13:1 And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of
the LORD; and the LORD delivered them into the hand of the
Philistines forty years.
13:2 And there was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the
Danites, whose name [was] Manoah; and his wife [was] barren,
and bore not.
13:3 And the angel of the LORD appeared to the woman, and said
to her, Behold, now, thou [art] barren, and bearest not: but
thou shalt conceive, and bear a son.
13:4 Now therefore beware, I pray thee, and drink not wine, nor
strong drink, and eat not any unclean [thing]:
13:5 For lo, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and no razor
shall come on his head: for the child shall be a Nazarite to
God from his birth: and he shall begin to deliver Israel from
the hand of the Philistines.
13:6 Then the woman came and told her husband, saying, A man of
God came to me, and his countenance [was] like the countenance
of an angel of God, very terrible: but I asked him not whence
he [was], neither did he tell me his name:
13:7 But he said to me, Behold, thou shalt conceive, and bear a
son; and now drink no wine nor strong drink, neither eat any
unclean [thing]: for the child shall be a Nazarite to God from
his birth to the day of his death.
13:8 Then Manoah entreated the LORD, and said, O my LORD, let
the man of God, whom thou didst send come again to us, and
teach us what we shall do to the child that shall be born.
13:9 And God hearkened 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.
13:10 And the woman made haste, and ran, and showed her husband,
and said to him, Behold, the man hath appeared to me, that came
to me the [other] day.
13:11 And Manoah arose, and went after his wife, and came to the
man, and said to him, [Art] thou the man that didst speak to
the woman? And he said, I [am].
13:12 And Manoah said, Now let thy words come to pass. How shall
we order the child, and [how] shall we do to him?
13:13 And the angel of the LORD said to Manoah, Of all that I
said to the woman, let her beware.
13:14 She may not eat of any [thing] that cometh of the vine,
neither let her drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean
[thing]; all that I commanded her let her observe.
13:15 And Manoah said to the angel of the LORD, I pray thee, let
us detain thee, until we shall have made ready a kid for thee.
13:16 And the angel of the LORD said to Manoah, Though thou
shouldst detain me, I will not eat of thy bread: and if thou
wilt offer a burnt-offering, thou must offer it to the LORD.
For Manoah knew not that he [was] an angel of the LORD.
13:17 And Manoah said to the angel of the LORD, What [is] thy
name, that when thy sayings come to pass, we may do thee honor?
13:18 And the angel of the LORD said to him, why askest thou
thus after my name, seeing it [is] secret?
13:19 So Manoah took a kid, with a meat-offering, and offered
[it] upon a rock to the LORD; and [the angel] did wonderously,
and Manoah and his wife looked on.
13:20 For it came to pass, when the flame ascended towards
heaven from off the altar, that the angel of the LORD ascended
in the flame of the altar. And Manoah and his wife looked on
[it], and fell on their faces to the ground.
13:21 But the angel of the LORD did no more appear to Manoah and
to his wife. Then Manoah knew that he [was] an angel of the
LORD.
13:22 And Manoah said to his wife, We shall surely die, because
we have seen God.
13:23 But his wife said to him, If the LORD were pleased to kill
us, he would not have received a burnt-offering and a
meat-offering at our hands, neither would he have showed us all
these [things], nor would, as at this time, have told us [such
things] as these.
13:24 And the woman bore a son, and called his name Samson. And
the child grew, and the LORD blessed him.
13:25 And the Spirit of the LORD began to move him at times in
the camp of Dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.
|