| New King James Version | New Living Translation |
| 1Again the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and the LORD delivered them into the hand of the Philistines for forty years. | 1Again the Israelites did evil in the LORD’s sight, so the LORD handed them over to the Philistines, who oppressed them for forty years. |
| 2Now there was a certain man from Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren and had no children. | 2In those days a man named Manoah from the tribe of Dan lived in the town of Zorah. His wife was unable to become pregnant, and they had no children. |
| 3And the Angel of the LORD appeared to the woman and said to her, “Indeed now, you are barren and have borne no children, but you shall conceive and bear a son. | 3The angel of the LORD appeared to Manoah’s wife and said, “Even though you have been unable to have children, you will soon become pregnant and give birth to a son. |
| 4Now therefore, please be careful not to drink wine or similar drink, and not to eat anything unclean. | 4So be careful; you must not drink wine or any other alcoholic drink nor eat any forbidden food. |
| 5For behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. And no razor shall come upon his head, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb; and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.” | 5You will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and his hair must never be cut. For he will be dedicated to God as a Nazirite from birth. He will begin to rescue Israel from the Philistines.” |
| 6So the woman came and told her husband, saying, “A Man of God came to me, and His countenance was like the countenance of the Angel of God, very awesome; but I did not ask Him where He was from, and He did not tell me His name. | 6The woman ran and told her husband, “A man of God appeared to me! He looked like one of God’s angels, terrifying to see. I didn’t ask where he was from, and he didn’t tell me his name. |
| 7And He said to me, ‘Behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. Now drink no wine or similar drink, nor eat anything unclean, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb to the day of his death.’ ” | 7But he told me, ‘You will become pregnant and give birth to a son. You must not drink wine or any other alcoholic drink nor eat any forbidden food. For your son will be dedicated to God as a Nazirite from the moment of his birth until the day of his death.’” |
| 8Then Manoah prayed to the LORD, and said, “O my Lord, please let the Man of God whom You sent come to us again and teach us what we shall do for the child who will be born.” | 8Then Manoah prayed to the LORD, saying, “Lord, please let the man of God come back to us again and give us more instructions about this son who is to be born.” |
| 9And God listened to the voice of Manoah, and the Angel of God came to the woman again as she was sitting in the field; but Manoah her husband was not with her. | 9God answered Manoah’s prayer, and the angel of God appeared once again to his wife as she was sitting in the field. But her husband, Manoah, was not with her. |
| 10Then the woman ran in haste and told her husband, and said to him, “Look, the Man who came to me the other day has just now appeared to me!” | 10So she quickly ran and told her husband, “The man who appeared to me the other day is here again!” |
| 11So Manoah arose and followed his wife. When he came to the Man, he said to Him, “Are You the Man who spoke to this woman?” And He said, “I am.” | 11Manoah ran back with his wife and asked, “Are you the man who spoke to my wife the other day?” “Yes,” he replied, “I am.” |
| 12Manoah said, “Now let Your words come to pass! What will be the boy’s rule of life, and his work?” | 12So Manoah asked him, “When your words come true, what kind of rules should govern the boy’s life and work?” |
| 13So the Angel of the LORD said to Manoah, “Of all that I said to the woman let her be careful. | 13The angel of the LORD replied, “Be sure your wife follows the instructions I gave her. |
| 14She may not eat anything that comes from the vine, nor may she drink wine or similar drink, nor eat anything unclean. All that I commanded her let her observe.” | 14She must not eat grapes or raisins, drink wine or any other alcoholic drink, or eat any forbidden food.” |
| 15Then Manoah said to the Angel of the LORD, “Please let us detain You, and we will prepare a young goat for You.” | 15Then Manoah said to the angel of the LORD, “Please stay here until we can prepare a young goat for you to eat.” |
| 16And the Angel of the LORD said to Manoah, “Though you detain Me, I will not eat your food. But if you offer a burnt offering, you must offer it to the LORD.” (For Manoah did not know He was the Angel of the LORD.) | 16“I will stay,” the angel of the LORD replied, “but I will not eat anything. However, you may prepare a burnt offering as a sacrifice to the LORD.” (Manoah didn’t realize it was the angel of the LORD.) |
| 17Then Manoah said to the Angel of the LORD, “What is Your name, that when Your words come to pass we may honor You?” | 17Then Manoah asked the angel of the LORD, “What is your name? For when all this comes true, we want to honor you.” |
| 18And the Angel of the LORD said to him, “Why do you ask My name, seeing it is wonderful?” | 18“Why do you ask my name?” the angel of the LORD replied. “It is too wonderful for you to understand.” |
| 19So Manoah took the young goat with the grain offering, and offered it upon the rock to the LORD. And He did a wondrous thing while Manoah and his wife looked on— | 19Then Manoah took a young goat and a grain offering and offered it on a rock as a sacrifice to the LORD. And as Manoah and his wife watched, the LORD did an amazing thing. |
| 20it happened as the flame went up toward heaven from the altar—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. | 20As the flames from the altar shot up toward the sky, the angel of the LORD ascended in the fire. When Manoah and his wife saw this, they fell with their faces to the ground. |
| 21When the Angel of the LORD appeared no more to Manoah and his wife, then Manoah knew that He was the Angel of the LORD. | 21The angel did not appear again to Manoah and his wife. Manoah finally realized it was the angel of the LORD, |
| 22And Manoah said to his wife, “We shall surely die, because we have seen God!” | 22and he said to his wife, “We will certainly die, for we have seen God!” |
| 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 told us such things as these at this time.” | 23But his wife said, “If the LORD were going to kill us, he wouldn’t have accepted our burnt offering and grain offering. He wouldn’t have appeared to us and told us this wonderful thing and done these miracles.” |
| 24So the woman bore a son and called his name Samson; and the child grew, and the LORD blessed him. | 24When her son was born, she named him Samson. And the LORD blessed him as he grew up. |
| 25And the Spirit of the LORD began to move upon him at Mahaneh Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol. | 25And the Spirit of the LORD began to stir him while he lived in Mahaneh-dan, which is located between the towns of Zorah and Eshtaol. |
| The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved. | Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. |
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