Judges 13

Chapter 13

The Birth of Samson

1 Again the Israelites did evil in the LORD’s sight, so the LORD handed them over to the Philistines, who oppressed them for forty years.
2 In those days a man named Manoah from the tribe of Dan lived in the town of Zorah. His wife was unable to become pregnant, and they had no children.3 The angel of the LORD appeared to Manoah’s wife and said, “Even though you have been unable to have children, you will soon become pregnant and give birth to a son.4 So be careful; you must not drink wine or any other alcoholic drink nor eat any forbidden food.t

5 You will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and his hair must never be cut. For he will be dedicated to God as a Nazirite from birth. He will begin to rescue Israel from the Philistines.”
6 The woman ran and told her husband, “A man of God appeared to me! He looked like one of God’s angels, terrifying to see. I didn’t ask where he was from, and he didn’t tell me his name.

7 But he told me, ‘You will become pregnant and give birth to a son. You must not drink wine or any other alcoholic drink nor eat any forbidden food. For your son will be dedicated to God as a Nazirite from the moment of his birth until the day of his death.’”

8 Then Manoah prayed to the LORD, saying, “Lord, please let the man of God come back to us again and give us more instructions about this son who is to be born.”
9 God answered Manoah’s prayer, and the angel of God appeared once again to his wife as she was sitting in the field. But her husband, Manoah, was not with her.

10 So she quickly ran and told her husband, “The man who appeared to me the other day is here again!”

11 Manoah ran back with his wife and asked, “Are you the man who spoke to my wife the other day?”
“Yes,” he replied, “I am.”

12 So Manoah asked him, “When your words come true, what kind of rules should govern the boy’s life and work?”
13 The angel of the LORD replied, “Be sure your wife follows the instructions I gave her.

14 She must not eat grapes or raisins, drink wine or any other alcoholic drink, or eat any forbidden food.”

15 Then Manoah said to the angel of the LORD, “Please stay here until we can prepare a young goat for you to eat.”

16 “I will stay,” the angel of the LORD replied, “but I will not eat anything. However, you may prepare a burnt offering as a sacrifice to the LORD.” (Manoah didn’t realize it was the angel of the LORD.)

17 Then Manoah asked the angel of the LORD, “What is your name? For when all this comes true, we want to honor you.”

18 “Why do you ask my name?” the angel of the LORD replied. “It is too wonderful for you to understand.”
19 Then Manoah took a young goat and a grain offering and offered it on a rock as a sacrifice to the LORD. And as Manoah and his wife watched, the LORD did an amazing thing.

20 As the flames from the altar shot up toward the sky, the angel of the LORD ascended in the fire. When Manoah and his wife saw this, they fell with their faces to the ground.
21 The angel did not appear again to Manoah and his wife. Manoah finally realized it was the angel of the LORD,

22 and he said to his wife, “We will certainly die, for we have seen God!”

23 But his wife said, “If the LORD were going to kill us, he wouldn’t have accepted our burnt offering and grain offering. He wouldn’t have appeared to us and told us this wonderful thing and done these miracles.”
24 When her son was born, she named him Samson. And the LORD blessed him as he grew up.

25 And the Spirit of the LORD began to stir him while he lived in Mahaneh-dan, which is located between the towns of Zorah and Eshtaol.

JUDGES 13

Samson Is Born

1 Once again the Israelites started disobeying the [Lord]. So he let the Philistines take control of Israel for 40 years.
2 Manoah from the tribe of Dan lived in the town of Zorah. His wife was not able to have children,

3-5 t but one day an angel from the [Lord] appeared to her and said:
You have never been able to have any children, but very soon you will be pregnant and have a son. He will belong to Godt from the day he is born, so his hair must never be cut. And even before he is born, you must not drink any wine or beer or eat any food forbidden by God's laws.
Your son will begin to set Israel free from the Philistines.
6 She went to Manoah and said, “A prophet who looked like an angel of God came and talked to me. I was so frightened, that I didn't even ask where he was from. He didn't tell me his name,

7 but he did say that I'm going to have a baby boy. I'm not supposed to drink any wine or beer or eat any food forbidden by God's laws. Our son will belong to God for as long as he lives.”

8 Then Manoah prayed, “Our [Lord], please send that prophet again and let him tell us what to do for the son we are going to have.”
9 God answered Manoah's prayer, and the angel went back to Manoah's wife while she was resting in the fields. Manoah wasn't there at the time,

10 so she found him and said, “That same man is here again! He's the one I saw the other day.”

11 Manoah went with his wife and asked the man, “Are you the one who spoke to my wife?”
“Yes, I am,” he answered.

12 Manoah then asked, “When your promise comes true, what rules must he obey and what will be his work?”
13 “Your wife must be careful to do everything I told her,” the [Lord]'s angel answered.

14 “She must not eat or drink anything made from grapes. She must not drink wine or beer or eat anything forbidden by God's laws. I told her exactly what to do.”
15 “Please,” Manoah said, “stay here with us for just a little while, and we'll fix a young goat for you to eat.”

16 Manoah didn't realize that he was really talking to one of the [Lord]'s angels.
The angel answered, “I can stay for a little while, although I won't eat any of your food. But if you would like to offer the goat as a sacrifice to the [Lord], that would be fine.”

17 Manoah said, “Tell us your name, so we can honor you after our son is born.”

18 “No,” the angel replied. “You don't need to know my name. And if you did, you couldn't understand it.”
19 So Manoah took a young goat over to a large rock he had chosen for an altar, and he built a fire on the rock. Then he killed the goat, and offered it with some grain as a sacrifice to the [Lord]. But then an amazing thing happened.

20 The fire blazed up toward the sky, and the [Lord]'s angel went up toward heaven in the fire. Manoah and his wife bowed down low when they saw what happened.
21 Although the angel didn't appear to them again, they realized he was one of the [Lord]'s angels.

22 Manoah said, “We have seen an angel.t Now we're going to die.”t

23 “The [Lord] isn't going to kill us,” Manoah's wife responded. “The [Lord] accepted our sacrifice and grain offering, and he let us see something amazing. Besides, he told us that we're going to have a son.”
24 Later, Manoah's wife did give birth to a son, and she named him Samson. As the boy grew, the [Lord] blessed him. 25 Then, while Samson was staying at Dan's Campt between the towns of Zorah and Eshtaol, the Spirit of the [Lord] took control of him.