Judges 13
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1Some time later, the Israelis again practiced what the LORD considered to be evil, so the LORD handed them over into the domination of the Philistines for 40 years. 1Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD, so the LORD delivered them into the hands of the Philistines for forty years.
2There was one man from Zorah, from the family of the descendants of Dan, whose name was Manoah. Since his wife was infertile, she hadn't borne children.2A certain man of Zorah, named Manoah, from the clan of the Danites, had a wife who was childless, unable to give birth.
3One day the angel of the LORD presented himself to the woman. "Hello!" he greeted her. "Though you are infertile at this time and haven't borne a child, you're about to conceive and give birth to a son. 3The angel of the LORD appeared to her and said, "You are barren and childless, but you are going to become pregnant and give birth to a son.
4So be sure that you don't drink wine or anything intoxicating, and don't eat anything unclean 4Now see to it that you drink no wine or other fermented drink and that you do not eat anything unclean.
5because—surprise!—you're going to conceive and give birth to a son! Don't put a razor to his head, because the young man will be a Nazirite, dedicated to God from inside the womb. He will begin to deliver Israel from domination by the Philistines."5You will become pregnant and have a son whose head is never to be touched by a razor because the boy is to be a Nazirite, dedicated to God from the womb. He will take the lead in delivering Israel from the hands of the Philistines."
6Then the woman went to tell her husband. She said, "A man of God appeared to me. He looked like what an angel of God would look like—very frightening. I didn't ask him where he had come from and he didn't tell me his name. 6Then the woman went to her husband and told him, "A man of God came to me. He looked like an angel of God, very awesome. I didn't ask him where he came from, and he didn't tell me his name.
7He told me, 'Surprise!—you're going to conceive and give birth to a son!' and as for you, 'Be sure that you don't drink wine or anything intoxicating, and don't eat anything unclean,' 'because the young man will be a Nazirite dedicated to God from inside the womb' until the day he dies."7But he said to me, 'You will become pregnant and have a son. Now then, drink no wine or other fermented drink and do not eat anything unclean, because the boy will be a Nazirite of God from the womb until the day of his death.'"
8So Manoah prayed to the LORD, "Please, Lord, have the man of God whom you sent before come again so he can instruct us what to do on behalf of the child who is to be born."8Then Manoah prayed to the LORD: "Pardon your servant, Lord. I beg you to let the man of God you sent to us come again to teach us how to bring up the boy who is to be born."
9God listened to Manoah's request, and the angel of God came again to the woman as she was sitting out in the pasture. But her husband Manoah wasn't with her, 9God 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.
10so the woman ran quickly to tell her husband, "Look! The man who came the other day appeared to me!"10The woman hurried to tell her husband, "He's here! The man who appeared to me the other day!"
11So Manoah got up quickly and followed his wife, and when he came to the man he told him, "Are you the man who spoke to my wife?" He replied, "I am."11Manoah 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.
12Manoah asked, "Now, when what you've said occurs, what is to be the young man's way of life and work?"12So Manoah asked him, "When your words are fulfilled, what is to be the rule that governs the boy's life and work?"
13The angel of the LORD replied to Manoah, "Just have your wife be careful to carry out everything that I told her. 13The angel of the LORD answered, "Your wife must do all that I have told her.
14She must not consume anything extracted from grape vines, including wine or anything intoxicating, and she must not eat anything unclean, doing everything that I commissioned her to do."14She must not eat anything that comes from the grapevine, nor drink any wine or other fermented drink nor eat anything unclean. She must do everything I have commanded her."
15Manoah responded to the angel of the LORD, "Please, let us detain you while we prepare a young goat for you."15Manoah said to the angel of the LORD, "We would like you to stay until we prepare a young goat for you."
16The angel of the LORD answered Manoah, "If you detain me, I won't be eating your food, but if you prepare a burnt offering, you'll be making a sacrifice to the LORD." The angel of the LORD said this because Manoah didn't know that he was the angel of the LORD.16The 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, offer it to the LORD." (Manoah did not realize that it was the angel of the LORD.)
17Manoah asked the angel of the LORD, "What's your name, because when what you've said happens, we'll glorify you?"17Then Manoah inquired of the angel of the LORD, "What is your name, so that we may honor you when your word comes true?"
18The angel of the LORD answered him, "Why are you asking this about my name? It's 'Wonderful.'" 18He replied, "Why do you ask my name? It is beyond understanding."
19So Manoah prepared a young goat and a grain offering and offered it on a boulder to the LORD, who kept on performing miracles while Manoah and his wife watched continually. 19Then Manoah took a young goat, together with the grain offering, and sacrificed it on a rock to the LORD. And the LORD did an amazing thing while Manoah and his wife watched:
20When the burnt offering was engulfed in flames that sprang up from the altar toward heaven, the angel of the LORD ascended in the flame that came from the altar. When Manoah and his wife observed this, they collapsed on their faces to the ground. 20As the flame 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.
21The angel of the LORD did not appear again to Manoah or to his wife, and then Manoah knew confidently that the visitor had been the angel of the LORD.21When the angel of the LORD did not show himself again to Manoah and his wife, Manoah realized that it was the angel of the LORD.
22Then Manoah told his wife, "We're going to die for sure, because we've seen God!"22"We are doomed to die!" he said to his wife. "We have seen God!"
23But his wife replied to him, "If the LORD had intended to kill us, he wouldn't have accepted a burnt offering and a grain offering from us, he wouldn't have shown us all these things, and he wouldn't have permitted us to hear things like this, now would he?" 23But 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."
24Later on, the woman gave birth to a son and named him Samson. The child grew strong and the LORD blessed him. 24The woman gave birth to a boy and named him Samson. He grew and the LORD blessed him,
25Then the Spirit of the LORD began to rouse him where the tribe of Dan was encamped, between Zorah and Eshtaol.25and the Spirit of the LORD began to stir him while he was in Mahaneh Dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.
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Judges 12
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