1 N ow the sons of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord, so that the Lord gave them into the hands of the Philistines forty years.

¶ And the sons of Israel did evil again in the sight of the LORD, and the LORD delivered them into the hand of the Philistines for forty years.

2 T here was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren and had borne no children.

And there was a certain man of Zorah, of the tribe of Dan, whose name was Manoah, and his wife was barren, (she had never born children).

3 T hen the angel of the Lord appeared to the woman and said to her, “Behold now, you are barren and have borne no children, but you shall conceive and give birth to a son.

And the angel of the LORD appeared unto this woman and said unto her, Behold now, thou art barren and hast had no children, but thou shalt conceive and bear a son.

4 N ow therefore, be careful not to drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing.

Now keep thyself and drink no wine nor strong drink and eat no unclean thing.

5 F or behold, you shall conceive and give birth to a son, and no razor shall come upon his head, for the boy shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb; and he shall begin to deliver Israel from the hands of the Philistines.”

For 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 save Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.

6 T hen the woman came and told her husband, saying, “ A man of God came to me and his appearance was like the appearance of the angel of God, very awesome. And I did not ask him where he came from, nor did he tell me his name.

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 did not ask him where he was from, neither did he tell me his name;

7 B ut he said to me, ‘Behold, you shall conceive and give birth to a son, and now you shall not drink wine or strong drink nor eat any unclean thing, for the boy shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb to the day of his death.’”

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 T hen Manoah entreated the Lord and said, “O Lord, please let the man of God whom You have sent come to us again that he may teach us what to do for the boy who is to be born.”

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

9 G od listened to the voice of Manoah; and the angel of God came again to the woman as she was sitting in the field, but Manoah her husband was not with her.

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 S o the woman ran quickly and told her husband, “Behold, the man who came the other day has appeared to me.”

And the woman made haste and ran and told her husband and said unto him, Behold, the man that came unto me has appeared unto me today.

11 T hen Manoah arose and followed his wife, and when he came to the man he said to him, “Are you the man who spoke to the woman?” And he said, “I am.”

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

12 M anoah said, “Now when your words come to pass, what shall be the boy’s mode of life and his vocation?”

Then Manoah said, Now let thy word come to pass. How shall we order the child, and what shall he do?

13 S o the angel of the Lord said to Manoah, “ Let the woman pay attention to all that I said.

And the angel of the LORD replied unto Manoah, Let the woman keep herself from all that I said.

14 S he should not eat anything that comes from the vine nor drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing; let her observe all that I commanded.”

She may not eat of any thing that comes of the vine, neither let her drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing; all that I commanded her let her keep.

15 T hen Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, “Please let us detain you so that we may prepare a young goat for you.”

¶ 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 T he angel of the Lord said to Manoah, “Though you detain me, I will not eat your food, but if you prepare a burnt offering, then offer it to the Lord.” For Manoah did not know that he was the angel of the Lord.

And the angel of the LORD replied unto Manoah, Though thou detain me, I will not eat of thy bread, but if thou wilt offer a burnt offering, sacrifice it unto the LORD. For Manoah did not know that this was the angel of the LORD.

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

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

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

And the angel of the LORD replied, Why dost thou ask for my name? It is wonderful.

19 S o Manoah took the young goat with the grain offering and offered it on the rock to the Lord, and He performed wonders while Manoah and his wife looked on.

So Manoah took a kid with a present and sacrificed it upon a rock unto the LORD, and the angel did wondrously, and Manoah and his wife looked on.

20 F or it came about when the flame went up from the altar toward heaven, that the angel of the Lord ascended in the flame of the altar. When Manoah and his wife saw this, they fell on their faces to the ground.

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 as Manoah and his wife looked on, and they prostrated themselves on the ground on their faces.

21 N ow the angel of the Lord did not appear to Manoah or his wife again. Then Manoah knew that he was the angel of the Lord.

But the angel of the LORD did not appear any more to Manoah and to his wife. Then Manoah knew that he was the angel of the LORD.

22 S o Manoah said to his wife, “ We will surely die, for we have seen God.”

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

23 B ut his wife said to him, “If the Lord had desired to kill us, He would not have accepted a burnt offering and a grain offering from our hands, nor would He have shown us all these things, nor would He have let us hear things like this at this time.”

But his wife said unto him, If the LORD had desired to kill us, he would not have received a burnt offering and the present from our hands, neither would he have showed us all these things, nor would he have announced this according to the time.

24 T hen the woman gave birth to a son and named him Samson; and the child grew up and the Lord blessed him.

¶ And the woman bore a son and called his name Samson. And the child grew, and the LORD blessed him.

25 A nd the Spirit of the Lord began to stir him in Mahaneh-dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.

And the Spirit of the LORD began to manifest himself at times in him in the camps of Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol.