 1 The children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the Lord. The Lord delivered them into the hands of the Philistines 40 years. 2 There was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah. And his wife was barren and did not bear. 3 The angel of the Lord appeared to the woman and said to her, Behold now you are barren and do not bear. But you will conceive and bear a son. 4 Now please take heed and do not drink wine or strong drink, and do not eat any unclean thing. 5 For you will conceive and bear a son and no razor shall come upon his head. For the child will be a Nazarite to God from the womb. He will begin to deliver Israel from the Philistines. 6 The woman came and told her husband saying, A man of God came to me, and His face was like the face of an angel of God, very terrifying. But I did not ask Him where He came from, neither did He tell me His name. 7 But He said to me, Behold, you will conceive and bear a son. Now drink no wine nor strong drink, neither eat any unclean thing, for the boy will be a Nazirite to God from the womb to the day of his death. 8 Manoah prayed to the Lord and said, O Lord, let the man of God, whom you sent, come again to us and teach us what we shall do to the boy who will be born. 9 God listened to the voice of Manoah, and the angel of God came again to the woman as she sat in the field. But Manoah her husband was not with her. 10 The woman hurried to tell her husband and said to him, Behold, the man appeared to me, the one who came to me the other day. 11 Manoah arose and followed his wife. They came to the man and said to Him, Are you the man who spoke to the woman? He said, I am. 12 Manoah said, Now let your words come to pass. How shall we order the child and what shall we do to him? 13 The angel of the Lord said to Manoah, Of all that I said to the woman let her be careful. 14 She may not eat of all that comes from the vine, neither let her drink wine nor strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing. Let her do all that I commanded her. 15 Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, I ask you to let us keep you until we have made a kid ready for you. 16 The angel of the Lord said to Manoah, Though you keep me, I will not eat of your bread. And if you will offer a burnt offering, you must offer it to the Lord. For Manoah did not know that he was the angel of the Lord. 17 Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, What is your name, so that when your sayings come to pass we may do you honor? 18 The angel of the Lord said to him, Why do you ask my name in this way? It is Wonderful. 19 Manoah took a kid with a food offering and offered it upon a rock to the Lord, and did wonderfully. And Manoah and his wife looked on. 20 When the flame went up toward Heaven from off the altar, the angel of the Lord went in the flame of the altar. And Manoah and his wife looked on it and fell on their faces to the ground. 21 But the angel of the Lord did not appear any more to Manoah and to his wife. Then Manoah knew that He was an angel of the Lord. 22 Manoah said to his wife, We will surely die because we have seen God. 23 But his wife said to him, If the Lord were pleased to kill us, He would not have received a burnt offering and a food offering at our hands, neither would He have showed us all these things, nor have told us such things as these at this time. 24 The woman bore a son and named him Samson. The child grew, and the Lord blessed him. 25 The Spirit of the Lord began to move him at times in the camp of Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol.
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