| English Standard Version | New Living Translation |
| 1And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, so the LORD gave them into the hand of the Philistines for forty years. | 1Again the Israelites did evil in the LORD’s sight, so the LORD handed them over to the Philistines, who oppressed them for forty years. |
| 2There was a certain man of Zorah, of the tribe of the Danites, whose name was Manoah. And his wife was barren and had no children. | 2In 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. |
| 3And the angel of the LORD appeared to the woman and said to her, “Behold, you are barren and have not borne children, but you shall conceive and bear a son. | 3The 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. |
| 4Therefore be careful and drink no wine or strong drink, and eat nothing unclean, | 4So be careful; you must not drink wine or any other alcoholic drink nor eat any forbidden food. |
| 5for behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. No razor shall come upon his head, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb, and he shall begin to save Israel from the hand of the Philistines.” | 5You 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.” |
| 6Then the woman came and told her husband, “A man of God came to me, and his appearance was like the appearance of the angel of God, very awesome. I did not ask him where he was from, and he did not tell me his name, | 6The 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. |
| 7but he said to me, ‘Behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. So then drink no wine or strong drink, and eat nothing unclean, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb to the day of his death.’” | 7But 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.’” |
| 8Then Manoah prayed to the LORD and said, “O Lord, please let the man of God whom you sent come again to us and teach us what we are to do with the child who will be born.” | 8Then 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.” |
| 9And 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. | 9God 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. |
| 10So the woman ran quickly and told her husband, “Behold, the man who came to me the other day has appeared to me.” | 10So she quickly ran and told her husband, “The man who appeared to me the other day is here again!” |
| 11And Manoah arose and went after his wife and came to the man and said to him, “Are you the man who spoke to this woman?” And he said, “I am.” | 11Manoah ran back with his wife and asked, “Are you the man who spoke to my wife the other day?” “Yes,” he replied, “I am.” |
| 12And Manoah said, “Now when your words come true, what is to be the child’s manner of life, and what is his mission?” | 12So Manoah asked him, “When your words come true, what kind of rules should govern the boy’s life and work?” |
| 13And the angel of the LORD said to Manoah, “Of all that I said to the woman let her be careful. | 13The angel of the LORD replied, “Be sure your wife follows the instructions I gave her. |
| 14She may not eat of anything that comes from the vine, neither let her drink wine or strong drink, or eat any unclean thing. All that I commanded her let her observe.” | 14She must not eat grapes or raisins, drink wine or any other alcoholic drink, or eat any forbidden food.” |
| 15Manoah said to the angel of the LORD, “Please let us detain you and prepare a young goat for you.” | 15Then Manoah said to the angel of the LORD, “Please stay here until we can prepare a young goat for you to eat.” |
| 16And the angel of the LORD said to Manoah, “If you detain me, I will not eat of your food. But if you prepare a burnt offering, then offer it to the LORD.” (For Manoah did not know that he was the angel of the LORD.) | 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.) |
| 17And Manoah said to the angel of the LORD, “What is your name, so that, when your words come true, we may honor you?” | 17Then Manoah asked the angel of the LORD, “What is your name? For when all this comes true, we want to honor you.” |
| 18And the angel of the LORD said to him, “Why do you ask my name, seeing it is wonderful?” | 18“Why do you ask my name?” the angel of the LORD replied. “It is too wonderful for you to understand.” |
| 19So Manoah took the young goat with the grain offering, and offered it on the rock to the LORD, to the one who works wonders, and Manoah and his wife were watching. | 19Then 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. |
| 20And when the flame went up toward heaven from the altar, the angel of the LORD went up in the flame of the altar. Now Manoah and his wife were watching, and they fell on their faces to the ground. | 20As 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. |
| 21The angel of the LORD appeared no more to Manoah and to his wife. Then Manoah knew that he was the angel of the LORD. | 21The angel did not appear again to Manoah and his wife. Manoah finally realized it was the angel of the LORD, |
| 22And Manoah said to his wife, “We shall surely die, for we have seen God.” | 22and he said to his wife, “We will certainly die, for we have seen God!” |
| 23But his wife said to him, “If the LORD had meant to kill us, he would not have accepted a burnt offering and a grain offering at our hands, or shown us all these things, or now announced to us such things as these.” | 23But 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.” |
| 24And the woman bore a son and called his name Samson. And the young man grew, and the LORD blessed him. | 24When her son was born, she named him Samson. And the LORD blessed him as he grew up. |
| 25And the Spirit of the LORD began to stir him in Mahaneh-dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol. | 25And 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. |
| ESV Text Edition: 2016. The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved. | Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. |
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