Judges 13

1And the children of Israel again did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah; and Jehovah delivered them into the hand of the Philistines forty years.

1Once again, the people of Israel did what was evil in the LORD’s sight, so the LORD handed them over to the Philistines for forty years.

2And there was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren, and bare not.

2There was a man from Zorah named Manoah, from the tribe of Dan. His wife was unable to have children and had never given birth.

3And the angel of Jehovah appeared unto the woman, and said unto her, Behold now, thou art barren, and bearest not; but thou shalt conceive, and bear a son.

3The angel of the LORD appeared to the woman and said, 'Even though you have been unable to conceive and have no children, you will become pregnant and give birth to a son.'

4Now therefore beware, I pray thee, and drink no wine nor strong drink, and eat not any unclean thing:

4'So be careful: do not drink any wine or other alcoholic drinks, and do not eat any food that is forbidden.'

5for, 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.

5'You will become pregnant and have a son. No razor must ever touch his head, because the boy will be a Nazirite, dedicated to God from before he is born. He will begin to rescue Israel from the power of the Philistines.'

6Then 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:

6The woman went and told her husband, 'A man of God came to me. He looked very awesome, like an angel of God. I didn’t ask where he came from, and he didn’t tell me his name.'

7but 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.

7'But he said to me, "You will become pregnant and give birth to a son. Now, do not drink any wine or alcoholic drinks, and do not eat any forbidden food, because the boy will be a Nazirite to God from the time he is born until the day he dies."'

8Then Manoah entreated Jehovah, and said, Oh, 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.

8Then Manoah prayed to the LORD, 'O Lord, please let the man of God you sent come back to us. We need him to teach us how to raise the boy who is going to be born.'

9And 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.

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

10And 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 the other day.

10The woman ran quickly to tell her husband, 'Look! The man who came to me the other day has appeared again!'

11And Manoah arose, and went after his wife, and came to the man, and said unto him, Art thou the man that spakest unto the woman? And he said, I am.

11Manoah got up and followed his wife. When he came to the man, he asked, 'Are you the man who spoke to my wife?' The man replied, 'I am.'

12And Manoah said, Now let thy words come to pass: what shall be the ordering of the child, and how shall we do unto him?

12Manoah asked, 'When your words come true, what should be the boy's way of life, and what should he do?'

13And the angel of Jehovah said unto Manoah, Of all that I said unto the woman let her beware.

13The angel of the LORD told Manoah, 'Your wife must follow everything I told her.'

14She may not eat of anything that cometh of the vine, neither let her drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing; all that I commanded her let her observe.

14'She must not eat anything that comes from a grapevine, she must not drink wine or alcoholic drinks, and she must not eat any forbidden food. She must do everything I commanded her.'

15And Manoah said unto the angel of Jehovah, I pray thee, let us detain thee, that we may make ready a kid for thee.

15Manoah said to the angel of the LORD, 'Please stay with us while we prepare a young goat for you to eat.'

16And the angel of Jehovah 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 Jehovah. For Manoah knew not that he was the angel of Jehovah.

16The angel of the LORD replied, 'Even if I stay, I will not eat your food. But if you want to prepare a burnt offering, give it to the LORD.' (Manoah did not realize that he was the angel of the LORD.)

17And Manoah said unto the angel of Jehovah, What is thy name, that, when thy words come to pass, we may do thee honor?

17Then Manoah asked the angel of the LORD, 'What is your name? We want to honor you when your words come true.'

18And the angel of Jehovah said unto him, Wherefore askest thou after my name, seeing it is wonderful?

18The angel of the LORD asked him, 'Why do you ask for my name? It is too wonderful for you to understand.'

19So Manoah took the kid with the meal-offering, and offered it upon the rock unto Jehovah: and the angel did wondrously, and Manoah and his wife looked on.

19So Manoah took a young goat and a grain offering and sacrificed them on a rock to the LORD. While Manoah and his wife watched, the LORD did an amazing thing.

20For it came to pass, when the flame went up toward heaven from off the altar, that the angel of Jehovah ascended in the flame of the altar: and Manoah and his wife looked on; and they fell on their faces to the ground.

20As the flames rose from the altar toward heaven, the angel of the LORD went up in the fire. When Manoah and his wife saw this, they fell face down on the ground.

21But the angel of Jehovah did no more appear to Manoah or to his wife. Then Manoah knew that he was the angel of Jehovah.

21The angel of the LORD did not appear to Manoah and his wife again. Then Manoah realized that he was the angel of the LORD.

22And Manoah said unto his wife, We shall surely die, because we have seen God.

22Manoah said to his wife, 'We are certainly going to die, because we have seen God!'

23But his wife said unto him, If Jehovah were pleased to kill us, he would not have received a burnt-offering and a meal-offering at our hand, neither would he have showed us all these things, nor would at this time have told such things as these.

23But his wife replied, 'If the LORD wanted to kill us, he wouldn’t have accepted our burnt offering and grain offering. He wouldn’t have shown us all these things or told us such news at this time.'

24And the woman bare a son, and called his name Samson: and the child grew, and Jehovah blessed him.

24The woman gave birth to a son and named him Samson. The boy grew up, and the LORD blessed him.

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

25And the Spirit of the LORD began to stir in him while he was at Mahaneh-dan, between the towns of Zorah and Eshtaol.