| International Standard Version | NET Bible |
| 1Some time later, the Israelis again practiced what the LORD considered to be evil, so the LORD handed them over into the domination of the Philistines for 40 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 one man from Zorah, from the family of the descendants of Dan, whose name was Manoah. Since his wife was infertile, she hadn't borne children. | 2There was a man named Manoah from Zorah, from the Danite tribe. His wife was infertile and childless. |
| 3One day the angel of the LORD presented himself to the woman. "Hello!" he greeted her. "Though you are infertile at this time and haven't borne a child, you're about to conceive and give birth to 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. |
| 4So be sure that you don't drink wine or anything intoxicating, and don't eat anything unclean | 4Now be careful! Do not drink wine or beer, and do not eat any food that will make you ritually unclean. |
| 5because—surprise!—you're going to conceive and give birth to a son! Don't put a razor to his head, because the young man will be a Nazirite, dedicated to God from inside the womb. He will begin to deliver Israel from domination by 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 went to tell her husband. She said, "A man of God appeared to me. He looked like what an angel of God would look like—very frightening. I didn't ask him where he had come from and he didn't 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. |
| 7He told me, 'Surprise!—you're going to conceive and give birth to a son!' and as for you, 'Be sure that you don't drink wine or anything intoxicating, and don't eat anything unclean,' 'because the young man will be a Nazirite dedicated to God from inside the womb' until the day he dies." | 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.'" |
| 8So Manoah prayed to the LORD, "Please, Lord, have the man of God whom you sent before come again so he can instruct us what to do on behalf of the child who is to 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." |
| 9God listened to Manoah's request, and the angel of God came again to the woman as she was sitting out in the pasture. But her husband Manoah wasn't 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 to tell her husband, "Look! The man who came the other day 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!" |
| 11So Manoah got up quickly and followed his wife, and when he came to the man he told him, "Are you the man who spoke to my wife?" He replied, "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." |
| 12Manoah asked, "Now, when what you've said occurs, what is to be the young man's way of life and work?" | 12Manoah said, "Now, when your announcement comes true, how should the child be raised and what should he do?" |
| 13The angel of the LORD replied to Manoah, "Just have your wife be careful to carry out everything that I told her. | 13The LORD's messenger told Manoah, "Your wife should pay attention to everything I told her. |
| 14She must not consume anything extracted from grape vines, including wine or anything intoxicating, and she must not eat anything unclean, doing everything that I commissioned her to do." | 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 responded to the angel of the LORD, "Please, let us detain you while we 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." |
| 16The angel of the LORD answered Manoah, "If you detain me, I won't be eating your food, but if you prepare a burnt offering, you'll be making a sacrifice to the LORD." The angel of the LORD said this because Manoah didn't 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.) |
| 17Manoah asked the angel of the LORD, "What's your name, because when what you've said happens, we'll glorify you?" | 17Manoah said to the LORD's messenger, "Tell us your name, so we can honor you when your announcement comes true." |
| 18The angel of the LORD answered him, "Why are you asking this about my name? It's 'Wonderful.'" | 18The LORD's messenger said to him, "You should not ask me my name, because you cannot comprehend it." |
| 19So Manoah prepared a young goat and a grain offering and offered it on a boulder to the LORD, who kept on performing miracles while Manoah and his wife watched continually. | 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. |
| 20When the burnt offering was engulfed in flames that sprang up from the altar toward heaven, the angel of the LORD ascended in the flame that came from the altar. When Manoah and his wife observed this, they collapsed 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 did not appear again to Manoah or to his wife, and then Manoah knew confidently that the visitor had been 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. |
| 22Then Manoah told his wife, "We're going to die for sure, because we've seen God!" | 22Manoah said to his wife, "We will certainly die, because we have seen a supernatural being!" |
| 23But his wife replied to him, "If the LORD had intended to kill us, he wouldn't have accepted a burnt offering and a grain offering from us, he wouldn't have shown us all these things, and he wouldn't have permitted us to hear things like this, now would he?" | 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." |
| 24Later on, the woman gave birth to a son and named him Samson. The child grew strong 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. |
| 25Then the Spirit of the LORD began to rouse him where the tribe of Dan was encamped, between Zorah and Eshtaol. | 25The LORD's spirit began to control him in Mahaneh Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol. |
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