Now Israel ^aagain did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and the LORD gave them into the hands of the Philistines for forty years.

2 And there was a certain man of ^aZorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was infertile and had no children. 3 ^aAnd the ¹Angel of the LORD appeared to the woman and said to her, “Behold, you are infertile and have no children, but you shall conceive and give birth to a son. 4 Therefore, be careful not to ^adrink wine or any other intoxicating drink, and do not eat anything ceremonially unclean. 5 ^aFor behold, you shall conceive and give birth to a son. No razor shall come upon his head, for the boy shall be a ^1bNazirite dedicated to God from birth; and he shall begin to rescue Israel from the hands of the Philistines.” 6 Then the woman went and told her husband, saying, “^aA Man of God came to me and his appearance was like the appearance of the Angel of God, very awesome. I did not ask Him where he came from, and he did not tell me his name. 7 But He said to me, ‘Behold, you shall conceive and give birth to a son, and now you shall not drink wine or any other intoxicating drink, nor eat anything ceremonially unclean, for the boy shall be a Nazirite to God from birth to the day of his death.’”

8 Then Manoah pleaded with the LORD and said, “O Lord, please let ^athe Man of God whom You sent come again to us and teach us what we are to do for the boy who is to be born.” 9 And God listened to the voice of Manoah; and ^athe Angel of God came again to the woman as she sat in the field, but Manoah her husband was not with her. 10 So the woman ran quickly and told her husband, “Behold, ^athe Man who came to me the other day has appeared to me.” 11 Then Manoah got up and followed his wife, and came to the Man and said to him, “Are you ^athe Man who spoke to this woman?” He said, “I am.” 12 And Manoah said, “Now when your words come true, what shall be the boy’s manner of life, and his vocation?” 13 ^aThe Angel of the LORD said to Manoah, “^bThe woman must pay attention to everything that I said to her. 14 She may not eat anything that comes from the ^avine nor drink wine or any other intoxicating drink, nor eat anything ceremonially unclean. She shall observe everything that I commanded her.”

15 Then Manoah said to ^athe Angel of the LORD, “Please let us detain you and let us prepare a young goat for you to eat.” 16 The Angel of the LORD said to Manoah, “Though you detain me, ^aI will not eat your food, but if you prepare a burnt offering, offer it to the LORD.” For Manoah did not know that he was the Angel of the LORD. 17 Manoah said to the Angel of the LORD, “^aWhat is your name, so that when your words come true, we may honor you?” 18 But the Angel of the LORD said to him, “Why do you ask my name, seeing it is ^awonderful (miraculous) ?” Is 9:6 19 So ^aManoah took the young goat with the grain offering and offered it on the rock to the LORD, and He performed miracles while Manoah and his wife looked on. 20 For when the flame went up toward heaven from the altar, the Angel of the LORD ascended in the altar flame. When Manoah and his wife saw this they ^afell on their faces to the ground.

21 The Angel of the LORD did not appear again to Manoah or his wife. ^aThen Manoah knew that he was the Angel of the LORD. 22 So Manoah said to his wife, “^aWe will certainly die, because we have seen God.” 23 But his sensible wife said to him, “If the LORD had desired to kill us, He would not have received a burnt offering and a grain offering from our hands, nor would He have ^ashown us all these things, nor would He have announced such things as these at this time.”

24 So the woman in due time gave birth to a son and named him Samson; and the ^aboy grew and the LORD blessed him. 25 And ^athe Spirit of the LORD began to ¹stir him at times in ^2bMahaneh-dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.

Then the sons of Israel ^aagain did what was evil in the eyes of Yahweh, so that Yahweh gave them into the hand of the Philistines forty years.

2 And there was a certain man of ^aZorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren and had borne no children. 3 ^aThen the angel of Yahweh appeared to the woman and said to her, “Behold now, you are barren and have borne no children, but you ¹shall be with child and give birth to a son. 4 So now, be careful ^anot to drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing. 5 ^aFor behold, you ¹shall be with child and give birth to a son, and no razor shall come upon his head, for the boy shall be a ^bNazirite to God from the womb; and he shall begin to save Israel from the hand of the Philistines.” 6 Then the woman came and told her husband, saying, “^aA 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. 7 And he said to me, ‘Behold, you ¹shall be with child and give birth to a son, so now you shall not drink wine or strong drink, and you shall not eat any unclean thing, for the boy shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb to the day of his death.’”

8 Then Manoah entreated Yahweh and said, “O Lord, please let ^athe man of God whom You have sent come to us again that he may instruct us what to do for the boy who is to be born.” 9 And God listened to the voice of Manoah; and ^athe angel of God came again to the woman as she was sitting in the field, but Manoah her husband was not with her. 10 So the woman ran quickly and told her husband, and she said to him, “Behold, ^athe man who came the other day to me has appeared to me.” 11 Then Manoah arose and followed his wife, and when he came to the man he said to him, “Are you ^athe man who spoke to the woman?” And he said, “I am.” 12 So Manoah said, “Now your words will come to pass. What shall be the judgment governing the boy and his work?” 13 So ^athe angel of Yahweh said to Manoah, “^bLet the woman be careful in all that I said. 14 She should not eat anything that comes from the ^avine, nor drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing; let her keep all that I commanded.”

15 Then Manoah said to ^athe angel of Yahweh, “Please let us delay you so that we may prepare a young goat for you.” 16 And the angel of Yahweh said to Manoah, “Though you delay me, ^aI will not eat your ¹food, but if you prepare a burnt offering, then offer it to Yahweh.” For Manoah did not know that he was the angel of Yahweh. 17 Then Manoah said to the angel of Yahweh, “^aWhat is your name, so that when your words come to pass, we may honor you?” 18 But the angel of Yahweh said to him, “Why do you ask my name, seeing it is ^1awonderful?” 19 So ^aManoah took the young goat with the grain offering and offered it on the rock to Yahweh, and He did a wondrous thing while Manoah and his wife looked on. 20 Indeed, it happened when the flame went up from the altar toward heaven, that the angel of Yahweh went up in the flame of the altar. And Manoah and his wife saw this, so they ^afell on their faces to the ground.

21 Now the angel of Yahweh did not appear to Manoah or his wife again. ^aThen Manoah knew that he was the angel of Yahweh. 22 So Manoah said to his wife, “^aWe will surely die, for we have seen God.” 23 But his wife said to him, “If Yahweh had desired to put us to death, He would not have accepted a burnt offering and a grain offering from our hands, nor would He have ^ashown us all these things, nor would He have let us hear things like this at this time.”

24 Then the woman gave birth to a son and named him Samson; and the ^achild grew up, and Yahweh blessed him. 25 And ^athe Spirit of Yahweh began to stir him in ^1bMahaneh-dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.

Now the sons of Israel ^aagain did evil in the sight of the LORD, and the LORD handed them over to the Philistines for forty years.

2 And there was a man of ^aZorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was infertile and had not given birth to any children. 3 ^aThen the angel of the LORD appeared to the woman and said to her, “Behold now, you are infertile and have not given birth; but you will conceive and give birth to a son. 4 And now, be careful ^anot to drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any ¹unclean thing. 5 ^aFor behold, you will conceive and give birth to a son, and no razor shall come upon his head, for the boy shall be a ^bNazirite to God from the womb; and he will begin to save Israel from the hands of the Philistines.” 6 Then the woman came and told her husband, saying, “^aA man of God came to me, and his appearance was like the appearance of the angel of God, very awesome. So I did not ask him where he came from, nor did he tell me his name. 7 But 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 ¹unclean thing, for the boy shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb to the day of his death.’”

8 Then Manoah pleaded with the LORD and said, “Lord, please let ^athe man of God whom You have sent come to us again so that he may teach us what we are to do for the boy who is to be born.” 9 And God listened to the voice of Manoah; and ^athe angel of God came again to the woman as she was sitting in the field, but Manoah her husband was not with her. 10 So the woman hurried and ran, and told her ¹husband, “Behold, ^athe man who ²came the other day has appeared to me!” 11 So Manoah got up and followed his wife, and when he came to the man he said to him, “Are you ^athe man who spoke to the woman?” And he said, “I am.” 12 Then Manoah said, “Now when your words ¹are fulfilled, what shall be the boy’s way of life and his vocation?” 13 And ^athe angel of the LORD said to Manoah, “^bThe woman shall pay attention ¹to all that I said. 14 She shall not eat anything that comes from the ^avine nor drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing; she shall keep all that I commanded.”

15 Then Manoah said to ^athe angel of the LORD, “Please let us detain you so that we may prepare a young goat for you.” 16 But the angel of the LORD said to Manoah, “Though you detain me, ^aI will not eat your ¹food, but if you prepare a burnt offering, offer it to the LORD.” For Manoah did not know that he was the angel of the LORD. 17 And Manoah said to the angel of the LORD, “^aWhat is your name, so that when your words ¹are fulfilled, we may honor you?” 18 But the angel of the LORD said to him, “Why do you ask my name, for it is ^1awonderful?” 19 So ^aManoah took the young goat along with the grain offering and offered it on the rock to the LORD; and He performed wonders while Manoah and his wife looked on. 20 For 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 ^afell on their faces to the ground.

21 Now the angel of the LORD did not appear to Manoah or his wife again. ^aThen Manoah knew that he was the angel of the LORD. 22 So Manoah said to his wife, “^aWe will certainly die, for we have seen God.” 23 But 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 ^ashown us all these things, nor would He have let us hear things like this at this time.”

24 So the woman gave birth to a son, and named him Samson; and the ^achild grew up and the LORD blessed him. 25 And ^athe Spirit of the LORD began to stir him when he was in ^1bMahaneh-dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.