| English Standard Version | NET Bible |
| 1And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, so the LORD gave them into the hand of the Philistines for forty years. | 1The Israelites again did evil in the LORD's sight, so the LORD handed them over to the Philistines for forty years. |
| 2There was a certain man of Zorah, of the tribe of the Danites, whose name was Manoah. And his wife was barren and had no children. | 2There was a man named Manoah from Zorah, from the Danite tribe. His wife was infertile and childless. |
| 3And the angel of the LORD appeared to the woman and said to her, “Behold, you are barren and have not borne children, but you shall conceive and bear a son. | 3The LORD's angelic messenger appeared to the woman and said to her, "You are infertile and childless, but you will conceive and have a son. |
| 4Therefore be careful and drink no wine or strong drink, and eat nothing unclean, | 4Now be careful! Do not drink wine or beer, and do not eat any food that will make you ritually unclean. |
| 5for behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. No razor shall come upon his head, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb, and he shall begin to save Israel from the hand of the Philistines.” | 5Look, you will conceive and have a son. You must never cut his hair, for the child will be dedicated to God from birth. He will begin to deliver Israel from the power of the Philistines." |
| 6Then the woman came and told her husband, “A man of God came to me, and his appearance was like the appearance of the angel of God, very awesome. I did not ask him where he was from, and he did not tell me his name, | 6The woman went and said to her husband, "A man sent from God came to me! He looked like God's angelic messenger--he was very awesome. I did not ask him where he came from, and he did not tell me his name. |
| 7but he said to me, ‘Behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. So then drink no wine or strong drink, and eat nothing unclean, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb to the day of his death.’” | 7He said to me, 'Look, you will conceive and have a son. So now, do not drink wine or beer and do not eat any food that will make you ritually unclean. For the child will be dedicated to God from birth till the day he dies.'" |
| 8Then Manoah prayed to the LORD and said, “O Lord, please let the man of God whom you sent come again to us and teach us what we are to do with the child who will be born.” | 8Manoah prayed to the LORD, "Please, Lord, allow the man sent from God to visit us again, so he can teach us how we should raise the child who will be born." |
| 9And God listened to the voice of Manoah, and the angel of God came again to the woman as she sat in the field. But Manoah her husband was not with her. | 9God answered Manoah's prayer. God's angelic messenger visited the woman again while she was sitting in the field. But her husband Manoah was not with her. |
| 10So the woman ran quickly and told her husband, “Behold, the man who came to me the other day has appeared to me.” | 10The woman ran at once and told her husband, "Come quickly, the man who visited me the other day has appeared to me!" |
| 11And Manoah arose and went after his wife and came to the man and said to him, “Are you the man who spoke to this woman?” And he said, “I am.” | 11So Manoah got up and followed his wife. When he met the man, he said to him, "Are you the man who spoke to my wife?" He said, "Yes." |
| 12And Manoah said, “Now when your words come true, what is to be the child’s manner of life, and what is his mission?” | 12Manoah said, "Now, when your announcement comes true, how should the child be raised and what should he do?" |
| 13And the angel of the LORD said to Manoah, “Of all that I said to the woman let her be careful. | 13The LORD's messenger told Manoah, "Your wife should pay attention to everything I told her. |
| 14She may not eat of anything that comes from the vine, neither let her drink wine or strong drink, or eat any unclean thing. All that I commanded her let her observe.” | 14She should not drink anything that the grapevine produces. She must not drink wine or beer, and she must not eat any food that will make her ritually unclean. She should obey everything I commanded her to do." |
| 15Manoah said to the angel of the LORD, “Please let us detain you and prepare a young goat for you.” | 15Manoah said to the LORD's messenger, "Please stay here awhile, so we can prepare a young goat for you to eat." |
| 16And the angel of the LORD said to Manoah, “If you detain me, I will not eat of your food. But if you prepare a burnt offering, then offer it to the LORD.” (For Manoah did not know that he was the angel of the LORD.) | 16The LORD's messenger said to Manoah, "If I stay, I will not eat your food. But if you want to make a burnt sacrifice to the LORD, you should offer it." (He said this because Manoah did not know that he was the LORD's messenger.) |
| 17And Manoah said to the angel of the LORD, “What is your name, so that, when your words come true, we may honor you?” | 17Manoah said to the LORD's messenger, "Tell us your name, so we can honor you when your announcement comes true." |
| 18And the angel of the LORD said to him, “Why do you ask my name, seeing it is wonderful?” | 18The LORD's messenger said to him, "You should not ask me my name, because you cannot comprehend it." |
| 19So Manoah took the young goat with the grain offering, and offered it on the rock to the LORD, to the one who works wonders, and Manoah and his wife were watching. | 19Manoah took a young goat and a grain offering and offered them on a rock to the LORD. The LORD's messenger did an amazing thing as Manoah and his wife watched. |
| 20And when the flame went up toward heaven from the altar, the angel of the LORD went up in the flame of the altar. Now Manoah and his wife were watching, and they fell on their faces to the ground. | 20As the flame went up from the altar toward the sky, the LORD's messenger went up in it while Manoah and his wife watched. They fell facedown to the ground. |
| 21The angel of the LORD appeared no more to Manoah and to his wife. Then Manoah knew that he was the angel of the LORD. | 21The LORD's messenger did not appear again to Manoah and his wife. After all this happened Manoah realized that the visitor had been the LORD's messenger. |
| 22And Manoah said to his wife, “We shall surely die, for we have seen God.” | 22Manoah said to his wife, "We will certainly die, because we have seen a supernatural being!" |
| 23But his wife said to him, “If the LORD had meant to kill us, he would not have accepted a burnt offering and a grain offering at our hands, or shown us all these things, or now announced to us such things as these.” | 23But his wife said to him, "If the LORD wanted to kill us, he would not have accepted the burnt offering and the grain offering from us. He would not have shown us all these things, or have spoken to us like this just now." |
| 24And the woman bore a son and called his name Samson. And the young man grew, and the LORD blessed him. | 24Manoah's wife gave birth to a son and named him Samson. The child grew and the LORD empowered him. |
| 25And the Spirit of the LORD began to stir him in Mahaneh-dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol. | 25The LORD's spirit began to control him in Mahaneh Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol. |
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