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the Israelites did evil in the sight of the Lord, so the Lord delivered them into the hands of the Philistines for forty years.
2 There was a certain man from Zorah, from the clan of the Danites, whose name was Manoah. His wife was barren and had no children. 3 The Angel of the Lord appeared to the woman, and He said to her, “Behold, you are now barren and have borne no children, but you are going to conceive and bear a son. 4 So be careful not to drink wine or strong drink, or to eat anything unclean, 5 for you will conceive and give birth to a son. No razor may be used on his head, for the boy will be a Nazirite to God from the womb, and he will begin the deliverance of Israel from the hand of the Philistines.”
6 Then the woman went and told her husband, “A man of God came to me, and His appearance was like the appearance of an angel of God, very awesome. But I did not ask Him where He came from, and He did not tell me His name. 7 But He said to me, ‘You will conceive and bear a son; so do not drink any wine or strong drink, or eat anything unclean, for the boy will be a Nazirite to God from the womb to the day of his death’.”
8 Then Manoah prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord, please let the Man of God whom You sent come to us again, and teach us what we should do for the boy who will be born.”
9 God listened to the voice of 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. 10 The woman ran quickly and told her husband, “The man who came to me earlier has appeared to me just now.”
11 Manoah got up and followed his wife. When he came to the man, he asked Him, “Are you the man who spoke to this woman?”
“I am,” He replied.
12 So Manoah asked Him, “When your words come true, what will be this boy’s rule for life, and what will his mission be?”
13 The Angel of the Lord said to Manoah, “Of all that I said to the woman she must be careful to do. 14 She must not eat anything that comes from the grapevine, neither may she drink wine or strong drink, or eat anything that is unclean. She must do everything I have commanded her.”
15 Manoah then said to the Angel of the Lord, “Please let us detain You, and we will prepare a young goat for You.”
16 The Angel of the Lord said to Manoah, “If you detain Me, I will not eat your food. However, if you want to prepare a burnt offering, offer it to the Lord.” (For Manoah did not know that He was the Angel of the Lord.)
17 Then Manoah said to the Angel of the Lord, “What is Your name, so we may honour You when Your words come true?”
18 But the Angel of the Lord said to him, “Why do you ask My name, since it is wonderful?”
19 So Manoah took the young goat together with the grain offering, and offered them on a rock to the Lord. And the Lord did an amazing thing while Manoah and his wife were looking on. 20 When the flame went up from the altar toward the sky, the Angel of the Lord ascended up in the flames. When Manoah and his wife saw this, they fell with their faces to the ground. 21 Then the Angel of the Lord did not appear again to Manoah and his wife. Then Manoah realised that He was the Angel of the Lord.
22 “We are going to die,” Manoah said to his wife, “for we have seen God!”
23 But his wife answered him, “If the Lord had intended to kill us, He would not have accepted a burnt offering and a grain offering from our hands, and He would not have shown us all these things, or told us all that He has.”
24 So the woman gave birth to a son and named him Samson. The boy grew, and the Lord blessed him. 25 And the Spirit of the Lord began to move upon him at Mahaneh-dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.