CHAPTER 13
Again
the Israelites
did
evil
in the sight
of the LORD,
so the LORD
delivered them
into the hands
of the Philistines
for forty
years.
Now there was
a
man
from Zorah
named
Manoah,
from the clan
of the Danites,
whose wife was
barren
and had no
children.
The Angel
of the LORD
appeared
to
the woman
and said
to her,
“It is true
that you
are barren
and have no
children;
but you will conceive
and give birth to
a son.
For
behold,
you will conceive
and give birth to
a son.
And no
razor
shall come
over
his head,
because
the boy
will be
a Nazirite, set apart
to God
from
the womb,
and he
will begin
the deliverance
of Israel
from the hands
of the Philistines."
Then the woman
went
and said to
her husband,
“A Man
of God
came
to me.
His appearance was like
the Angel
of God,
exceedingly
awesome.
I did not
ask
Him where
He came from,
and He did not
tell
me
His name.
But He said
to me,
‘Behold,
you will conceive
and give birth to
a son.
Now, therefore,
do not
drink
wine
or strong drink,
and do not
eat
anything
unclean,
because
the boy
will be
a Nazirite
to God
from
the womb
until
the day
of his death.'"
Then Manoah
prayed
to
the LORD,
“Please,
O Lord,
let the Man
of God
You sent us
come
to us
again
to teach us
how
to raise
the boy
who is to be born.”
And God
listened
to the voice
of Manoah,
and the Angel
of God
returned
to
the woman
as she
was sitting
in the field;
but her husband
Manoah
was not
with her.
The woman
ran
quickly
to tell
her husband,
“Behold,
the Man
who
came
to me
the other day
has reappeared!”
So Manoah
got up
and followed
his wife.
When he came
to
the Man,
he asked,
“Are You
the Man
who
spoke
to
my wife?”
“I
am,” He said.
Then Manoah
asked,
“When
Your words
come to pass,
what
will be
the boy’s
rule of life
and mission?”
She is not
to eat
anything
that
comes
from the vine
or drink
wine
or strong drink.
And she must not
eat
anything
unclean.
Your wife must do
everything
I have commanded her.”
“Please
stay here,”
Manoah
said
to the Angel
of the LORD,
“and we will prepare
a young goat
for You.”
And the Angel
of the LORD
replied,
“Even if
I stay,
I will not
eat
your food.
But if
you prepare
a burnt offering,
offer
it to the LORD.”
For
Manoah
did not
know
He
was the Angel
of the LORD.
Then Manoah
said
to
Him,
“What
is Your name,
so that we may honor
You when
Your word
comes to pass?”
Then Manoah
took
a young goat
and a grain offering
and offered them
on
a rock
to the LORD,
and as Manoah
and his wife
looked on,
the LORD did
a marvelous thing.
When the flame
went up
from
the altar
to the sky,
the Angel
of the LORD
ascended
in the
flame.
When Manoah
and his wife
saw this,
they fell
facedown
to the ground.
And when the Angel
of the LORD
did not
appear
again
to
Manoah
and
his wife,
Manoah
realized
that
it
was the Angel
of the LORD.
But his wife
replied,
“If
the LORD
had intended
to kill us,
He would not
have accepted
the burnt offering
and the grain offering
from our hands,
nor would He
have shown
us all
these things
or spoken
to us
this way.”