The Birth of Samson
And the sons of Israel again did the evil in the eyes of the LORD; and the LORD gave them into the hand of the Philistines forty years.
And there was a certain man from Zorah, from the family of the Danite, and his name was Manoah; and his wife was barren and had not given birth.
And the angel of the LORD appeared to the woman and said to her: “Look now — you are barren and have not given birth; but you shall conceive and bear a son.
And now, be careful, please, and drink no wine or strong drink, and eat nothing unclean.
For look — you are to conceive and bear a son, and no razor shall come on his head, for the boy shall be a Nazirite of God from the womb. And he shall begin to save Israel from the hand of the Philistines.”
And the woman came and said to her husband, saying: “A man of God came to me, and his appearance was like the appearance of the angel of God — very awesome. And I did not ask him where he was from, and his name he did not tell me.
And he said to me, ‘Look — you are to conceive and bear a son. And now, drink no wine or strong drink, and eat nothing unclean, for the boy shall be a Nazirite of God from the womb until the day of his death.’”
And Manoah pleaded with the LORD and said, “Please, my Lord — the man of God whom you sent, let him come again, please, to us, and teach us what we shall do for the boy who is to be born.”
And God listened to the voice of Manoah; and the angel of God came again to the woman as she was sitting in the field, and Manoah her husband was not with her.
And the woman hurried and ran and told her husband; and she said to him, “Look — the man who came to me the other day has appeared to me.”
And Manoah rose and went after his wife, and came to the man and said to him, “Are you the man who spoke to the woman?” And he said, “I am.”
And Manoah said, “Now, when your words come to pass — what shall be the rule for the boy, and his work?”
And the angel of the LORD said to Manoah, “Of all that I said to the woman, let her be careful:
of anything that comes from the vine of wine she shall not eat, and wine or strong drink she shall not drink, and nothing unclean shall she eat. All that I commanded her, let her keep.”
And Manoah said to the angel of the LORD, “Let us detain you, please, and prepare a young goat before you.”
And the angel of the LORD said to Manoah, “Though you detain me, I will not eat of your bread; but if you prepare a burnt offering, offer it up to the LORD.” For Manoah did not know that he was the angel of the LORD.
And Manoah said to the angel of the LORD, “What is your name — so that when your word comes to pass, we may honor you?”
And the angel of the LORD said to him, “Why is it that you ask my name? It is wonderful.”
And Manoah took the young goat and the grain offering and offered them up on the rock to the LORD — to him who works wonders — while Manoah and his wife were watching.
And it was, as the flame went up from the altar toward the heavens, that the angel of the LORD went up in the flame of the altar; and Manoah and his wife were watching, and they fell on their faces to the ground.
And the angel of the LORD did not appear again to Manoah and to his wife. Then Manoah knew that he was the angel of the LORD.
And Manoah said to his wife, “We shall surely die, for we have seen God.”
And his wife said to him, “If the LORD had desired to put us to death, he would not have taken a burnt offering and a grain offering from our hand, and he would not have shown us all these things, or now let us hear such things as this.”
And the woman bore a son, and called his name Samson; and the boy grew, and the LORD blessed him.
And the spirit of the LORD began to stir him in Mahaneh-dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.