Judges 13
1 The Israelites again did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and the LORD handed them over to the Philistines for forty years.
2 There was a man from Zorah, from the clan of the Danites, named Manoah. His wife was unable to have children and had borne none.
3 The angel of the LORD appeared to the woman and said to her, “You are unable to have children and have borne none, but you will become pregnant and give birth to a son.
4 Now be careful: do not drink wine or strong drink, and do not eat anything unclean.
5 For you will become pregnant and give birth to a son. No razor is to touch his head, because the boy will be dedicated to God from the womb. He will begin to deliver Israel from the hand of the Philistines.”
6 The woman went and told her husband, “A man of God came to me. He looked like an angel of God, very awe-inspiring. I did not ask him where he was from, and he did not tell me his name.
7 He said to me, ‘You will become pregnant and give birth to a son. Now do not drink wine or strong drink, and do not eat anything unclean, because the boy will be dedicated to God from the womb until the day of his death.’”
8 Manoah pleaded with the LORD: “Please, Lord, let the man of God you sent come to us again and teach us what we should do with the boy who is to be born.”
9 God heard Manoah’s plea, and the angel of God came to the woman again while she was sitting in the field. Manoah, her husband, was not with her.
10 The woman hurried, ran, and told her husband, “The man who came to me that day has appeared to me again.”
11 Manoah got up, followed his wife, came to the man, and asked him, “Are you the man who spoke with the woman?” He replied, “I am.”
12 Manoah said, “When your words come true, what is to be the boy’s way of life, and what is he to do?”
13 The angel of the LORD answered Manoah, “She must observe everything I told the woman.
14 She must not eat anything that comes from the vine, drink wine or strong drink, or eat anything unclean. She must observe everything I commanded her.”
15 Manoah said to the angel of the LORD, “Please stay with us, and we will prepare a young goat for you.”
16 The angel of the LORD said to Manoah, “Even if you make me stay, I will not eat your food. But if you want to prepare a burnt offering, offer it to the LORD.” Manoah did not know that he was the angel of the LORD.
17 Manoah asked the angel of the LORD, “What is your name? Then, when your words come true, we can honor you.”
18 The angel of the LORD replied, “Why do you ask my name? It is wonderful.”
19 Manoah took the young goat and the grain offering and offered them to the LORD on the rock, and he performed a wonder while Manoah and his wife watched.
20 As the flame rose from the altar toward heaven, the angel of the LORD went up in the altar’s flame. Manoah and his wife saw it and fell facedown to the ground.
21 The angel of the LORD did not appear to Manoah and his wife again. Then Manoah knew that he was the angel of the LORD.
22 Manoah said to his wife, “We are surely going to die, because we have seen God.”
23 But his wife said to him, “If the LORD had wanted to kill us, he would not have accepted a burnt offering and a grain offering from us, shown us all these things, or told us things like this just now.”
24 The woman gave birth to a son and named him Samson. The boy grew, and the LORD blessed him.
25 The Spirit of the LORD began to stir him at Mahaneh-dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.
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