13:1
And the children of Israel again did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord; and the Lord delivered them into the hand of the Philistines forty years.
13:2
And there was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren, and bore not.
13:3
And the angel of the Lord appeared unto the woman, and said unto her: 'Behold now, thou art barren, and hast not borne; but thou shalt conceive, and bear a son.
13:4
Now therefore beware, I pray thee, and drink no wine nor strong drink, and eat not any unclean thing.
13:5
For, lo, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and no razor shall come upon his head; for the child shall be a Nazirite unto God from the womb; and he shall begin to save Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.'
13:6
Then the woman came and told her husband, saying: 'A man of God came unto me, and his countenance was like the countenance of the angel of God, very terrible; and I asked him not whence he was, neither told he me his name;
13:7
but he said unto me: Behold, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and now drink no wine nor strong drink, and eat not any unclean thing; for the child shall be a Nazirite unto God from the womb to the day of his death.'
13:8
Then Manoah entreated the Lord, and said: 'Oh, the Lord, I pray Thee, 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.'
13:9
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.
13:10
And the woman made haste, and ran, and told her husband, and said unto him: 'Behold, the man hath appeared unto me, that came unto me that day.'
13:11
And Manoah arose, and went after his wife, and came to the man, and said unto him: 'Art thou the man that spokest unto the woman?' And he said: 'I am.'
13:12
And Manoah said: 'Now when thy word cometh to pass, what shall be the rule for the child, and what shall be done with him?'
13:13
And the angel of the Lord said unto Manoah: 'Of all that I said unto the woman let her beware.
13:14
She may not eat of any thing that cometh of the grapevine, neither let her drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing; all that I commanded her let her observe.'
13:15
And Manoah said unto the angel of the Lord: 'I pray thee, let us detain thee, that we may make ready a kid for thee.'
13:16
And the angel of the Lord said unto Manoah: 'Though thou detain me, I will not eat of thy bread; and if thou wilt make ready a burnt-offering, thou must offer it unto the Lord.' For Manoah knew not that he was the angel of the Lord.
13:17
And Manoah said unto the angel of the Lord: 'What is thy name, that when thy words come to pass we may do thee honour?'
13:18
And the angel of the Lord said unto him: 'Wherefore askest thou after my name, seeing it is hidden?'
13:19
So Manoah took the kid with the meal-offering, and offered it upon the rock unto the Lord; and the angel did wondrously, and Manoah and his wife looked on.
13:20
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; and they fell on their faces to the ground.
13:21
But the angel of the Lord did no more appear to Manoah or to his wife. Then Manoah knew that he was the angel of the Lord.
13:22
And Manoah said unto his wife: 'We shall surely die, because we have seen God.'
13:23
But his wife said unto him: 'If the Lord were pleased to kill us, He would not have received a burnt-offering and a meal-offering at our hand, neither would He have shown us all these things, nor would at this time have told such things as these.'
13:24
And the woman bore a son, and called his name Samson; and the child grew, and the Lord blessed him.
13:25
And the spirit of the Lord began to move him in Mahaneh-dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.