| New Living Translation | New American Standard Bible 1995 |
| 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. | 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. |
| 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. | 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 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. | 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. |
| 4So be careful; you must not drink wine or any other alcoholic drink nor eat any forbidden food. | 4"Now therefore, be careful not to drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing. |
| 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.” | 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 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. | 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. |
| 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.’” | 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.'" |
| 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.” | 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, 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. | 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. |
| 10So she quickly ran and told her husband, “The man who appeared to me the other day is here again!” | 10So the woman ran quickly and told her husband, "Behold, the man who came the other day has appeared to me." |
| 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.” | 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." |
| 12So Manoah asked him, “When your words come true, what kind of rules should govern the boy’s life and work?” | 12Manoah said, "Now when your words come to pass, what shall be the boy's mode of life and his vocation?" |
| 13The angel of the LORD replied, “Be sure your wife follows the instructions I gave her. | 13So the angel of the LORD said to Manoah, "Let the woman pay attention to all that I said. |
| 14She must not eat grapes or raisins, drink wine or any other alcoholic drink, or eat any forbidden food.” | 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." |
| 15Then Manoah said to the angel of the LORD, “Please stay here until 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." |
| 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.) | 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. |
| 17Then Manoah asked the angel of the LORD, “What is your name? For when all this comes true, we want to honor you.” | 17Manoah said to the angel of the LORD, "What is your name, so that when your words come to pass, we may honor you?" |
| 18“Why do you ask my name?” the angel of the LORD replied. “It is too wonderful for you to understand.” | 18But the angel of the LORD said to him, "Why do you ask my name, seeing it is wonderful?" |
| 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. | 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 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. | 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 angel did not appear again to Manoah and his wife. Manoah finally realized it was the angel of the LORD, | 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. |
| 22and he said to his wife, “We will certainly die, for we have seen God!” | 22So Manoah said to his wife, "We will surely die, for we have seen God." |
| 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.” | 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." |
| 24When her son was born, she named him Samson. And the LORD blessed him as he grew up. | 24Then the woman gave birth to a son and named him Samson; and the child grew up and the LORD blessed him. |
| 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. | 25And the Spirit of the LORD began to stir him in Mahaneh-dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol. |
| 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. | New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit //www.lockman.org |
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