1And the Israelites yet again did evil in the eyes of the LORD; and the LORD turned them over to the Philistines for forty years.

2And there was a certain man of Zorah, of the clan of Dan, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren (childless). 3And the Angel of the LORD appeared to the woman, and told her, “You have been barren; but you shall conceive, and bear a son. 4Now, see to it that you do not drink wine nor strong drink, and that you do not eat any unclean thing: 5For you shall conceive, and bear a son; and no razor shall ever touch his head; for the boy shall be a Nazirite, dedicated to God from the womb. And he shall begin to rescue Israel from oppression by the Philistines.”

6Then the woman went and told her husband, “A Man of God came to me, and He looked like an Angel of God, very awesome. I did not ask Him where He was from, nor did He tell me His name. 7But He told me, ‘You shall conceive, and bear a son; and do not drink any wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing; for the child shall be a Nazirite dedicated to God from the womb until the day of his death.’”

8Then Manoah prayed to the LORD, and said, “O my LORD, let the Man of God Whom You sent come back, and teach us more about this child that shall be born.” 9And God heard Manoah; and the Angel of God came again to the woman as she was out in the field. But Manoah, her husband, was not with her. 10And the woman hurried, and ran to tell her husband, and said, “The Man, Who came to me the other day, has appeared again to me.” 11And Manoah followed his wife; and when he came to the Man, he said to Him, “Are You the Man Who spoke to my wife?” And He said, “I am.” 12And Manoah said, “Now let Your words be fulfilled. What rules shall we follow for the boy, and how shall we raise him?” 13And the Angel of the LORD said to Manoah, “Your wife must do all that I told her. 14She must not eat anything that comes from the vine, nor drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing; she must observe all that I commanded her.” 15And Manoah said to the Angel of the LORD, “Please stay with us until we have prepared a kid for You to eat.” 16And the Angel of the LORD said to Manoah, “I will not eat any of your food if I stay; but if you prepare a burnt offering, you must offer it unto the LORD.” For Manoah did not realize that He was an Angel of the LORD. 17And Manoah said to the Angel of the LORD, “What is Your name, so that when Your words come true, we may do You honor?” 18And the Angel of the LORD said to him, “Why do you ask My name? It is beyond your comprehension.” 19So then Manoah took a kid with a meal offering, and offered it upon a rock unto the LORD; and the LORD did an amazing thing, while Manoah and his wife looked on: 20For when the flame went up toward heaven from the altar, the Angel of the LORD ascended in the flame from the altar. And when Manoah and his wife saw it, they fell on their faces to the ground. 21But when the Angel of the LORD no longer appeared to Manoah and his wife, then Manoah realized that He was an Angel of the LORD. 22And Manoah said to his wife, “We shall surely die, because we have seen God.” 23But his wife replied, “If the LORD had meant to kill us, He would not have received a burnt offering and a meal offering from our hands, nor would He have shown or told us all the things that He told us,”

24And the woman gave birth to a son, and named him Samson; and the child grew, and the LORD blessed him. 25And the Spirit of the LORD began to stir him at times within the camp of Dan between the towns of Zorah and Eshtaol.