| New International Version | NET Bible |
| 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. | 1The Israelites again did evil in the LORD's sight, so the LORD handed them over to the Philistines for forty years. |
| 2A certain man of Zorah, named Manoah, from the clan of the Danites, had a wife who was childless, unable to give birth. | 2There was a man named Manoah from Zorah, from the Danite tribe. His wife was infertile and childless. |
| 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. | 3The LORD's angelic messenger appeared to the woman and said to her, "You are infertile and childless, but you will conceive and have a son. |
| 4Now see to it that you drink no wine or other fermented drink and that you do not eat anything unclean. | 4Now be careful! Do not drink wine or beer, and do not eat any food that will make you ritually unclean. |
| 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." | 5Look, you will conceive and have a son. You must never cut his hair, for the child will be dedicated to God from birth. He will begin to deliver Israel from the power of the Philistines." |
| 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. | 6The woman went and said to her husband, "A man sent from God came to me! He looked like God's angelic messenger--he was very awesome. I did not ask him where he came from, and he did not tell me his name. |
| 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.'" | 7He said to me, 'Look, you will conceive and have a son. So now, do not drink wine or beer and do not eat any food that will make you ritually unclean. For the child will be dedicated to God from birth till the day he dies.'" |
| 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." | 8Manoah prayed to the LORD, "Please, Lord, allow the man sent from God to visit us again, so he can teach us how we should raise the child who will be born." |
| 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. | 9God answered Manoah's prayer. God's angelic messenger visited the woman again while she was sitting in the field. But her husband Manoah was not with her. |
| 10The woman hurried to tell her husband, "He's here! The man who appeared to me the other day!" | 10The woman ran at once and told her husband, "Come quickly, the man who visited me the other day has appeared to me!" |
| 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. | 11So Manoah got up and followed his wife. When he met the man, he said to him, "Are you the man who spoke to my wife?" He said, "Yes." |
| 12So Manoah asked him, "When your words are fulfilled, what is to be the rule that governs the boy's life and work?" | 12Manoah said, "Now, when your announcement comes true, how should the child be raised and what should he do?" |
| 13The angel of the LORD answered, "Your wife must do all that I have told her. | 13The LORD's messenger told Manoah, "Your wife should pay attention to everything I told her. |
| 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." | 14She should not drink anything that the grapevine produces. She must not drink wine or beer, and she must not eat any food that will make her ritually unclean. She should obey everything I commanded her to do." |
| 15Manoah said to the angel of the LORD, "We would like you to stay until we prepare a young goat for you." | 15Manoah said to the LORD's messenger, "Please stay here awhile, so we can prepare a young goat for you to eat." |
| 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.) | 16The LORD's messenger said to Manoah, "If I stay, I will not eat your food. But if you want to make a burnt sacrifice to the LORD, you should offer it." (He said this because Manoah did not know that he was the LORD's messenger.) |
| 17Then Manoah inquired of the angel of the LORD, "What is your name, so that we may honor you when your word comes true?" | 17Manoah said to the LORD's messenger, "Tell us your name, so we can honor you when your announcement comes true." |
| 18He replied, "Why do you ask my name? It is beyond understanding." | 18The LORD's messenger said to him, "You should not ask me my name, because you cannot comprehend it." |
| 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: | 19Manoah took a young goat and a grain offering and offered them on a rock to the LORD. The LORD's messenger did an amazing thing as Manoah and his wife watched. |
| 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. | 20As the flame went up from the altar toward the sky, the LORD's messenger went up in it while Manoah and his wife watched. They fell facedown to the ground. |
| 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. | 21The LORD's messenger did not appear again to Manoah and his wife. After all this happened Manoah realized that the visitor had been the LORD's messenger. |
| 22"We are doomed to die!" he said to his wife. "We have seen God!" | 22Manoah said to his wife, "We will certainly die, because we have seen a supernatural being!" |
| 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." | 23But his wife said to him, "If the LORD wanted to kill us, he would not have accepted the burnt offering and the grain offering from us. He would not have shown us all these things, or have spoken to us like this just now." |
| 24The woman gave birth to a boy and named him Samson. He grew and the LORD blessed him, | 24Manoah's wife gave birth to a son and named him Samson. The child grew and the LORD empowered him. |
| 25and the Spirit of the LORD began to stir him while he was in Mahaneh Dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol. | 25The LORD's spirit began to control him in Mahaneh Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol. |
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