The Birth of Samson

13 The people of Israel sinned in the eyes of the Lord again. So the Lord gave them into the hands of the Philistines for forty years.

² There was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites. His name was Manoah. His wife was not able to have children. ³ Then the angel of the Lord came to the woman and said to her, “See, you have not been able to have any children. But the Lord will make it possible for you to have a child and you will give birth to a son. ⁴ So be careful not to drink wine or strong drink. Do not eat anything that is unclean. ⁵ You will have a child and give birth to a son. His hair must never be cut. Because the boy will be a Nazirite to God from the time he is born. He will begin to take Israel away from the Philistines’ power.” ⁶ Then the woman came and told her husband. She said, “A man of God came to me. He looked like the angel of God, filling me with fear. I did not ask him where he came from. And he did not tell me his name. ⁷ But he said to me, ‘See, it will be possible for you to have a child and give birth to a son. Do not drink wine or strong drink or eat anything that is unclean. For the boy will be a Nazirite to God from the time he is born to the time he dies.’”

⁸ Then Manoah asked the Lord, saying, “O Lord, let the man of God whom You have sent come to us again. Let him teach us what to do for the boy who is to be born.” ⁹ God listened to Manoah. The angel of God came again to the woman while she was sitting in the field. But Manoah her husband was not with her. ¹⁰ So the woman ran to her husband in a hurry. She told him, “See, the man who came the other day has come to me again.” ¹¹ Manoah got up and followed his wife. When he came to the man he said to him, “Are you the man who spoke to the woman?” And he said, “I am.” ¹² Manoah said, “When your words come true, what will be the boy’s way of life? What should he do?” ¹³ The angel of the Lord said to Manoah, “Let the woman be careful to do all I have said. ¹⁴ She must not eat anything from the vine or drink wine or strong drink. She must not eat anything that is unclean. Let her obey all I have told her.”

¹⁵ Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, “We ask of you, stay with us. So we may get a young goat ready for you to eat.” ¹⁶ The angel of the Lord said to Manoah, “I will stay, but I will not eat your food. But if you get a burnt gift ready, then give it to the Lord.” For Manoah did not know that he was the angel of the Lord. ¹⁷ Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, “What is your name? So we may honor you when your words come true.” ¹⁸ But the angel of the Lord said to him, “Why do you ask my name? It is a name of wonder.” ¹⁹ So Manoah took the young goat with the grain gift. And he gave it on the rock to the Lord. Then the Lord did powerful works while Manoah and his wife watched. ²⁰ For the fire went up from the altar toward heaven. And the angel of the Lord went up in the fire of the altar. When Manoah and his wife saw this, they fell with their faces on the ground. ²¹ The angel of the Lord did not show himself to Manoah or his wife again. Then Manoah knew that he was the angel of the Lord. ²² So Manoah said to his wife, “We will die for sure. For we have seen God.” ²³ But his wife said to him, “If the Lord had wanted to kill us, He would not have received a burnt gift and grain gift from us. He would not have shown us all these things, or let us hear these things.”

²⁴ Then the woman gave birth to a son and named him Samson. The child grew up and the Lord brought good to him. ²⁵ And the Spirit of the Lord began to work through him at the tents of Dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.