. ⁷But he said to me, ‘You will become pregnant and have a son. Now then, drink no wineⁱ or other fermented drink^j and do not eat anything unclean, because the boy will be a Nazirite of God from the womb until the day of his death.^k’ ”

⁸Then Manoah^l prayed to the Lord: “Pardon your servant, Lord. I beg you to let the man of God^m you sent to us come again to teach us how to bring up the boy who is to be born.”

⁹God heard Manoah, and the angel of God came again to the woman while she was out in the field; but her husband Manoah was not with her. ¹⁰The woman hurried to tell her husband, “He’s here! The man who appeared to meⁿ the other day!”

¹¹Manoah got up and followed his wife. When he came to the man, he said, “Are you the man who talked to my wife?”

“I am,” he said.

¹²So Manoah asked him, “When your words are fulfilled, what is to be the rule that governs the boy’s life and work?”

¹³The angel of the Lord answered, “Your wife must do all that I have told her. ¹⁴She must not eat anything that comes from the grapevine, nor drink any wine or other fermented drink^o nor eat anything unclean.^p She must do everything I have commanded her.”

¹⁵Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, “We would like you to stay until we prepare a young goat^q for you.”

¹⁶The angel of the Lord replied, “Even though you detain me, I will not eat any of your food. But if you prepare a burnt offering,^r offer it to the Lord.” (Manoah did not realize^s that it was the angel of the Lord.)

¹⁷Then Manoah inquired of the angel of the Lord, “What is your name,^t so that we may honor you when your word comes true?”

¹⁸He replied, “Why do you ask my name?^u It is beyond understanding.^a” ¹⁹Then Manoah took a young goat, together with the grain offering, and sacrificed it on a rock^v to the Lord. And the Lord did an amazing thing while Manoah and his wife watched: ²⁰As the flame^w blazed up from the altar toward heaven, the angel of the Lord ascended in the flame. Seeing this, Manoah and his wife fell with their faces to the ground.^{x 21}When the angel of the Lord did not show himself again to Manoah and his wife, Manoah realized^y that it was the angel of the Lord.

²²“We are doomed^z to die!” he said to his wife. “We have seen^a God!”

²³But his wife answered, “If the Lord had meant to kill us, he would not have accepted a burnt offering and grain offering from our hands, nor shown us all these things or now told us this.”^b

²⁴The woman gave birth to a boy and named him Samson.^c He grew^d and the Lord blessed him,^{e 25}and the Spirit of the Lord began to stir^f him while he was in Mahaneh Dan,^g between Zorah and Eshtaol.