The Birth of Samson
1 Again the children of Israeldid evil in the sight of theLord, and theLorddelivered theminto the hand of the Philistines for forty years.
2 Now there was a certain man fromZorah, of the family of the Danites, whose namewasManoah; and his wifewasbarren and had no children.
3 And theAngel of theLordappeared to the woman and said to her, “Indeed now, you are barren and have borne no children, but you shall conceive and bear a son.
4 Now therefore, please be carefulnot to drink wine orsimilardrink, and not to eat anything unclean.
5 For behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. And norazor shall come upon his head, for the child shall bea Nazirite to God from the womb; and he shallbegin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.”
6 So the woman came and told her husband, saying,“A Man of God came to me, and Hiscountenancewaslike the countenance of the Angel of God, very awesome; but Idid not ask Him where Hewasfrom, and He did not tell me His name.
7 And He said to me, ‘Behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. Now drink no wine orsimilardrink, nor eat anything unclean, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb to the day of his death.’ ”
8 Then Manoah prayed to theLord, and said, “O my Lord, please let the Man of God whom You sent come to us again and teach us what we shall do for the child who will be born.”
9 And God listened to the voice of Manoah, and the Angel of God came to the woman again as she was sitting in the field; but Manoah her husbandwasnot with her.
10 Then the woman ran in haste and told her husband, and said to him, “Look, the Man who came to me theotherday has just now appeared to me!”
11 So Manoah arose and followed his wife. When he came to the Man, he said to Him, “Are You the Man who spoke to this woman?”
And He said, “Iam.”
12 Manoah said, “Now let Your words cometopass!What will be the boy’s rule of life, and his work?”
13 So the Angel of theLordsaid to Manoah, “Of all that I said to the woman let her be careful.
14 She may not eat anything that comes from the vine,nor may she drink wine orsimilardrink, nor eat anything unclean. All that I commanded her let her observe.”
15 Then Manoah said to the Angel of theLord, “Pleaselet us detain You, and we will prepare a young goat for You.”
16 And the Angel of theLordsaid to Manoah, “Though you detain Me, I will not eat your food. But if you offer a burnt offering, you must offer it to theLord.” (For Manoah did not know Hewasthe Angel of theLord.)
17 Then Manoah said to the Angel of theLord, “WhatisYour name, that when Your words cometopasswe may honor You?”
18 And the Angel of theLordsaid to him,“Why do you ask My name, seeing itiswonderful?”
19 So Manoah took the young goat with the grain offering,and offered it upon the rock to theLord. And He did a wondrous thing while Manoah and his wife looked on—
20 it happened as the flame went up toward heaven from the altar—the Angel of theLordascended in the flame of the altar! When Manoah and his wife sawthis,theyfell on their faces to the ground.
21 When the Angel of theLordappeared no more to Manoah and his wife,then Manoah knew that Hewasthe Angel of theLord.
22 And Manoah said to his wife,“We shall surely die, because we have seen God!”
23 But his wife said to him, “If theLordhad desired to kill us, He would not have accepted a burnt offering and a grain offering from our hands, nor would He have shown us all thesethings,nor would He have told ussuchthingsas these at this time.”
24 So the woman bore a son and called his nameSamson; andthe child grew, and theLordblessed him.
25 And the Spirit of theLordbegan to move upon him at Mahaneh Danbetween Zorah andEshtaol.