Now the sons of Israel
aagain
did
evil
in the sight
of the LORD
, so that the LORD
gave
them into the hands
of the Philistines
forty
years
.
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.
aThen 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
.
"Now therefore, be careful
anot to drink
wine
or strong
drink
, nor
eat
any
unclean
thing
.
" aFor behold, you shall 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 shall begin
to deliver
Israel
from the hands
of the Philistines
."
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
.
"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
unclean
thing
, for the boy
shall be a Nazirite
to God
from the womb
to the day
of his death
.' "
Then Manoah entreated
the LORD
and said
, "O
Lord
, please
let athe 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
."
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.
So the woman ran
quickly
and told
her 1husband
, "Behold
, athe man
who
2came
the other day
has appeared
to me."
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."
Manoah said
, "Now
when your words
come
to pass, what
shall be the boy's
mode
of life
and his vocation
?"
So athe angel of the LORD
said
to Manoah
, " bLet the woman
pay
attention
1to all
that I said
.
"She should not eat anything
that comes
from the avine
nor
drink
wine
or strong
drink
, nor
eat
any
unclean
thing
; let her observe
all
that I commanded
."
Then Manoah said
to athe angel
of the LORD
, "Please
let us detain
you so that we may prepare
a young
goat
for you."
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
, then offer
it to the LORD
." For Manoah
did not know
that he was the angel
of the LORD
.
Manoah said
to the angel
of the LORD
, " aWhat
is your name
, so that when your words
come
to pass, we may honor
you?"
But the angel of the LORD
said
to him, "Why
do you ask
my name
, seeing it is 1 awonderful
?"
So aManoah 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.
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
.
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
.
So Manoah said
to his wife
, " aWe will surely
die
, for we have seen
God
."
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
."
Then the woman gave
birth
to a son
and named
him Samson
; and the achild
grew
up and the LORD
blessed
him.
And athe Spirit of the LORD
began
to stir
him in 1 bMahaneh-dan
, between
Zorah
and Eshtaol
.