13 1 Israel for their wickedness is oppressed of the Philistines. 3 The Angel appeareth to Manoah’s wife, 16 The Angel commandeth him to sacrifice unto the Lord. 24 The birth of Samson.

But the children of Israel continued to commit (A)wickedness in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord delivered them into the hands of the Philistines forty years.

¶ Then there was a man in Zorah of the family of the Danites named Manoah, whose wife was [a]barren, and bare not.

And the Angel of the Lord appeared unto the woman, and said unto her, Behold now, thou art barren, and bearest not: but thou shalt conceive, and bear a son.

And now therefore beware (B)that thou drink no wine, nor strong drink, neither eat any unclean thing.

For lo, thou shalt conceive and bear a son, and no razor shall (C)come on his head: for the child shall be a [b]Nazirite unto God from his birth: and he shall begin to save Israel out of the hands of the Philistines.

¶ Then the wife came and told her husband, saying, A man of God came unto me, and the fashion of him was like the fashion of the Angel of God exceedingly [c]fearful, but I asked him not whence he was, neither told he me his name,

But he said unto me, Behold, thou shalt conceive and bear a son, and now thou shalt drink no wine nor strong drink, neither eat any unclean thing, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from his birth to the day of his death.

Then Manoah [d]prayed to the Lord, and said, I pray thee, my Lord, let the man of God, whom thou sentest, come again now unto us, and teach us what we shall do unto the child when he is born.

And God heard the voice of Manoah, and the Angel of God came again unto the wife, as she sat in the field, but Manoah her husband was not with her.

10 ¶ And the wife made haste and ran, and showed her husband, and said unto him, Behold, the man hath appeared unto me, that came unto me [e]today.

11 And Manoah arose and went after his wife, and came to the [f]man, and said unto him, Art thou the man that spakest unto the woman? and he said, Yea.

12 Then Manoah said, Now let thy saying come to pass: but how shall we order the child and do unto him?

13 And the Angel of the Lord said unto Manoah, The woman must beware of all that I said unto her.

14 She may eat of nothing that cometh of the vine tree: she shall not drink wine nor strong drink, nor eat any [g]unclean thing: let her observe all that I have commanded her.

15 Manoah then said unto the Angel of the Lord, I pray thee, let us retain thee, until we have made ready a kid for thee.

16 And the Angel of the Lord said unto Manoah, Though thou make me abide, I will not eat of thy bread, and if thou wilt make a burnt offering, offer it unto the [h]Lord: for Manoah knew not that it was an Angel of the Lord.

17 Again Manoah said unto the Angel of the Lord, What is thy name, that when thy saying is come to pass, we may honor thee?

18 And the Angel of the Lord said unto him, Why askest thou thus after my name, which is [i]secret?

19 Then Manoah took a kid with a meat offering, and offered it upon a stone unto the Lord: and the Angel did [j]wondrously, while Manoah and his wife looked on.

20 For when the flame came up toward heaven from the altar, the Angel of the Lord ascended up in the flame of the altar, and Manoah and his wife beheld it, and fell on their faces unto the ground.

21 (So the Angel of the Lord did no more appear unto Manoah and his wife.) Then Manoah knew that it was an Angel of the Lord.

22 And Manoah said unto his wife, (D)We shall surely die, because we have seen God.

23 But his wife said unto him, If the Lord would kill us, he would not have received a [k]burnt offering, and a meat offering of our hands, neither would he have showed us all these things, nor would now have told us any such.

24 ¶ And the wife bore a son, and called his name Samson: and the child grew, and the Lord blessed him.

25 And the Spirit of the Lord began to [l]strengthen him in the host of Dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.

Footnotes

  1. Judges 13:2 Signifying, that their deliverance came only of God, and not by man’s power.
  2. Judges 13:5 Meaning, he should be separate from the world, and dedicated to God.
  3. Judges 13:6 If flesh be not able to abide the sight of an Angel, how much less the presence of God?
  4. Judges 13:8 He showeth himself ready to obey God’s will, and therefore desireth to know farther.
  5. Judges 13:10 It seemth that the Angel appeared unto her twice in one day.
  6. Judges 13:11 He calleth him man, because he so seemed, but he was Christ the eternal word, which at his time appointed became man.
  7. Judges 13:14 Anything forbidden by the Law.
  8. Judges 13:16 Showing, that he sought not his own honor but God’s, whose messenger he was.
  9. Judges 13:18 Or, marvelous.
  10. Judges 13:19 God sent fire from heaven to consume their sacrifice, to confirm their faith in his promise.
  11. Judges 13:23 These graces that we have received of God, and his accepting of our obedience, are sure tokens of his love toward us, so that nothing can hurt us.
  12. Judges 13:25 Or, to come upon him at divers times.

The Birth of Samson

13 Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord, so the Lord delivered them into the hands of the Philistines(A) for forty years.(B)

A certain man of Zorah,(C) named Manoah,(D) from the clan of the Danites,(E) had a wife who was childless,(F) unable to give birth. The angel of the Lord(G) appeared to her(H) and said, “You are barren and childless, but you are going to become pregnant and give birth to a son.(I) Now see to it that you drink no wine or other fermented drink(J) and that you do not eat anything unclean.(K) You will become pregnant and have a son(L) whose head is never to be touched by a razor(M) because the boy is to be a Nazirite,(N) dedicated to God from the womb. He will take the lead(O) in delivering Israel from the hands of the Philistines.”

Then the woman went to her husband and told him, “A man of God(P) came to me. He looked like an angel of God,(Q) very awesome.(R) I didn’t ask him where he came from, and he didn’t tell me his name. But he said to me, ‘You will become pregnant and have a son. Now then, drink no wine(S) or other fermented drink(T) and do not eat anything unclean, because the boy will be a Nazirite of God from the womb until the day of his death.(U)’”

Then Manoah(V) prayed to the Lord: “Pardon your servant, Lord. I beg you to let the man of God(W) you sent to us come again to teach us how to bring up the boy who is to be born.”

God heard Manoah, and the angel of God came again to the woman while she was out in the field; but her husband Manoah was not with her. 10 The woman hurried to tell her husband, “He’s here! The man who appeared to me(X) the other day!”

11 Manoah got up and followed his wife. When he came to the man, he said, “Are you the man who talked to my wife?”

“I am,” he said.

12 So Manoah asked him, “When your words are fulfilled, what is to be the rule that governs the boy’s life and work?”

13 The angel of the Lord answered, “Your wife must do all that I have told her. 14 She must not eat anything that comes from the grapevine, nor drink any wine or other fermented drink(Y) nor eat anything unclean.(Z) She must do everything I have commanded her.”

15 Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, “We would like you to stay until we prepare a young goat(AA) for you.”

16 The angel of the Lord replied, “Even though you detain me, I will not eat any of your food. But if you prepare a burnt offering,(AB) offer it to the Lord.” (Manoah did not realize(AC) that it was the angel of the Lord.)

17 Then Manoah inquired of the angel of the Lord, “What is your name,(AD) so that we may honor you when your word comes true?”

18 He replied, “Why do you ask my name?(AE) It is beyond understanding.[a] 19 Then Manoah took a young goat, together with the grain offering, and sacrificed it on a rock(AF) to the Lord. And the Lord did an amazing thing while Manoah and his wife watched: 20 As the flame(AG) blazed up from the altar toward heaven, the angel of the Lord ascended in the flame. Seeing this, Manoah and his wife fell with their faces to the ground.(AH) 21 When the angel of the Lord did not show himself again to Manoah and his wife, Manoah realized(AI) that it was the angel of the Lord.

22 “We are doomed(AJ) to die!” he said to his wife. “We have seen(AK) God!”

23 But his wife answered, “If the Lord had meant to kill us, he would not have accepted a burnt offering and grain offering from our hands, nor shown us all these things or now told us this.”(AL)

24 The woman gave birth to a boy and named him Samson.(AM) He grew(AN) and the Lord blessed him,(AO) 25 and the Spirit of the Lord began to stir(AP) him while he was in Mahaneh Dan,(AQ) between Zorah and Eshtaol.

Footnotes

  1. Judges 13:18 Or is wonderful