| NET Bible | New American Standard Bible 1995 |
| 1The Israelites again did evil in the LORD's sight, so the LORD handed them over to the Philistines for forty years. | 1Now the sons of Israel again did evil in the sight of the LORD, so that the LORD gave them into the hands of the Philistines forty years. |
| 2There was a man named Manoah from Zorah, from the Danite tribe. His wife was infertile and childless. | 2There was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren and had borne no children. |
| 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. | 3Then the angel of the LORD appeared to the woman and said to her, "Behold now, you are barren and have borne no children, but you shall conceive and give birth to a son. |
| 4Now be careful! Do not drink wine or beer, and do not eat any food that will make you ritually unclean. | 4"Now therefore, be careful not to drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing. |
| 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." | 5"For behold, you shall conceive and give birth to a son, and no razor shall come upon his head, for the boy shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb; and he shall begin to deliver Israel from the hands of the Philistines." |
| 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. | 6Then the woman came and told 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 came from, nor did he tell me his name. |
| 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.'" | 7"But he said to me, 'Behold, you shall conceive and give birth to a son, and now you shall not drink wine or strong drink nor eat any unclean thing, for the boy shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb to the day of his death.'" |
| 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." | 8Then Manoah entreated the LORD and said, "O Lord, please let the man of God whom You have sent come to us again that he may teach us what to do for the boy who is to be born." |
| 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. | 9God listened to the voice of Manoah; and the angel of God came again to the woman as she was sitting in the field, but Manoah her husband was not with her. |
| 10The woman ran at once and told her husband, "Come quickly, the man who visited me the other day has appeared to me!" | 10So the woman ran quickly and told her husband, "Behold, the man who came the other day has appeared to me." |
| 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." | 11Then Manoah arose and followed his wife, and when he came to the man he said to him, "Are you the man who spoke to the woman?" And he said, "I am." |
| 12Manoah said, "Now, when your announcement comes true, how should the child be raised and what should he do?" | 12Manoah said, "Now when your words come to pass, what shall be the boy's mode of life and his vocation?" |
| 13The LORD's messenger told Manoah, "Your wife should pay attention to everything I told her. | 13So the angel of the LORD said to Manoah, "Let the woman pay attention to all that I said. |
| 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." | 14"She should not eat anything that comes from the vine nor drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing; let her observe all that I commanded." |
| 15Manoah said to the LORD's messenger, "Please stay here awhile, so we can prepare a young goat for you to eat." | 15Then Manoah said to the angel of the LORD, "Please let us detain you so that we may prepare a young goat for you." |
| 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.) | 16The angel of the LORD said to Manoah, "Though you detain me, I will not eat 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. |
| 17Manoah said to the LORD's messenger, "Tell us your name, so we can honor you when your announcement comes true." | 17Manoah said to the angel of the LORD, "What is your name, so that when your words come to pass, we may honor you?" |
| 18The LORD's messenger said to him, "You should not ask me my name, because you cannot comprehend it." | 18But the angel of the LORD said to him, "Why do you ask my name, seeing it is wonderful?" |
| 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. | 19So Manoah took the young goat with the grain offering and offered it on the rock to the LORD, and He performed wonders while Manoah and his wife looked on. |
| 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. | 20For it came about when the flame went up from the altar toward heaven, that the angel of the LORD ascended in the flame of the altar. When Manoah and his wife saw this, they fell on their faces to the ground. |
| 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. | 21Now the angel of the LORD did not appear to Manoah or his wife again. Then Manoah knew that he was the angel of the LORD. |
| 22Manoah said to his wife, "We will certainly die, because we have seen a supernatural being!" | 22So Manoah said to his wife, "We will surely die, for we have seen God." |
| 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." | 23But his wife said to him, "If the LORD had desired to kill us, He would not have accepted a burnt offering and a grain offering from our hands, nor would He have shown us all these things, nor would He have let us hear things like this at this time." |
| 24Manoah's wife gave birth to a son and named him Samson. The child grew and the LORD empowered him. | 24Then the woman gave birth to a son and named him Samson; and the child grew up and the LORD blessed him. |
| 25The LORD's spirit began to control him in Mahaneh Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol. | 25And the Spirit of the LORD began to stir him in Mahaneh-dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol. |
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