Judges 13

Modern

Literal

The Birth of Samson

¹Again the Israelites did evil in the sight of the LORD, so He delivered them into the hand of the Philistines for forty years.

¹And the sons of Israel again did evil in the eyes of YHWH. And YHWH delivered them into the hand of the Philistines forty years.

²Now there was a man from Zorah named Manoah, from the clan of the Danites, whose wife was barren and had no children.

²And there was a certain man from Zorah of the family of the Danite, and his name was Manoah. And his wife was barren and she had not given birth.

³The angel^a of the LORD appeared to the woman and said to her, “It is true that you are barren and have no children; but you will conceive and give birth to a son.

³And the angel of YHWH appeared to the woman and said to her, “Behold please, you are barren, and you have not borne children. You shall conceive and bear a son.

⁴Now please be careful not to drink wine or strong drink, and not to eat anything unclean.

⁴And now be careful, please, and do not drink wine or strong drink, and do not eat anything unclean.

⁵For behold, you will conceive and give birth to a son. And no razor shall touch his head, because the boy will be a Nazirite^a to God from the womb, and he will begin the deliverance of Israel from the hand of the Philistines.”

⁵For behold, you will conceive and bear a son. And a razor shall not come upon his head, for a Nazirite to God shall be the child from the womb, and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.”

⁶So the woman went and told her husband, “A man of God came to me. His appearance was like the angel of God, exceedingly awesome. I did not ask him where he came from, and he did not tell me his name.

⁶And the woman came and spoke to her husband, saying, “A man of God came to me, and his appearance was like the appearance of the angel of God, exceedingly awesome. I did not ask Him where He was from, and his name he did not tell to me.

⁷But he said to me, ‘Behold, you will conceive and give birth to a son. Now, therefore, do not drink wine or strong drink, and do not eat anything unclean, because the boy will be a Nazirite to God from the womb until the day of his death.’”

⁷And he said to me, ‘Behold, you will conceive and bear a son, and now, do not drink wine or strong drink, and do not eat anything unclean, for a Nazirite to God shall be the child from the womb until the day of his death.’”

⁸Then Manoah prayed to the LORD, “Please, O Lord, let the man of God You sent us come to us again to teach us how to raise the boy who is to be born.”

⁸And Manoah prayed to YHWH and said, “O my Lord, the man of God whom You sent, please let him come again to us and teach us what we shall do for the child who will be born.”

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

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

¹⁰The woman ran quickly to tell her husband, “Behold, the man who came to me the other day has reappeared!”

¹⁰And the woman hurried and ran and declared to her husband and said to him, “Behold, the man has appeared to me who came to me the other day.”

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.

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

¹²Then Manoah asked, “When your words come to pass, what will be the boy’s rule of life and mission?”

¹²And Manoah said, “Now let your words come, what will be the custom of the boy and his work?”

¹³So the angel of the LORD answered Manoah, “Your wife is to do everything I told her.

¹³And the angel of YHWH said to Manoah, “Of all that I said to the woman, let her take heed.

¹⁴She must not eat anything that comes from the vine, nor drink any wine or strong drink, nor eat anything unclean. She must do everything I have commanded her.”

¹⁴Of anything that comes from the wine vine she may not eat, and wine or strong drink she may not drink, and anything unclean she may not eat. All that I have commanded her she shall keep.”

¹⁵“Please stay here,” Manoah said to the angel of the LORD, “and we will prepare a young goat for you.”

¹⁵And Manoah said to the angel of YHWH, “Let us detain, please, you, and we will prepare for you a kid of the goats.”

¹⁶And the angel of the LORD replied, “Even if I stay, I will not eat your food. But if you prepare a burnt offering, offer it to the LORD.” For Manoah did not know that it was the angel of the LORD.

¹⁶And the angel of YHWH said to Manoah, “Even if you detain me, I will not eat of your food, but if you prepare a burnt offering, to YHWH you shall offer it.” For Manoah did not know that he was the angel of YHWH.

¹⁷Then Manoah said to the angel of the LORD, “What is your name, so that we may honor you when your word comes to pass?”

¹⁷And Manoah said to the angel of YHWH, “What is your name, that when your word comes, we may honor you?”

¹⁸“Why do you ask my name,” said the angel of the LORD, “since it is beyond comprehension?”

¹⁸And the angel of YHWH said to him, “Why is this—you do ask My name, and it is incomprehensible?”

¹⁹Then Manoah took a young goat and a grain offering and offered them on a rock to the LORD. And as Manoah and his wife looked on, the LORD did a marvelous thing.

¹⁹And Manoah took the kid of the goats, and a grain offering, and he offered it upon the rock to YHWH, and doing wonderously in doing it; and Manoah and his wife were watching.

²⁰When the flame went up from the altar to the sky, the angel of the LORD ascended in the flame.

When Manoah and his wife saw this, they fell facedown to the ground.

²⁰And it came to pass, in the going up of the flame from the altar toward the heavens, that the angel of YHWH ascended in the flame of the altar. And Manoah and his wife saw it, and they fell on their faces to the ground.

²¹And when the angel of the LORD did not appear again to Manoah and his wife, Manoah realized that it had been the angel of the LORD.

²¹And the angel of YHWH added not again to appear to Manoah and his wife. Then Manoah knew that he was the angel of YHWH.

²²“We are going to die,” he said to his wife, “for we have seen God!”

²²And Manoah said to his wife, “We will surely die, because we have seen God.”

²³But his wife replied, “If the LORD had intended to kill us, He would not have accepted the burnt offering and the grain offering from our hands, nor would He have shown us all these things or spoken to us this way.”

²³And his wife said to him, “If YHWH had delighted to kill us, He would not have accepted from our hands a burnt offering and a grain offering, and He would not have shown us all these things, nor at this time would He have told us as this.”

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

²⁴And the woman bore a son, and she called his name Samson. And the child grew, and YHWH blessed him.

²⁵And the Spirit of the LORD began to stir him at Mahaneh-dan,^a between Zorah and Eshtaol.

²⁵And the Spirit of YHWH began to move upon him at Mahaneh-dan, between Zorah and between Eshtaol.