1And the children of Israel again did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah ; and Jehovah delivered them into the hand of the Philistines forty years . 2And there was a certain man of Zorah , of the family of the Danites , whose name was Manoah ; and his wife was barren , and bare not . 3And the angel of Jehovah appeared unto the woman , and said unto her , Behold now , thou art barren , and bearest not ; but thou shalt conceive , and bear a son . 4Now therefore beware , I pray thee , and drink no wine nor strong drink , and eat not any unclean thing : 5for , lo , thou shalt conceive , and bear a son ; and no razor shall come upon his head ; for the child shall be a Nazirite unto God from the womb: and he shall begin to save Israel out of the hand of the Philistines . 6Then the woman came and told her husband, saying, A man of God came unto me , and his countenance was like the countenance of the angel of God , very terrible ; and I asked him not whence he was , neither told he me his name : 7but he said unto me , Behold , thou shalt conceive , and bear a son ; and now drink no wine nor strong drink , and eat not any unclean thing ; for the child shall be a Nazirite unto God from the womb to the day of his death .
Manoah's Prayer and God's Response
8Then Manoah entreated Jehovah , and said, Oh , Lord , I pray thee , let the man of God whom thou didst send come again unto us , and teach us what we shall do unto the child that shall be born . 9And God hearkened to the voice of Manoah ; and the angel of God came again unto the woman as she sat in the field : but Manoah her husband was not with her . 10And the woman made haste , and ran , and told her husband, and said unto him , Behold , the man hath appeared unto me , that came unto me the other day . 11And Manoah arose , and went after his wife , and came to the man, and said unto him , Art thou the man that spakest unto the woman? And he said , I am. 12And Manoah said , Now let thy words come to pass : what shall be the ordering of the child , and how shall we do unto him ? 13And the angel of Jehovah said unto Manoah , Of all that I said unto the woman let her beware . 14She may not eat of anything that cometh of the vine , neither let her drink wine or strong drink , nor eat any unclean thing ; all that I commanded her let her observe .
The Angel of the Lord Revealed
15And Manoah said unto the angel of Jehovah , I pray thee , let us detain thee , that we may make ready a kid for thee . 16And the angel of Jehovah said unto Manoah , Though thou detain me , I will not eat of thy bread ; and if thou wilt make ready a burnt-offering, thou must offer it unto Jehovah . For Manoah knew not that he was the angel of Jehovah . 17And Manoah said unto the angel of Jehovah , What is thy name , that , when thy words come to pass, we may do thee honor ? 18And the angel of Jehovah said unto him , Wherefore askest thou after my name , seeing it is wonderful ? 19So Manoah took the kid with the meal-offering, and offered it upon the rock unto Jehovah : and the angel did wondrously , and Manoah and his wife looked on . 20For it came to pass , when the flame went up toward heaven from off the altar , that the angel of Jehovah ascended in the flame of the altar : and Manoah and his wife looked on ; and they fell on their faces to the ground . 21But the angel of Jehovah did no more appear to Manoah or to his wife. Then Manoah knew that he was the angel of Jehovah . 22And Manoah said unto his wife, We shall surely die , because we have seen God. 23But his wife said unto him , If Jehovah were pleased to kill us , he would not have received a burnt-offering and a meal-offering at our hand , neither would he have showed us all these things , nor would at this time have told such things as these .
The Birth of Samson
24And the woman bare a son , and called his name Samson : and the child grew , and Jehovah blessed him . 25And the Spirit of Jehovah began to move him in Mahaneh-dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.