1 Now the sons of Israel AJudg 2:11again did evil in the sight of the Loʀᴅ, so that the Loʀᴅ gave them into the hands of the Philistines forty years.

2 There was a certain man of AJosh 19:41Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren and had borne no children. 3 AJudg 6:11, 14; 13:6, 8, 10, 11; Luke 1:11-13Then the angel of the Loʀᴅ 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. 4  “Now therefore, be careful ANum 6:2, 3; Luke 1:15not to drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing. 5  “ALuke 1:15For behold, you shall conceive and give birth to a son, and no razor shall come upon his head, for the boy shall be a BNum 6:2-5Nazirite to God from the womb; and he shall begin to deliver Israel from the hands of the Philistines.” 6 Then the woman came and told her husband, saying, “AJudg 6:11; 13:8, 10, 11A 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  “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.’ ”

8 Then Manoah entreated the Loʀᴅ and said, “O Lord, please let AJudg 13:3, 7the 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.” 9 God listened to the voice of Manoah; and AJudg 13:8the 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 1Lit husband, and said to himhusband, “Behold, AJudg 13:9the man who 2Lit came to mecame the other day 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 AJudg 13:8the man who spoke to the woman?” And he said, “I am.” 12 Manoah said, “Now when your words come to pass, what shall be the boy’s mode of life and his vocation?” 13 So AJudg 13:11the angel of the Loʀᴅ said to Manoah, “BJudg 13:4Let the woman pay attention 1Lit fromto all that I said. 14  “She should not eat anything that comes from the ANum 6:4vine nor drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing; let her observe all that I commanded.”

15 Then Manoah said to AJudg 13:3the angel of the Loʀᴅ, “Please let us detain you so that we may prepare a young goat for you.” 16 The angel of the Loʀᴅ said to Manoah, “Though you detain me, AJudg 6:20I will not eat your 1Lit breadfood, but if you prepare a burnt offering, then offer it to the Loʀᴅ.” For Manoah did not know that he was the angel of the Loʀᴅ. 17 Manoah said to the angel of the Loʀᴅ, “AGen 32:29What is your name, so that when your words come to pass, we may honor you?” 18 But the angel of the Loʀᴅ said to him, “Why do you ask my name, seeing it is 1I.e. incomprehensibleAIs 9:6wonderful?” 19 So AJudg 6:20, 21Manoah took the young goat with the grain offering and offered it on the rock to the Loʀᴅ, 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 Loʀᴅ ascended in the flame of the altar. When Manoah and his wife saw this, they ALev 9:24; 1 Chr 21:16; Ezek 1:28; Matt 17:6fell on their faces to the ground.

21 Now the angel of the Loʀᴅ did not appear to Manoah or his wife again. AJudg 13:16Then Manoah knew that he was the angel of the Loʀᴅ. 22 So Manoah said to his wife, “AGen 32:30; Deut 5:26; Judg 6:22We will surely die, for we have seen God.” 23 But his wife said to him, “If the Loʀᴅ had desired to kill us, He would not have accepted a burnt offering and a grain offering from our hands, nor would He have APs 25:14shown 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 A1 Sam 3:19; Luke 1:80child grew up and the Loʀᴅ blessed him. 25 And AJudg 3:10the Spirit of the Loʀᴅ began to stir him in 1I.e. the camp of DanBJudg 18:11, 12Mahaneh-dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.