Judges 13:1-15
Birth of Samson, the Last Judge
1 The Israelites again did what was evil in the Lord’s sight,(A) so the Lord handed them over to the Philistines 40 years.
2 There was a certain man from Zorah,(B) from the family of Dan, whose name was Manoah; his wife was unable to conceive and had no children.
3 The Angel of the Lord appeared to the woman and said to her, “It is true that you are unable to conceive and have no children, but you will conceive and give birth to a son.
4 Now please be careful not to drink wine or beer,(C) or to eat anything unclean;(D)
5 for indeed, you will conceive and give birth to a son. You must never cut his hair,(a) because the boy will be a Nazirite(E) to God from birth, and he will begin to save Israel from the power of the Philistines.”
6 Then the woman went and told her husband, “A man of God came to me. He looked like the awe-inspiring Angel of God. I didn’t ask Him where He came from, and He didn’t tell me His name.
7 He said to me, ‘You will conceive and give birth to a son. Therefore, do not drink wine or beer, and do not eat anything unclean, because the boy will be a Nazirite to God from birth until the day of his death.’”
8 Manoah prayed(F) to the Lord and said, “Please Lord, let the man of God you sent come again to us and teach us what we should do for the boy who will be born.”
9 God listened(G) to(b) Manoah, and the Angel of God came again to the woman. She was sitting in the field, and her husband Manoah was not with her.
10 The woman ran quickly to her husband and told him, “The man who came to me today has just come back!”
11 So Manoah got up and followed his wife. When he came to the man, he asked, “Are You the man who spoke to my wife?”
“I am,” He said.
“I am,” He said.
12 Then Manoah asked, “When Your words come true, what will the boy’s responsibilities and mission(c) be?”
Footnotes:
a.
Judges 13:5: Lit And a razor is not to go up on his head
b.
Judges 13:9: Lit to the voice of
c.
Judges 13:12: Lit work
Cross references:
D.
Judges 13:4:
Leviticus 7:19; Leviticus 7:21; Leviticus 22:8; Deuteronomy 12:22; Deuteronomy 14:10; Deuteronomy 15:22